thrash

I did the math on this the other day.

Suppose the TB replacement interval is 75k miles. Suppose you drive 15k miles year. You're going to do a TB job every 5 years. Suppose you pay $1k for the TB job. Amortized, that's $200 a year.

If you're driving 15k a year that's either 2 or 3 oil changes per year (depending on if you like 5k or 7500mile OCIs).

On those big *** engines, 3 oil changes a year with new filters and fully synthetic oil is going to cost you _almost_ $200 in materials. More if you pay someone else to do it.

What's the point?

Changing the timing belt every 75k miles costs the same as changing your oil. If you pay others to do oil changes for you, a timing belt is _way_ cheaper.

Trying to long-life the timing belt interval to "Save money" is a dumb move.

If you can't budget at least $500 a year to maintain an A8, don't buy one.

thrash

she heard a funny noise while i was out of town; i told her to get it to a dealer ASAP.

They recognized the sound as waterpump shaft play. WP was on the way out and the timing belt was going to go with it when it went.

By getting it in early we saved them an engine replacement under warranty, and it saved us a few weeks of no car instead of 1 day of no car.

Mister Bally

I do my own oil changes. Interval is 10,000 miles per the book. First change on a new 4.2 is at 5,000 miles, 10,000 miles thereafter.

I do my own maintenance on everything that I can. The timing belt procedure scares me. Especially if I have to spend almost $500 for the special tools from Zelenda plus another $400 for the parts. There is a seller that charges about $500 for the parts and you get ten days of included special tool rental. However, others here say that the parts they sell are inferior.

I was quoted $1700.00 for the belt change by the dealer. Paying a dealer for maintenance charges is a bit beyond $500.00 per year.

I do what I can in the maintenance & service areas to save money so I can have an A8. I am an A8 demographic reject, that's for sure!

I've posted in the past how my Inline 5 turbo engine which was higher reving with a much smaller belt went over 200k miles. I only replaced the belt because I had to remove it to replace the water pump. That's why I feel that 150k is a more suitable interval. BongoCruiser has proven that theory wrong.

You are entitled to your opinion and i'm entitled to mine. I don't exactly appreciate someone telling me what I should or shouldn't buy.

Funny how the timing belt maintenance interval is not called out in Audi advertising or brochures.

Bob58

That was u-g-l-y.

Never again. I learned my lesson.

BongoCruiser

Thanks for all the replies-only a few pointed out I was being a cheap idiot, I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of postponing a $1500 preventative maintenance job.

Turns out my engine was ok. When I got the first call the belt was hanging limp. It turns out the problem was that the hydralic tensioner failed. When he removed the belt the cams lined up and the engine was not damaged. Turns out I was very lucky and I only need the belt job and the tensioner fixed. Something for everyone to think about because it seems to me that the failure I experienced is not directly related to the mileage.

Looking forward to your replies.

PaulW

That's exactly what happened to my business partner with his 1990 V8, the tension broke, and all the exhaust valves got slapped by the pistons. An expensive endevor.

I believe if you had the timing belt job done at 75-100K, you would of precluded this failure.

Quattro_#2

That would've been a major league bummer. You've put the fear in all of us with older D3's - I'm sure we'll pay attention to that 75-100k number now!

Thanks for sharing the experience with us.

A8CT

....and what's getting stranded worth?

Mister Bally

As I perused your picture poster, I too have gone overboard with Griot's Garage stuff. I've spent at least the cost of a dealer timing belt job on Griot's stuff. I started buying their stuff once I bought my A8. Priorities, go figure!

dvs_dave

Thread resurrection, but that's interesting that it was the hydraulic tensioner that was the root cause of the failure.

Looks to have been the same root cause with this poor guy too.

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...-work-2882133/

Although he'd had the timing belt service done recently by Audi, but apparently not the hydraulic tensioner replaced. Sadly for this guy it seems a catalogue of errors then ensued resulting in a completely blown engine and a totaled car.

Info on timing belts and wear diagnosis here: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-.../#post24682893