Timing belt & water pump change interval on 2008 (B8) Audi A4

bobbytables

I am visiting a reputable independent dealer for the first time to check out an 2008 (B8) A4. I say "reputable" because I know a couple of people that have bought from there, and both are happy. The car has just over 90,000 miles on the clock and according to the service history the belt has not yet been changed. The dealer sells quite a few Audis and insists that this won't need to be done until approx. 114,000 miles. I would have thought this is quite high mileage without a change. I don't do massive mileage myself (< 15k), so would hope to get at least another year out of the car before getting anything serious done to it.

I know there's "recommended" and "actual", but do you think it is "rediculous" to expect the kit to last for another year without a change?

I also know this is a "When will the car fail?" sort of questions that can't be answered with considerable accuracy, so basically I'm just looking for some idea on the spectrum between "Yeah you'll be grand for another 15k miles" to "Absolutely no way will that car do it".

What do you think?

I plan on driving the car tomorrow, is there any indicators I could look out for that would imminent problems with the belt and clutch (which I believe is also an expensive fix)?

manor

bobbytables wrote: »

I am visiting a reputable independent dealer for the first time to check out an 2008 (B8) A4. I say "reputable" because I know a couple of people that have bought from there, and both are happy. The car has just over 90,000 miles on the clock and according to the service history the belt has not yet been changed. The dealer sells quite a few Audis and insists that this won't need to be done until approx. 114,000 miles. I would have thought this is quite high mileage without a



change. I don't do massive mileage myself (< 15k), so would hope to get at least another year out of the car before getting anything serious done to it.

I know there's "recommended" and "actual", but do you think it is "rediculous" to expect the kit to last for another year without a change?

I also know this is a "When will the car fail?" sort of questions that can't be answered with considerable accuracy, so basically I'm just looking for some idea on the spectrum between "Yeah you'll be grand for another 15k miles" to "Absolutely no way will that car do it".

What do you think?

I plan on driving the car tomorrow, is there any indicators I could look out for that would imminent problems with the belt and clutch (which I believe is also an expensive fix)?[/


Timing belt plus waterpump should be changed at 100,000 k/ms
60,000 miles
I also changed at 220,000k/m, have 249,000 on the clock now, going fine

Truckermal

Its 120k miles for those engines or 5 years whichever comes first allthough some say 4. That belt should be changed now.

mickdw

Truckermal wrote: »

Its 120k miles for those engines or 5 years whichever comes first allthough some say 4. That belt should be changed now.

As the car is 5 years old, get the dealer to do it now or else walk away.
Get written confirmation that it has been done also.
I don't think you mention what engine it had so I'm assuming it actually has a timing belt.

bobbytables

mickdw wrote: »

I don't think you mention what engine it had so I'm assuming it actually has a timing belt.

It's a 2.0 TDI (143bhp UK import) S Line.

Audi were advertising Timing Belt & Pump Kits + Labour for something fixed like €399 recently (around the country). Was that a limited offer or is that still available.

legend1981

audi do fixed price servicing have a look at the website its around 400 for the timing belt alright and there prices are decent enough. that belt should be changed before the 100k mark ideally 80k cost of something going wrong will be alot more, also if u know a good inde you could buy the parts reasonable enough and just cover the labour for your inde, but way it up against the fixed price form audi, also the flywheel has a tendency to go early in the a4 b8 model, costs about a grand with audi to do so what that, tell tale signs are a judder in engine when you press in the cluth,,slight rattle at idle ect but again on alot of a4's this will be changed by 90k id imagine...

i brought in a a4 b8 s line....p.s love it

royster999

So what is the recommended miles for when the belt should be changed on a B8 A4 ??
80,000 km ?

Can one ring the dealerships which serviced a car previously and check if the belt was changed?

Chimaera

This is king of an old thread, but that aside, belt change interval depends on the engine fitted (some of the engines have a timing chain too instead of a belt). Dealer service department can tell you exactly what it is.

Different engines had different change intervals, often depending on the tensioner and rollers rather than the belt as they're the weak part most of the time. The belts are only a serious weakness if they get old and the rubber perishes which is why there's a time limit as well as a distance one.

If the car has been dealer serviced, they should have the info available. The details should also be in the service book that came with the car though. Look for 'toothed belt service' or something similar.

Nino Brown

I have a B8 too. Manual says 180,000km, but there's no guarantee, if it goes sooner you're on your own. So I did mine at 120,000km. Audi fixed price servicing is a joke, it doesn't inlcude the water pump which is another E100. Go to George Dalton, he did mine for a considerable amount less than audi quoted.

royster999

Nino Brown wrote: »

I have a B8 too. Manual says 180,000km, but there's no guarantee, if it goes sooner you're on your own. So I did mine at 120,000km. Audi fixed price servicing is a joke, it doesn't inlcude the water pump which is another E100. Go to George Dalton, he did mine for a considerable amount less than audi quoted.

Is yours a TDi 2.0L ?
Are manual & automatics timing belt change intervals the same ?

Nino Brown

royster999 wrote: »

Is yours a TDi 2.0L ?
Are manual & automatics timing belt change intervals the same ?

Yeah mine is a 2.0TDI, the 170bhp version. I have no idea about automatics.

bazz26

On the VAG 2.0 CR TDi the belt interval is 100k miles (180k km) or 5 years.

royster999

Is there any way of knowing the timing belt has been done by looking in the engine ?

bazz26

Nope. Ideally it should be documented as part of the service history.

Nino Brown

royster999 wrote: »

Is there any way of knowing the timing belt has been done by looking in the engine ?

Sometimes they'll write the date on the TB cover

bazz26

I wouldn't take something written in tip-ex as gospel, a bottle of tip-ex is a lot cheaper than a new timing belt.

royster999

Cool, I have also read they can tell by checking the water pump.

Gazzmonkey

The timing belt & water pump should be documented in the service history for all vehicles, I got mine done at 75,000 miles as per the recommendation from an experienced VAG mechanic.

Can't for the life of me remember what his reasoning was for doing the work early.

If there's really no evidence of the work been carried out then I would be very sceptical about the vehicle.

Jesus.

Has anyone played Russian Roulette with their timing belt and just left it without a change?

And did you get away with it or was it disastrous?

royster999

I know of lads who have went over 20,000 miles past the recommended change time. Personally if the car is expensive, it is not worth the risk.

royster999

Do most people get the belt changed at regular garages or at Dealerships ?

Nino Brown

royster999 wrote: »

I know of lads who have went over 20,000 miles past the recommended change time. Personally if the car is expensive, it is not worth the risk.

On the flip side I've heard of belts going 20k km before they were due to be changed, definitely not something you want to be putting on the long finger.

Jesus.

royster999 wrote: »

I know of lads who have went over 20,000 miles past the recommended change time. Personally if the car is expensive, it is not worth the risk.

That's what it all boils down to. If you're in Bangernomics territory then you might take a chance but for a car worth a few quid you'd be mad not to change it.

buzzing147

Jesus. wrote: »

That's what it all boils down to. If you're in Bangernomics territory then you might take a chance but for a car worth a few quid you'd be mad not to change it.

Timing belt on.my A4 B8 was done at 50,000 miles, early, cause dealership was doing a belt deal, it's now 30,000 miles and 5 years later, wonder is it due changed again? The 5 year part is worrying but only 30,000 done since that belt, not sure whether to wait another while or not. Car has 80,000 miles.