I brought my TT to the shop and talked to the owner. (I am gonna do the timing belt service) I bought the kit from ECS.
The owner said the timing belt job need 5 hrs ($100/h) and if I need to change the thermostat will add another 1 hr, but he told me the thermostat rarely fail. He suggested me don't change it. Also I got the cam shift seals (included in the ECS kit). He also mentioned these seals rarely leak oil and told me don't waste $ to change them.
Any opinions?

gordon

no one?[&:]

hmm... i feel bad but idk, i havent come across a post regaurding this but i too want to know as im at 52k and approaching that time. soooooooo anyone?

I got that same kit with the seals from ECS tuning. There is a reason why ECS would include them as a package. They felt that the seals were part of a complete timing belt package and should be changed when the Timing belt. I am defintaly changing my seals and I also have the new Theromstat. I have heard that some due fail but mostly dont work correctly. Mine broke on my golf, so i am just going to do the extra work. It shouldnt be an extra hour to do the Theromstat though, once they are in there for the TIming belt

2nd opinion time maybe.

The $100/hr charge seems up there for an independant if that's what it is. I was in Audi Service yesterday and they had a sign on the wall saying $89/hour per Market Research. So this person is more than dealer? What kind of shop? Known them long?

the shop owner is correct about the cam seals but wrong about the thermostat. there is no such thing as a no fail thermostat. but i can see why he charges an hour for the thermostat, it is a real pita with TT's. removing and installing the 2 bolts that hold them in place is a very inexact science, it can easily take a tech some time to get them out and in. Also alan 89 from your dealer is a steal, my local dealers are 139 an hour. but dont forget to factor in the dealer will charge more hours for the job. also to be clear ECS adds the seals to sell them. they are dirt cheap. our seals arent a common fail point. as long as i been working on cars i honestly have yet to replace seals because they were leaking. and its commonly known that when you replace those seals in a vag motor....you could be asking for problems. its really easy to see if they need replacement just pull back the upper timing cover and stick your finger around the cam sprocket to search for sludge. i definately do not reccomend replacing this unless needed. the older 4 cylinders had problems with this but the newer ones are waaay better. hope this helps.

I second what ray says.

Skip the seals unless you're sure you need them.

The thermostat was higher on the stress level than the timing belt when I changed mine a few weeks back, and it really did take me about an hr. I feel I had a slight advantage, because Im by far NOT a big guy, and could actually fit my hands down in there to start the screws. I still had a terrible time getting them out to begin with. You'll need a 10mm(?) socket, or a socket hex wrench (can't remember the hex size, wanna say 5-6mm), a universal, and at least 12 inches of socket extension. Something magnetic helps too, to get the screws out/in easier if you don't have small hands.

From my experience, I wouldn't do the thermostat until it actually does start to go.

--Veer off point for a sec.

Can a thermostat fail in the closed position? Its a spring loaded, wax filled 'thing' right? As long as you can heat it enough to melt the wax so the coolant pressure can push it open, you're good.

Mine was starting to go, and wouldn't let the car reach normal operating temperature, I was always 1-2 clicks to the left of 12 o'clock, and this is why I changed it.

--Sorta back on point.

The replacement thermostat I installed is slow to respond. Example: I stopped at Arbys last night, and noticed the coolant gauge was creeping up to, and just past the mark to the right of 12 o'clock, it did stop there fortunately. Temps dropped to normal as soon as I got rolling again.

I DIDN'T replace my thermostat when I did the timing belt on the 180, it worked fine, and continued to do so, up until the day I piled into a minivan.

If it works, i wouldn't screw with it. (thermostatically speaking)

Wow, that got long!

I should mention that my TT is 96k miles now.
and the shop is called Advance Audi/VW in San Francisco.
they have pretty good review on yelp.com so I give it a try. They charged $100/h labor... I am not sure but when I stopped by the shop.. it's huge!! all car are Audi or VW.