Cambelt change

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Detailer dave

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Ok guys i have a question regarding cambelt replacment. I have a 2014 a3 2.0 tdi the mileage is 1,600 miles as of today the car is a dry run weekend car and its garaged audi uk say the belt is due replacment at 120,000 miles or 5 years.

Audi germany say 144,000 miles with no time limit and its the same for most European countries.

Taking into account rubber degradation etc etc i am considering leaving mine a bit longer.

Most vag specialists seem to concur with my thoughts.

Just wondered what people thought on here and have you left yours in longer. ??
 
Sounds like you have exactly the same car as me. However, mine is used everyday in all weathers and has done 87,000. It was 5 years old last October and I had the timing belt & water pump replaced. I didn't want to take the risk. I've had a timing belt break before on my very first car - it was very messy and never really ran the same again.
 
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Detailer Dave.

This is a tricky issue, and one where only you can decide. As you have found, it is only Audi(UK) who stipulate the 5 year change interval. Audi Germany state only the mileage limit, and this applies in Germany and many other countries. However, they then go on to say that individual countries can make their own recommendations based on local conditions. Since the weather and road conditions in Germany are not that different to the UK the 5 year change interval is hard to understand, other than as a money maker for Audi(UK). One determined forum member took this up with Audi Germany, but despite several exchanges they would not/could not give any logical explanation. As I recall, after much wriggling, Audi finally conceded that even in the UK a belt change at 5 years was not mandatory, but that an annual condition check should be made.

When I had my Passat, like you I covered very few miles and kept the car garaged. In common with Audi(UK), VW(UK) said it needed a belt change after 12ok miles or 5 years, despite there being no such requirement in Germany. Well, after 5 years I had only covered 15k miles, so I decided to leave it longer. After 8 years (and 39k miles) I reasoned that I would be selling the car in another couple of years, and a purchaser would be looking for a recent belt change, so I cracked and had the change. The old belt was like new when it was removed, but I was right in that one of the first questions from the chap I sold the car to was "has the belt been changed recently?" So the £500 cost of the belt change was largely offset by the improved selling price I got for the car.

My 1.4tfsi is currently on 16k miles coming up to 4 years old, and I expect the mileage will climb at a rate of no more than 3k miles per year. Audi Germany say that the belt is a special design which lasts the life of the car. Audi(UK) say it should be changed ever 5 years. I will start visually checking the belt after 5 years, but I think it is very unlikely I will need to change it due to deterioration. I intend keeping the car for another 5 years at least, so as with the Passat I will probably have an (uneccessary) belt change a year or two before I sell it just to make it easier to sell for a good price.
 
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Mikeso51 said:
Detailer Dave.

This is a tricky issue, and one where only you can decide. As you have found, it is only Audi(UK) who stipulate the 5 year change interval. Audi Germany state only the mileage limit, and this applies in Germany and many other countries. However, they then go on to say that individual countries can make their own recommendations based on local conditions. Since the weather and road conditions in Germany are not that different to the UK the 5 year change interval is hard to understand, other than as a money maker for Audi(UK). One determined forum member took this up with Audi Germany, but despite several exchanges they would not/could not give any logical explanation. As I recall, after much wriggling, Audi finally conceded that even in the UK a belt change at 5 years was not mandatory, but that an annual condition check should be made.

When I had my Passat, like you I covered very few miles and kept the car garaged. In common with Audi(UK), VW(UK) said it needed a belt change after 12ok miles or 5 years, despite there being no such requirement in Germany. Well, after 5 years I had only covered 15k miles, so I decided to leave it longer. After 8 years (and 39k miles) I reasoned that I would be selling the car in another couple of years, and a purchaser would be looking for a recent belt change, so I cracked and had the change. The old belt was like new when it was removed, but I was right in that one of the first questions from the chap I sold the car to was "has the belt been changed recently?" So the £500 cost of the belt change was largely offset by the improved selling price I got for the car.

My 1.4tfsi is currently on 16k miles coming up to 4 years old, and I expect the mileage will climb at a rate of no more than 3k miles per year. Audi Germany say that the belt is a special design which lasts the life of the car. Audi(UK) say it should be changed ever 5 years. I will start visually checking the belt after 5 years, but I think it is very unlikely I will need to change it due to deterioration. I intend keeping the car for another 5 years at least, so as with the Passat I will probably have an (uneccessary) belt change a year or two before I sell it just to make it easier to sell for a good price.
Click to expand...
 
See i would have thought that frequent stop start, city driving, etc etc would be more wear on belt.

We do motorway driving in ours when we use it and i drive with a lot of mechanical sympathy so not as heavy wear or load on belt.

Also with car being garaged its not subject to great differences in temperature but because its 6 year old with under 2000 mile on it people say the compound in belt will degrade quicker. ??
 
Rubber will crack overtime unless you have a temperature controlled garage, and even then the heat and cold from the outside will expand and decrease and put stress on the part as its rubber. I would 100% get it done 5 years or the millage whatever is sooner, and as such the 5 years is up.

Think of the road salts, rain which is dirty and all the other things your car goes through.
Look at a household rubber band that you have never used, it starts to dry and crack over time.

