rookie with a 5K timing belt question (longish)

[Michael O Muller <mullerm@engin.umich.edu>]

Greetings, all. 

Congrats from a newcomer on a wicked-cool list! I've been an Audi driver
('86 5000s, non-turbo, non-quattro, 170K miles) for two of the past five
months. Long enough to absolutely fall in love with the car, and take a 3K
mile road trip. Only two months, as the first month was spent in and out
of the shop (clutch -mice got in there!, new suspension rubber bits, front
struts, front strut bearings, new tires, new tie rod ends due to monkey
lads -love this expression- torching the adjusting nuts to loosen the
front end, and subsequently a second alignment and wheel rebalancing by 
non-monkeys.), and then I had to leave it at home while I was selling the
other car (93 toyota tercel) so that  the Audi fits into my single parking
space here in crowded Ann Arbor. (No comments on my  grammer/run-on
sentences, please! :) ) And, as part of my  ownership experience, while I
can't drive the beast, at least I can dream, and have been  reading the
list since September 1. Of course, I've developed a long list of things to
do/check when I get the car back THIS WEEKEND!!!! (In light of the recent
thread, think I'll be able to avoid tempting the Smokeys without a radar
detector? :) Can't quite afford the recommended Valentine-1.)

My question: My parents, cool as ever, drove the car for me occasionally.
However, this past weekend, the timing belt broke!! (My mom describes the
experience as, something made a noise, not a loud or sharp noise, then the
engine died.) So, it gets  towed to the dealershit. They tell us that the
timing belt broke, and it has been replaced and all else is in order. (I
know that they should have replaced the water pump and the timing belt
tensioning pully as well; but... ya can't ask the folks for everything!)

This is the second time this has happened without good cause. The first
time it happened to my dad in the driveway (i.e. low speed), and now,
cruising in third gear. The first time was less than, but almost, 60K
miles ago, about three years ago.

This car has been always maintained, or what a dealershit can manage: i.e. 
all scheduled maintenance, oil changes at 3-5K, etc. It has been almost a
daily driver for my dad, who is pretty anal.

Is the Audi 5K engine an interference engine? What would cause the timing
belt to fail so often? Is the dealer pulling our collective legs? Is there
something obvious I can check?

Adivce, opinions? Thanks in advance. Again, collective congrats on an
excellent list.

Mike Muller
mullerm@engin.umich.edu


P.S. For those in these areas: 

In Mansfield, Ohio, The Auto Clinic is excellent. Mark (the  owner, as I
understand), has at least three Audis (2 5K, one 4K). He is honest, does a 
complete job (no finding random screws after the fact, etc.), and not too 
bad laborwise  ($46 /hr, this summer, but he also charges the time it
takes him to complete the job properly).

In Chicago, avoid Loeber motors like the plague. I can't find adjectives
bad enough.

Any good recommendations for mechanics in Ann Arbor, or general SE 
Michigan area? I'm technically competent, and in posession of the
Bentley, but a bit afraid of touching brakes, and engine components where an
innocent mistake can be costly (i.e. timing belt).