I was wondering how long it will take. Would having a lift make it easier or is everything done from the top?

 

Actually when I bought my car it had 62k miles on it. I budgeted in the price of the timing belt at the time of purchase as I considered it sort of like the taxes (needs to be taken care of and paid right away). Had the car 2 weeks and had a new timing belt, tensioner, serpentine belt and water pump replacement. I also agree with the above posts, all cars need to be maintained and all can fail. Also, if you go to any enthusiast forum you will find that all cars, especially those driven harder,have some high fail rate part that isn't part of a recall including the ones made by BMW, MB, Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

Good luck with your next purchase and even more luck on getting it taken care of by the dealer, as in most states they are not responsible for any type of failure after more than 30 days after purchase. You alsosignedat least the Federal Trade Commissions Sold As-Is form at purchase which will state that the car had no implied warranty and that you understood this. I think you will have better luck writing directly to Audi US then you will have with the dealer. If the dealer (not Audi) does take care of you and fix the care at a greatly reduced cost I would also suggest that you thank them sincerely as that is well beyond anything they need or should do.

 

thank goodness i have the 100,000 mile extended warrenty

never buy a used car w/o it!

 

I have heard as little as 4 hours for experienced person that has done it before and as long as 8-10hours for those who havent. Plus make sure you have a buddy to help you since there are times when you really need 2 people.

 

Actually one of the guys helping me has done it on his twice, another is extreemly knowledgeable when it comes to cars, and I'm working on a guy that works as an import mechanic. Gotta love the power of a case or two of beer! I'll hope for 5 hours then. Thanks!

 

The dealer had no way of knowing that was going to happen so how could they disclose it to you? By Audi's schedule, it was not due so you can't hold them responsible. Ask that dealer if you can trade it in to them for something else they have on the lot. They would probably be more receptive to that, than paying out of their pocket for a new engine. Remember to change those Honda timing belts too. Just because it was made in Japan does NOT mean it's indestructable.

 

I did the job in my garage using the excelent instruction on this site. It was pretty easy. The only tough part was actually getting the new belt onto all the pulleys without having it jump a tooth on the crank or cam pulley.

 

I'm replacing all the pullies so I hope I don't have the same problem.

 

Well, unfortunately,its not the dealer's fault.They did not sell you a lemon, but as far as I am concerned, Audi needs a fat class action lawsuit for selling sub par parts that are breaking WAY beforesuggested replacement times. The worstpart - the audi dealerships are capitolizing off of this by charging for the repairs on a part that shouldbe aRECALL item.

80k miles. My water pump impeller was cracked in 3 spots and about to break. I am glad I changed it when I did.

I had my car less than 3 weeks with 80k miles on it and I changed out my belt... Its a sad fact of life. You simply cannot trust what was done on the car, without the service records. If you bought it used, it sounds like you did not get a certified pre-owned, and also opted to not get a 3rd party warranty.

I have a 3rd party warranty, but I did not want to be in your situation. When we buy these things used, and get a deal, we get what we pay for. I paid 10k for mine, and put almost 800 into it (MAF, Timing belt, water pump, G12, VAG, ForgeDV, New Plugs, 2 Oil changes in 2 weeks (my oil was that bad...), Mats, and much more to come). Do what someone else suggested. Buy that entire engine from EcsTuning and go that route. At least then when you sell it, you can advertise the entirely NEW engine in the car. Plus, you can part out the old engine and many of the users here will grab some of the working items.

 

when we did my TB last week, we put 3 ref points on the belt, and each pully. We were not so worried about it jumping a tooth, because we had so many ref points, it was easy to see.

My suggestion - mark it with a sharpie and also use a silver scrapbooking marker on the sides of the belt and on the cam / crank pully. it really picks up the shine from the shop light or flashlight if you only have a jack and jackstands to work with.