When does the cambelt need changing on a s3?

[Tekin]

I know this is a expensive job and wanted to avoid having to do it myself, i sound like a bit of a cheapskate i know but i am on a budget. Does anyone know at what stage this this is carried out i.e on 3rd service or would a car with 90,000 plus miles had it done or......?

Cheers Lads.

 

[1animal1]

should be done at 60k i believe...... i had mine done at 80k..... if you have it done make sure you get the water pump changed aswell....otherwise if this goes they have to take the cambelt off again and you pay twice.....all for the sake of replacing a £25 part

 

[Tekin]

Thanks for your prompt response mate, i haven't bought an S3 yet but i have been looking for a good few months now. So i should go for one with 80K+ and this will mean that all the major servicing/bits and bobs will have been done?

 

[1animal1]

in theroy, mine actually had 82 k on the clock so was 22k over....and i ended up paying...although i did get money off to do it from the dealer

 

[jojo]

For me personally, I'd do the Cambelt every 50k miles or 5 years, which ever comes first.

 

[ash_s3]

Audi told me 80,000 or 5 years, whichever comes first.
Personally id make sure it was done by 70,000 at the latest, as said above, do the waterpump aswell as it'l probably have broken or very brittle impellor fins anyway

Average price is about £275 all in, i think.

 

[Tekin]

Right...so if i find a car with 80k plus with full Audi main dealer service, this will mean its had the cam belt and water pump changed and a car like this will be perfectly fine to buy? Is there anything else major which should have been changed replaced or anything else i should look out for?

 

[Dave B]

For me personally, I'd do the Cambelt every 50k miles or 5 years, which ever comes first.

This is me getting it doen at the end of the month,

Dave

 

[abdus]

you need to check whether the cambelt/water pump has been done even if it has FASH. My A3 had 68k with FASH but cambelt wasn't done. I recently did mine at 80k. £145 all included. did it myself. Car was running fine, no overheating etc...before change, yet the water pump was broken.

 

[sitrials]

has anyone ever changed to the metal impeller??

 

[abdus]

has anyone ever changed to the metal impeller??

actually Audi doesn't recommend this. The new water pump is a revised one and better than the plastic one. I got mine from murraysdirect and it was the uprated version one.

 

[Tekin]

Splendid, thanks for all your help guys! I now know what i am exactly looking for now all i need is the right car. Any one know anyone or anyone on here selling a Silver/Ming Blue face lift 225bhp s3 2001+ 80K+ black heated leathers and a sunroof thats all the extras i desire for around 6.5k to 8k? I might be asking for too much but i have the cash for a quick sale.

Anyone.....

 

[sitrials]

gonna get my belt in 4kmiles and it handy to know!
any reason why Audi don't recommend??

 

[ash_s3]

Splendid, thanks for all your help guys! I now know what i am exactly looking for now all i need is the right car. Any one know anyone or anyone on here selling a Silver/Ming Blue face lift 225bhp s3 2001+ 80K+ black heated leathers and a sunroof thats all the extras i desire for around 6.5k to 8k? I might be asking for too much but i have the cash for a quick sale.

Anyone.....

Dont get hung-up on wanting a 225 engine, you'll pay a premium price for one in the first place, insurance is more expensive too, could be worse Co2 emissions too so check road tax, and there is no difference if you raced one in a 210bhp S3 anyway!!
Also some 210bhp engine, (think its APY) have stronger internals.
225's (BAM) are usually found on much later cars like 2003 which will be well out of your price range, actually your being very ambitious with what you want for the money youve got!
£8k MIGHT get you a high mile (100k+) facelift or a pre-facelift with decent miles, dont be tight if you defiently want an S3 as there are alot of dogs out there to beware of, seen a few myself...

 

[Tekin]

i defiantly want a face lift model so i assumed the car would be 225 automatically, i am sure Y reg onwards all engines are 225 or am i wrong. I am not to bothered about the 15bhp difference but i am sure that i can get a decent s3 with 90k FASH and a few extras starting from 6.5k seen 1 or 2 on auto trader but they are slacking a few essentials like heated seats.

