Originally Posted by jamr

i worked for audi as a senior technician for a lot of years and my experiance with the pd 1.9 engines is the belt should be changed with in the five years or 60,000 miles, due to the extra strain on belts nowadays i have seen them starting to split within this period. i am now a mobile mechanic and still enforce this belief, i also recomend the water pump to be changed at the same time, again with experiance with audi and also other manufactures, the strain with a new belt puts added strain on the bearing and within 20,000 miles the pump will have to be replaced which means the belt will have to be rmoved again in which case costing you a considerable sum off money. your audi dealler are only thinking of your wellfair and pocket and i must praise them for contacting you and letting you know, as not all do and customers end up with snapped belts