I just bought a 2001 Audi a4 quattro with 120k miles. Then I found the threads about the timing belt.

How can I tell if the timing belt has already been changed?

The 5 minute demo of replacing the timing belt was quite disturbing! It looks like a frightfully difficult and complicated job. I also found a DIY guide that someone put together that makes the job look relatively easy.

I'm not much of a diyer - I should probably pay a mechanic to do this.

Thanks!
Jim

 

Take off the engine covers till u can see the timing belt, it's behind the serpentine belt. Feel it and see if its soft, they get harder when they get old. See if u can see any cracks in it, and also check tension it should be fairly tight. Hope that helps

 

That's not good enough - more often than not it's the hydraulic tensioning piston that fails rather than the belt. Every t-belt job we've done, the belt looked like it had tens of thousands of miles left of useful life. If you're in doubt or if the seller can't prove it was done, do it. Where are you? You may have locals here on the forum who can help. If you're in range of upstate NY, we can handle it easily for you.

 

Yeah if you're not all that mechanically inclined, I would stay away from doing the TB yourself. It's not fun and can be pretty easy to muck up if you're not careful. phreak's tips are good ones, but I also wanted to point out that while those are helpful, they're not idiot proof. The best way to know when to change the TB would be if you know when it was changed last, either because you did it or because you have legitimate maintenance records of when it was done and by whom. Based solely on the mileage of your car, the timing belt should have been done at least once, maybe twice if the previous owners were worriers. Sounds a bit over-protective, but if you don't know when the belt was changed last, you should assume it's never been changed.

As for having a mechanic do the work for you, rule #1 is do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, take your car to an Audi dealer for this job. They will sodomize you for it. With dealer-sourced parts and mechanics, you're looking at upwards of $1500 for a TB job. When I did mine last year I used the TB kit from blauparts and took it to an independent mechanic to do the work. As i recall it was $200-something for the kit and $300-400 for the work, so a pretty substantial savings over the dealer price. good luck!

 

As stated, the only way to tell for sure is the mileage on the car and legit proof of maintenance history.

 

It's hard to tell, visually, what condition a timing belt is in, aside from the obvious fraying and cracks. You can tell if a timing belt is "bad" visually, but it's hard to judge if it's "good". I've seen timing belts that look perfectly fine.. except for the one spot it snapped.

I would go off mileage and age. Rubber wears out over time, so mileage is not the only factor.

 

Like the devil said, the belt could be perfectly fine and would probably last 100k miles. However, if that tensioner gives up early your belt will jump a tooth and then you're f%$#@d. This is the problem area:

I did mine last month and it wasn't a big deal. Although it has markings for how to line up the belt, I would mark it with a sharpie or something. Getting the front end off is cake so don't worry about that part.

 

anyone know of a good DIY on the TB on a 2001 A4 Avant 30v V6. and also looking to see if the o2 sensor is easy to replace

 

thanks for the information and insight. I'm in Pittsburgh PA.

The maintanance guide that came with the car states that the timing belt should be changed every 105,000 miles. But it seems that a lot of people think it should be replaced more frequently?

Whats the difference between the Ribbed Belt and the V belt? (both of which should be replaced at 80,000 miles).

Would one be the accessory belt, and other a serpintine belt? (both of which are included in the blauparts kit).

Thanks again - I have a lot of learning to do.

 

You are in the right place. There are truly some gurus here. Just try to search topics first so you dont have a lot of reposts.

These guys are smart and very helpful.