My wife's mint 2003 A6 Quattro has just snapped its timing belt at 98K . The Audi dealer who has serviced the car from new told her it should not be done until 115K. They are of no help now and want between $5K and $6K to fix it.
A few years back I did fix a 1995 A6 2.7 with a broken timing belt where the idler pulley bearing broke up at 78K. It bent 12 valves, and took quite a few hours to get it fixed.
Is the 3.0 engine any more of a PITA than the 2.7 ? What is the best maintenance manual to get, the Bentley seems a bit light on information when it comes to getting into the engine internals. Are there any "how to " documents I should get hold of. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Shame on the dealer for not knowing the proper replacement interval. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but for sure you have bent valves. I drive the 2.8 V6 but I know the 3.0 is also interference so yeah snapped belt bye bye valves and pistons. It really would be a miracle if you don't have any bent valves but again its slim. The search tool here is your friend so take a look at head removal avoid going to the dealer at all costs. If you do the work at home you are going to save a ton of money. Best of luck and keep us all posted. Judging by your description of mint condition I really would fix it but that's just me lol

 

Thanks, I figured plenty of bent valves and bad language are in my future. I'm a reasonable mechanic so I plan to fix it myself, it does not make economic sense to go to the Audi dealer. That said though, a new car payment of $450 a month and the first years depreciation on a new car, even at $6k dealer cost I'm still way ahead if I just use the car for 1 more year. The old adage that "it's cheaper to keep them" is true for cars as well.

 

Yes it is wayyy cheaper to fix it than get a whole new car as tempting as it is. So with that said if you have the know how tools and space to do it go for it. Plus having the satisfaction and feeling stoked about you fixing it yourself is priceless the foul language package just comes standard in every Audi model lol

 

Agree...Should I replace the valve guides where I find bent valves ? The few interference engines I have repaired did not damage the valve guides when the valve bent. I checked with the machine shop I use, and they recommend only checking the guides and replace if there are any cracks that show up from the crack test. I'm tempted just to replace the guides where there are bent valves.
I removed the belt covers yesterday and found about 1 inch of missing teeth on the belt so hopefully I don't have all 30 bent valves . I have ordered the cam timing tool kit and a complete cam belt kit. I will wait until I get the heads off this weekend to figure out what else I need. Looks like it's going to be around $1200 total to fix it including machine shop and tools. As this is my first time with the 3.0 it will take a bit longer to fix. I will pull the heads and get them off to the machine shop first and then get the front of the motor ready for their return.

 

Good luck n keep us posted

 

I'm going to guess you bent the exhaust valves on the driver's side head. No way you were lucky enough to catch all 30. Replace guides with valves. If you do a leak down test you can tell if you need to pull both heads or just the one. No point in pulling a good head. Good luck! Get new head bolts on order and the special wrench if you don't have one.