long story short I got in a wreck with my audi and I found a nick on the timing belt the other day ( pic above)
My question is...the timing belt was replaced by an Audi dealer only 32k miles ago, so do I need to do the full kit (water pump, tensioner, etc) or just change the belt?

I plan on doing it soon (<5k miles), probably spring break or summer

thanks

 

32k miles isn't a lot for the water pump, t-stat, etc, so you should be good there. With the hydraulic tensioner, you always want to replace it when you remove the belt. Some people just jam it back in but I don't trust that method.

 

if that only a surface scratch i wouldnt even worry about it. it the center of the belt that does the most holding. but i cant tell. if its deep enough and you are going to change the belt, you might as well change everything in my opinion. you'll be happy if you plan on keeping the car

 

okay. I will most likely wait until summer to do it. scratch isnt too bad. if I find a good deal on a kit without t-stat I'll buy that. Or just one with a tensioner.
thanks

 

Honestly I would do it all. You're 90% of the way to changing it all by the time the t-belt comes off. Leave the other stuff in there and in another 30k miles, halfway through the service life of the new belt and tensioner, you'll have to tear it down again for those parts you elected not to change. Just do it all at once and be done with it for another 60k miles.

 

Good points by those two, I retract my previous statement.

 

Alright. Ill be keeping an eye out for a deal on a kit. thanks guys

 

I've used timing service kits from Blauparts and FCP Groton, and am very happy with both. FCP usually has better prices though.