Dont get Audi to do it, my local guy was great and charged me 350.00 for my A3 2014 2.0TDI (Pump and Belt) , Audi wanted 650.00 with the pump.
Even a Audi approved garage wanted 450.00 near me, so it shows Audi is a ripoff, and your car is not under warranty.
 
Since most modern engines are no longer the non-interference types, i.e if the belt goes then the pistons can trash the valves, then Id say its better to be safe than sorry and get it done. Belt, pump, and ideally anything else in the loop such as tensioner and idler pulleys to prevent problems down the line. Ive made this mistake before and ended up paying twice when the extra tension of the new belt exposes worn bearings in the pulleys.

It's just one of those annoyingly expensive bills, but hopefully only a once in an ownership job.
 
I bought car with 47.000 year ago now it passed 60.000 so once I will hit 100.000 I will replace it
And will replace all replaceable parts..
 
Detailer dave said:
Ok guys i have a question regarding cambelt replacment. I have a 2014 a3 2.0 tdi the mileage is 1,600 miles as of today the car is a dry run weekend car and its garaged audi uk say the belt is due replacment at 120,000 miles or 5 years.

Audi germany say 144,000 miles with no time limit and its the same for most European countries.

Taking into account rubber degradation etc etc i am considering leaving mine a bit longer.

Most vag specialists seem to concur with my thoughts.

Just wondered what people thought on here and have you left yours in longer. ??
Click to expand...
Hi Guys,

I have a 63 plate A3 saloon 1.4 petrol TFSI Auto the 8V chassis I think I was under the impression that they had a timing chain and a belt driven water pump. I have just had it mapped and would like to protect any belt as it is as quick as now from the off no throttle lag. Please advise timing belt or timing chain.
Cheers

Jeffo
 
Jeff

1.4 tfsi EA211 engine has a belt driven camshaft. Water pump is driven via a separate belt off the other end of the camshaft.
 
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Mikeso51 said:
Jeff

1.4 tfsi EA211 engine has a belt driven camshaft. Water pump is driven via a separate belt off the other end of the camshaft.
Click to expand...

Spot on
d0d5876e50f66dc271fbbaea4e69f31c.jpg



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
They're are not just made of "rubber". They are very strong and typically contain things like kevlar. Most mechanics I know tell me that it is usually something else on the circuit which fails first.
 
To add on this threat this is what it shows in my Audi as additional work on my 1.4 tfsi COD.. so quiet confused... 140k but does not mention the 5 years..
 

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Raul-sbd

This has already been explained earlier in the thread. Audi Germany does not specify any time limit, and since they produce the documentation that is what it says. However, they allow their subsidiaries in other countries to change this if they believe that "local conditions" require it. Most countries stick with what Audi Germany says, but Audi(UK) adds the 5 year change interval. No valid explanation for this has ever been forthcoming.
 
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Timing belts are supplied to manufacturers by 3rd parties , needless to say there will be varied performances between manufacturers , yes they are reinforced but are subject to abuse of temperature variations and high speed revolution. The bottom line is that they will fail regardless , it might be 20 yrs it might be 5yrs.
My Ducati was every 2 years regardless of use , the consequences of failure in a modern engine is horrendous , at £7k for a new engine you are effectively writing off an older car.
It's down to personal choice and I know the initial cost can put s lot of people off , however around £450 every 5 yes is not too bad.
 
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Georgeinabz said:
Timing belts are supplied to manufacturers by 3rd parties , needless to say there will be varied performances between manufacturers , yes they are reinforced but are subject to abuse of temperature variations and high speed revolution. The bottom line is that they will fail regardless , it might be 20 yrs it might be 5yrs.
My Ducati was every 2 years regardless of use , the consequences of failure in a modern engine is horrendous , at £7k for a new engine you are effectively writing off an older car.
It's down to personal choice and I know the initial cost can put s lot of people off , however around £450 every 5 yes is not too bad.
Click to expand...

Fully agree with that.. to be honest is not about the cost of replacing it was only a query about what Audi Germany is saying and what Audi Uk is saying.. still i am 3 years away of the cam belt change anyway ;) Thanks for clarifying!
 
Don't think this a Audi or belt issue only , plenty of grievence with BMW series 1 owners and stretched timing chains , absolute nightmare as some chains are located at the gearbox end under the bulkhead.
German engineering indeed !, as long as the car lasts through the warranty period especially in these PCP days manufacturers couldn't care less. I suppose if we wanted it simple we would still be driving mk 2 1.3 pushrod Escorts that every time it got damp the points would need dried out to start and the front wings would corrode after a year. In fact if your fortunate to own a mk 2 these days you could get a nice swap for an A3
 
It’s interesting to read what VAG said regarding cam belts when they introduced the EA211 back in 2012.
One example from a release on the official VW site:

“Take the example of overhead camshafts (DOHC): the camshafts are not driven by chain here, rather by a single-stage, low-friction toothed belt design with a 20 mm wide belt and load-reducing profiled belt wheels. Thanks to its high-end material specification, this toothed belt's service life reliably spans the entire life of the vehicle.”

So one might reasonably ask where Audi(UK) gets 5 years from? No one knows...........
 
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