Timingbelt 1.4 AUA - diagnostic?

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

But there is not such thing described anywhere; neither from Audi nor Conti?

Norway is -40 to +35degC.

Understand dealer say 5 years because this is easy money for them; and you get easily scared when dealer tell you what happens with engine if the belt snaps.

I am looking for solid references to where age limitation is coming from, and also reference to how the condition of a belt is evaluated.

Just notice there's been lots of replies since i photographed and wrote this but still relevant.

I can't provide cast iron references other than what Audi say to do but can provide real world experiences.It looks like your belt in yours is exactly the same as mine pictured going by the numbers/codes. By the way, how many kms has your belt covered?

Our Cobalt blue 1.4 petrol had never had a cambelt in 14 years and was changed soon after we bought it by our mechanic last year at 90k miles about 145,000 kms. I checked the tensioners water pump and they were all very smooth so still life left in them. Contitech is most definitely a belt manufacturer Audi use, i have seen it on 2 of my Audis both on the original factory supplied belts.

On checking a used belt,............ if you've changed it, it's fine to pinch it to check for cracks but it's clearly stated on many belts do not pinch.

Here's the condition of the 1.4 belt @ 90,000 miles and you can see there's nothing wrong with it.

Our 1.6 fsi is due a belt on age only having only covered 20k miles in exactly 6 years so i'm not worried about the belt but as i don't know if the tensioners and water pump were changed at the same time i'll be getting it done in the next few months as water pumps and tensioners can let go but for the moment it's all running like a Swiss watch all very smooth.

If you buy a car that's well overdue a belt change by many years and lots of miles i'd get it changed for peace of mind as soon as possible but if you've bought a car that's a year out of date but only covered 20k miles there's no need to panic.

 

[bretti_kivi]

Agreed.
But when the belts get put through the stress of the temperatures here - we're talking -20C to +60C in the engine bay regularly - I would consider it to be a prophylactic task. Same with Gearbox oil - there's no change indicated but that still doesn't mean it's a good idea to do 200000km with the original.

- Bret

 

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

Yep quite agree!

Changed the gearbox oil on both our A2's just for fun because i like to pamper them even though there was nothing wrong. Glad i did as you could feel the difference.

 

[Olerype]

The Audi dealership inspected the 18 years old timing belt 2 weeks ago; just to note minor wear.

Replaced the timing and multibelt today (Contitech). The 18 years old belt looked just fine; see photos.