I was just at Oakville Audi & asked at what mileage should the timing belt be replaced. I was told by the person at service desk that Audi now recomends that the timing belt be changed by 160,000 km. The desk person suggested that 140,000 km was probably safer. My car is at 130,000 km & I am wondering if I should change it now & is there a way one can ispect the timing belt without major work. Thanks in advance of all replies.

 

I'd definitely change it now, along with water pump since he's already there. You might also want to change the cam follower.

 

Here is what Audi recommends:

"Timing Belt – replace at 110K miles (175,000 km) on Audi TT 2.0T with front-wheel drive or 130K miles (205,000 km) on Audi A3 2.0L TDI only. Check condition of timing belt tensioning
system, dampening pulleys, and idler pulleys and replace if necessary."

Here is a link to service intervals on 2006 models.

https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...002E6DAE1F9F6D

 

For my A8, recommended change is at 144,000km. I've done it at 122,000 because of faulty thermostat at the time and now will wait until I hit about 140,000km (262,000 total) before I do it again. I'd also suggest replacing thermostat in addition to water pump and the other components mentioned above by "mikeh" and "everfresh". It's not a cheap maintenance but well worth it for the life of the car.