Hey everyone.

How often do you have to change the timing belt on the B5 A4 1.8T?

How much do I at least have to pay for a timing belt change?

Thank you.

 

I have read people on here saying that you should do it around 60k- 70k miles but Audi says 80K miles. As for the price, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but its expensive. From the dealership I have seen an avg. low of about $800 for parts and labour and an avg. high of about $1100.
An idependent mechanic will be cheaper. A good price is about $500 or maybe a bit more (someone correct me if I am wrong on that one please). Alot of people seem to pay extra and go to the dealership or a good shop Specializing in Audis to have this job done. Apparently mistakes in this job can prove to have disastrous consequences.

 

usuallly around 80k miles. expect it to not be cheap, the labor calls for around 7 hours, and its kinda a pain in the ***. as for parts, belt, w/pump, tensioiner, roller, gaskets, etc...500 would be nice but its a far cry. more closer to a grand. and yes, if its not done properly and the marks are not aligned, expect to bend valves. ive seen it happen and fixed other shops mistakes, its not pretty...

 

I paid $710 including tax in April 2005. Do a search for
INDEPENDENT AUDI MECHANICS

 

I also read 80,000 miles is the time to get it done. I think I am going to do it myself though and save the money.

 

CrazyHawk...was that including the water pump, etc...?

 

Wow, that's a lot of money for timing belt.

So what can I be expectiong to break down if the timing belt isn't changed?

I heard the timing belt of the Audi is the so-called "chain" version that does not need to be changed?

Could that be a false information I received?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks.

 

The $710 included the water pump, tensioner and damper pulley, timing belt,
2 exterior belts, antfreeze (universal yellow) and labor

 

If you do not change the timing belt you can expect to be putting a new head on the car in the future. VAG engines are of the "interefearance" type. meaning the valves and pistons share the same space. when the belt snaps the crank and cams begin to move at different speeds, soon after the valves and pistons collide in an immistakable sounds. the chains you are referring to are the cam timing chains on the v-6 motors that do not need to be replaced. they drive one cam off the other so both do not need sprockets on the front of the engine.