 

[Nilz]

Not all facelifts are 225s, do a search for engine codes and you will find a full write up, as mentioned you may get a high miler for the budget you have, however dont let this put you off, also see if you can get one with good service history.

Get the cambelt done every 50k, thats what the majority of S3 owners have and recommend, i just had mine done as did a few others on here, again if you do a search you will find quite a few threads on cambelt changes.

I had mine done with the waterpump and fanbelt all for £270 inclusive.

Where about are you based??

Also for a car, look in the usual places, soz if im telling you to suck eggs, but not alot of people check all these places....

autotrader
pistonheads
exchange and mart

Cheers
Nilz

 

[ash_s3]

i defiantly want a face lift model so i assumed the car would be 225 automatically, i am sure Y reg onwards all engines are 225 or am i wrong. I am not to bothered about the 15bhp difference but i am sure that i can get a decent s3 with 90k FASH and a few extras starting from 6.5k seen 1 or 2 on auto trader but they are slacking a few essentials like heated seats.

Nope, most of the 225s are around 2002-2003
Mine is a 51 reg and on a 210 AMK
£6.5k is a no chance mate, honestly, ive seen cheap S3s and have seen why theyre cheap. They all look lovely on the pistonheads pictures, but pictures can hide hell of alot...
If you spend £6.5k on an S3 your going to have to be prepared to spend alot on it very soon... thats if it is what is says it is.
Really dont mean to put you off pal, but id reccomend you dont buy a cheap 'too good to be true' example.

 

[jojo]

has anyone ever changed to the metal impeller??

I had a metal impellor waterpump fitted on mine along with the cambelt.

 

[HTC]

I also have a metal impellor water pump. I research the new "revised" part at the next belt change.

 

[alijames]

i defiantly want a face lift model so i assumed the car would be 225 automatically, i am sure Y reg onwards all engines are 225 or am i wrong. I am not to bothered about the 15bhp difference but i am sure that i can get a decent s3 with 90k FASH and a few extras starting from 6.5k seen 1 or 2 on auto trader but they are slacking a few essentials like heated seats.

Heated seats are not all they are cracked up to be. By the time they've warmed up, so has the engine, and heater!!

210bhp engines were still being fitted well into 2002 (Mine is a 2002/51 and is the AMK 210 engine) and the 225 BAM engine started to appear late 2001.

I nearly bought this one,

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...20-4294966997/advert.action?R=200813306764255

but DVLA were taking an age to send back the V5 after a plate change and I could not wait any longer as I'd sold my old MX5. Of course the V5 came back 2 days later, but I'd already found and bought another cracker!!! It's a very clean standard car with no rattles and squeaks and immaculate inside. Certainly work a look.

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[Nilz]

Alistair, i was going to go and look at that one as well, if its still on there, then it has been for a while, only reason i didnt go for it, was that it was too far.

Also as Ash said, dont spend a little on a car, see if you can save some more and get a better example, as at the end of the day, the last thing you want to do is buy a car and end up having it parked up because of constant probs with it...

 

[alijames]

I looked at 15 in total, and that one was the best I looked at. (The one I've got was number two in the list)

It's in Weybridge, if you are interested, and Simon seems a very genuine bloke. It is due for a cam belt though.

Overall the quality of all the ones I looked at ranged from this one down to some real overpriced free-wheeling scrap, one in Watford had severely b***ered suspension and a knackered turbo!!

Good luck,

Cheers,

 

[joshxs]

Heated seats are not all they are cracked up to be. By the time they've warmed up, so has the engine, and heater!!

I dunno, mine heat up pretty quickly and I love them! Perfect for long journeys as you can keep the cabin temp down and the seat on to keep you warm. keeps you awake

I just had to replace my cambelt/waterpump. Came to £300 all in.

Why is it that everyone wants face-lifts anyway?

 

[themanthatcan]

Why is it that everyone wants face-lifts anyway?

