I took this belt off my wife's 99 passat. The belt had 122 000Km on it. I wasn't sure if it had been changed before we bought it. I'm sure glad I checked! I could see clear through the center, and there were a few other smaller cracks. I suppose the steel wires inside started cutting the rest of the belt.

If I understand corectly, it is the same part number for the 2.8, 2.7, and 4.2. That is a small belt to be throwing around 30 - 40 valves. Don't put it off!

A few more stabs at the redline and it could have been exciting!

 

DAMN!

There could have been some bad news and bad spending in your future had you not changed it.

I tossed a timing belt in a dodge 12 years ago, disaster!!

 

i did mine at around 100k. i was going to do it eventually anyways, better safe than sorry.

 

I need to ask..... Did you use the DIY site to change your timing belt?
How difficult is it?

 

I used a Haynes manual for the passat, went blind while doing the A6. Figured its pretty much the same - it was. The hardest pert was figuring out how to get the F@*#&%$ bumper off. Turns out I was trying to undo the wrong screws - thats where I used a DIY site.

When I was removing the belt both cams spun half turm in the opposite direction - must have been valve spring pressure. Make sure you mark their position before removing the belt. And the tensioner can be a PITA. All in all its a 10- 12 hours job. You need full sets of allen wrenches and allen sockets.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

2002 A4 quattro, 1.8t: are there symptoms that the timing belt needs to be replaced? Noises, vibration when idling, that sort of thing?

Just purchased this car last week, and I've been trying to understand why it virbates when idling in Park (a little less when in D and R at stand still).

Seems like you know your stuff, any advice would help.

 

The only reason I can think of is if your mounts are dead. Sometimes the OEM rubber mounts break when they get old .(..ie. the rubber separated from the metal parts of the mount)

Either that or you have polyurethane mounts on your engine or transmission.

I could be wrong.

 

Timing belts have no symptoms (unless a roller is shot and the belt is about to slip off). Usually it will simply snap... and it sounds like $5000 falling out of your pocket. I hope no one ever finds out what that sounds like.

When you say vibrate, is it idling rough,or missing? what rpm does it idle at? does it behave the same when its cold/ warm?

 

I haven't noticed it idling higher than I would expect. The rough idle seems consistent whether the engine is warm or cold.

The idling is rough, and the sound/noise is consistent ( I assume if it was missing I would hear a variation in the noise?). It goes away when the vehicle is in motion, and completely when in neutral.

I noticed a difference when I filled the car up with Premium gas, which made me think the wrong gas grade was in the car, but the 'vibration' returned shortly after words.

The best analogy I can give, is when you drive the car really fast on the highway, to the point that the steering wheel shakes a little. If that helps.

 

ouch... it looks like you saved it just in time..