Hey, I had the ignition switch done as part of a recall, and the dealership decided to do a "courtesy" inspection, and they found $1800 worth of work they wanted to do, and here goes:

Valve Cover Gasket-
leaking oil, and when pulled done, the intake manifold gasket needs replaced
but to my knowledge all cars have this "leakage" and it really isnt that bad

All Belts and hoses-
which I can relate to about the belts because my car just hit 77k miles, and I know some belts will need to be replaced, like the timing belt and i could do the serpentine belt and water pump belt(if there is one) so I know those could use replacement, but I do not want to spend all that money and was going to try DIY with the belts, the hoses seem fine, none are hard, crusty or anything of that matter, so I just want to replace the belts.

has anybody replaced the belts for a 1997 A4 1.8T or a year of close to it to have the know how on doing this? and while I attempt to do this(with a friend who is real smart with this) is there anything else that could do with replacing or whatnot while the car is apart like this. I would just like some other incite on this besides my friend and see what actual audi owners who are near experts with this have to say.

Thanks!
-Randy
p.s I have pictures, but I do not know how to put them up

 

Well around 1k worth of that is just timing belt. The serpentine belt is pretty straight forward if you wanted to do that by yourself. But since you are at 77k is time to start to think about the timing belt and its pretty simple just time consuming. DIY is a great way to save lots of money and I think more audi owners should do it themselves instead of paying the stealership.

 

If you can DIY than go for it but don't be silly replace those little radiator hoses. They won't set you back and now would be the time because you have to do the waterpump and thermostat too. Go to www.blauparts.com and have a look at their kits. get the valve cover gaskets they're a piece of cake. save yourself money and do it all at the same time. I recommend doing the vacuum lines also they will be next to crack www.ecstuning.com. that way all of your rubber stuff will be new.

 

^^^Your link to ECS wasn't correct so i fixed it for you.

Yes all the stuff you can do yourself easilly, all of these parts online will only cost you around $500, so go for it. There are DIY's for the timing belt all over the internet. Just remember, that pre 2000 models have an external water pump that isn't driven by the timing belt like the 01+ 1.8T motors. The older 1.8T's are a little harder to do, but its still pretty easy.

 

Awesome, thanks guys, I will look into those ASAP, and good point on while everything is apart to do as much as I can, I need this car to last me through school.
you are right about the stealership, ha. I wanted to go off on them for how much they were asking, I wanna stay under 1k with all the work, when I do it.
I appreciate the help, thanks again!

-Randy

 

Also, if you don't want to DIY try to go to a respectful local mechanic... But I would hit up esc for all your parts.