After looking at those kits, I'm wondering the importance of the tensioner damper (shock), valve cover gaskets and accessory drive belt? I'm thinking I could save about 200$ by getting the budget timing belt kit for 320$, then buying the water pump and thermostat assembly separately. Are the valve cover gaskets, damper and accessory drive belt just as crucial as the timing belt?

I'm thinking if I can get by with just the timing belt budget kit, water pump and thermostat assembly for about 460$, I can con my dad and a couple buddies to help with the labor side of things and that would leave me with enough of a backup in my savings to be comfortable picking up this car.

Have all of you guys picked up the Ultimate Timing Belt Kit?

 

The only good thing that i like about the 3.0L is the valve cover gaskets are bullet proof, they almost never leak so you won't need new ones most likely. But if you plan on buying this car you will need the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioners, and rollers. There is no exception to this, if you skip any of these items you will be screwing yourself. You also need to weigh the fact that this service CANNOT wait until 100k, i have replaced too many cylinder heads/repairs on the 3.0L for snapped T belts, and i can tell you the repair bill for that is upwards of $6,000. Once you buy it make it your top priority to replace the timing belt. You can wait on the serpintine belt, if that snaps it won't damage anything besides being annoying.

 

Is the "accessory drive belt" what Audi is calling the serpentine belt? Is the tensioner dampener (shock) part of what you would recommend as "no way around" replacing as well? That's the other part that comes with the "ultimate" kit as opposed to the "budget" kit.

 

Yes its the accessory belt, a serpintine belt just means its a single belt that drives several componets. The tensioner for the serpintine belt never goes bad, its the tensioner and rollers for the timing belt that comes with the kit i want you to replace. The serpintine belt tensioner is a beast, i don't see how that thing could ever go bad.

 

I get a warm fuzzy feeling about the idea of a new Audi owner, hopefully it works out.

Just read through some of the how-to's on how to do the work to get an idea, I was reading yesterday about how it took one guy on here 12 hours to do it and he didn't realize he had to take off the whole front end.

I've read through a few of them, and they seem doable with the right tools, I just want you to be a *happy* (and informed) new Audi owner

 

Ok, well my current car sounds like it has maybe a day or two left out of it. So I'll be making my decision pretty quickly here. More than likely in the next day or two.

I remember when I was looking at buying an A6, I was able to find a few different how-to guides from other A6 owners on how to do the timing belt. Are there any fix-it forums or how-to guides for the b6 A4 on how to do the timing belt/water pump etc as well as other DIY guides?

A few more options popped up recently on craigslist and carsoup for 3.0 and 1.8t's that are right around the same price and mileage. Going to check one or two out tomorrow hopefully.

And lastly, when I buy the timing belt kit off ECS, do they or some other company rent the tools required to do the work? I'm about to pull the trigger on one of these cars, but would love to have a small piece of mind on knowing I'll be able to pull off this timing belt service myself with the aid of a couple buddies and pretty mechanically inclined father.

Thanks guys!


P.S. I know the sludge issue with the 1.8T engines are highly talked about and discussed, but are there any tell-tale signs of an engine plagued with the sludge issue? Or is this something you'd have to take in to Audi and have them look at it? Would they look for this if you were to take the car in for a used vehicle inspection?

 

auditech is there a recall on the 2003 for the timing belt? i hear if u take it in they will check it for free and if it needs to be replaced do they do it for free also or u still gotta pay.

 

It's my understanding that if you take it in and they say it's bad you have to pay. If they say it's good and then breaks they pay.

 

They only pay for the inspection, or post mortem. Shane has it right.

 

Yeah they just check it for you, they had a similar recall for the B5 a few years back, its the B6's turn i guess.
But for the sludge on the 1.8T read my thread "facts about oil sludge" sludge isn't what really makes the 1.8T to lose pressure, its a collection of junk that gets clogged in the pick up tube. So even if you have the best oil you could still lose oil pressure suddenly. Like gasket material getting in the pick up tube, or custed oil from the PCV system, the best thing you can do is pour some "seafoam" in the crankcase every 20k before doing the oil change to help get all the crap out. Other than that just use synthetic oil.