Hello All,

I just bought a 99.5 A4 1.8T Quattro @ 97.000 miles. Since I don't know about the car's service history, I took it to an Audi dealer today to have them inspect the timing belt. This is what the dealer said: It has a new aftermarket timing belt but old tensioner. They said it may take a while but will ultimately break.

I have a few questions:

Should I change the tensioner asap?

Can I just change the timing belt tensioner? (No timing belt etc.) If yes, would it decrease the cost? (as far as labor is concerned)

Why would someone change the timing belt but not tensioner? (Isn't it included in the kit?)


Thanks in advance.

 

I think they might be BSin you no one in their right mind would do that becasue its not the belts that fail its the tensioners......

 

Someone could have done it themselves and just changed the belt, but not the tensioner, or they took it to a local garage and they changed only the belt.

I'd change the whole front. The major cost is accessing the front of the car. Might as well change it all including the water pump and put new cam seals in. The "old tensioner" is a ticking time bomb.