Dunno about anyone else but I prefer the look of the facelift headlights. The pre-facelift units look a bit strange..the headlamp unit itself looks really small. The facelift model just has a fresher,cleaner, slightly more modern look to it.

Andy

 

[alijames]

Why is it that everyone wants face-lifts anyway?

You also get a handy cup-holder on the dashboard...

Cheers,

 

[Tekin]

I looked at 15 in total, and that one was the best I looked at. (The one I've got was number two in the list)

It's in Weybridge, if you are interested, and Simon seems a very genuine bloke. It is due for a cam belt though.

Overall the quality of all the ones I looked at ranged from this one down to some real overpriced free-wheeling scrap, one in Watford had severely b***ered suspension and a knackered turbo!!

Good luck,

Cheers,

Was that the blue on on autotrader in watford? I was meant to go see that the other day!

 

[alijames]

Was that the blue on on autotrader in watford? I was meant to go see that the other day!

I think so. There can't be that many metallic blue ones around in Watford, although the one now on Autotrader claims to be only 90k miles, and the one I saw was at 104k. Mind you it had been owned by the son of a celebrity chef, so surely that must add something to then price...

Cheers,

 

[Tekin]

Not all facelifts are 225s, do a search for engine codes and you will find a full write up, as mentioned you may get a high miler for the budget you have, however dont let this put you off, also see if you can get one with good service history.

Get the cambelt done every 50k, thats what the majority of S3 owners have and recommend, i just had mine done as did a few others on here, again if you do a search you will find quite a few threads on cambelt changes.

I had mine done with the waterpump and fanbelt all for £270 inclusive.

Where about are you based??

Also for a car, look in the usual places, soz if im telling you to suck eggs, but not alot of people check all these places....

autotrader
pistonheads
exchange and mart

Cheers
Nilz

I am based in North Lodnon. I have been checking autotrader and pistonheads almost everyday. Exchange and Mart i find that its usually expensive.

So basically you cant tell what bhp the car is unless you look at the engine code thats what i need to be looking out for then, even thought i am not to bothered which one i get now.

 

[alijames]

I am based in North Lodnon. I have been checking autotrader and pistonheads almost everyday. Exchange and Mart i find that its usually expensive.

So basically you cant tell what bhp the car is unless you look at the engine code thats what i need to be looking out for then, even thought i am not to bothered which one i get now.

Correct, the code should be on the V5 and also on a sticker in the spare wheel well IIRC.

APY or AMK = 210bhp
BAM = 225bhp

Other codes mean it's had an engine change from a TT or some other donor vehicle.

Good hunting. Make sure you take your time, and don't make a snap decision on one which has all the options you want. There is plenty of dross out there, but there are also a lot of minters!!

Cheers,

 

[Tekin]

I think so. There can't be that many metallic blue ones around in Watford, although the one now on Autotrader claims to be only 90k miles, and the one I saw was at 104k. Mind you it had been owned by the son of a celebrity chef, so surely that must add something to then price...

Cheers,

Initially on the add it said 104K, when i rang up the seller said it had just over 90k then they changed the add to 90k...weird....maybe they did it for searching purposes because most people search for cars under 100k i would guess.

Even though 6.5k is a cheap price for a face lift...but the color put me off. How did you find out those faults?

 

[alijames]

Initially on the add it said 104K, when i rang up the seller said it had just over 90k then they changed the add to 90k...weird....maybe they did it for searching purposes because most people search for cars under 100k i would guess.

Even though 6.5k is a cheap price for a face lift...but the color put me off. How did you find out those faults?

Err, I drove it, and all became clear within about 100 yds!!

 

[joshxs]

You also get a handy cup-holder on the dashboard...

Cheers,

Lol! Glad I have a pre-facelift now.

I don't mind the look of the new lights, I did consider changing mine over at one point. But decided to spend the money going off to Egypt instead....

I get the feeling some earlier cars might masquerade as facelifts if there are only minimal changes.