So, I have a very slight coolant leak from the front left part of my engine, and since there is no room to work, I think I need to take the whole front of my car off (bumper and radiator and all that jazz.) My car has 57k on it (1.8t) and I was thinking that while I had it open, I might as well do my timing belt. No harm in doing it before 70k, and since I'm going to be taking a road trip come April I'd feel a lot better about the whole thing. Are leaks common on these cars? Seems I hear a lot about power steering leaks, boost leaks, vac leaks, IQ leaks (from certain drivers *cough cough Kemp Travis cough*) Anywho, should I also go ahead and do my motor mounts, too? Seems everyone does motor mounts and replaces them with APR and stuff. Do they really go bad or do people just like giving APR monies? I still autocross, rallycross, and TSD rally my A4, although the Miata gets most of the track time nowadays...

 

Well i'm not an expert but i say go for it. At only 57k you'd probably be able to go at least another 15k safely, but doing preventative maintenance early is a good habit to get into. When i bought my car with 128k i was told the timing belt got changed right before i bought it. I don't know if it was the first time it had been done to the car, but if it was, that's seriously a testament to the longevity of the OEM parts and the quality of engineering behind our cars. So either way you should be fine on your trip.

As for the motor mounts, again, at 57k you're probably fine, but i'm sure since you've had the car you've noticed how much movement there is in the drivetrain, and how easy it is to make sloppy, clunky shifts. Aftermarket motor mounts like the APR snub mount are some kind of polyurethane material rather than the rubber OEM ones, and they'll hold your engine in the compartment more rigidly.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

 

I would do it only because I was told leaks are usally caused the water pump going out and when it goes out they tend to sieze, hence busting your motor to hell. This is what a audi specialist told me so I think it has some validity, but like you said better safe than sorry, if you can spring the cash for the extra parts why not.

 

Yeah, my shifting, especially 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd feels like crap...

 

if you think your shifting feels like crap you should drive my car. ya i think doing all that would be good. how bout a fmic too? also, do you know if those tranny stabilizer bars work? if so, machine yourself one of those lol. i'm thinking about doing that if they make a big difference.

 

I have no plans on upgrading my turbo, so a FMIC would not be a viable mod for my car. My Miata will get one once I'm running 90000000psi on the supercharger, but not yet. Tranny stabilizer sounds like a good idea, and I'll have to look into it.

 

AWE tuning makes a sweet drivetrain stabilizer, too bad it's like 350 bucks.