# Timing belt change 2006 Audi A3 2.0T, need input/encouragement



## dutchcar (Oct 23, 2012)

All,

My wife's 2006 audi a3 2.0T will be needing a new timing belt soon and I'm considering doing that myself. Have done this a few times on an old Golf diesel (which was straightforward) and have worked on a few cars and motorcycles since then (except the ducati, they all had timing chains though). To some extent I enjoy working on my vehicles, but from my experiences with the a3 so far, it is not generally the easiest car to work on (still frustrated about spending 1.5 hours on changing a light bulb), so am a bit worried about taking this on. My wife needs the a3 every workday so I can't let this sit for a week if come Sunday evening I don't manage to put it back together.

Can anyone with experience working on these engines let me know how bad of a project this is? Any special tools needed? Good replacement kit to buy? If this is not something I should aspire to, feel free to be brutally honest.

Also the a3 has about 72K on it now. There appear some differences in opinion on replacement interval. I figured anywhere before 80K is ok, but from what I've read the audi guideline was 110K, later changed to 75K. Which is correct? I know that replacing it is 'cheap' insurance, but I see little point in changing it if really not needed yet.

Thanks for any input!


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## MisterJJ (Jul 28, 2005)

It's not a particularly easy task but not an incredibly difficult one either. No extra special tools needed, just triple-squares and such. There's a few DIY's out there.

But... Have you done a valve cleaning yet? If not, it is over due. Thermostat should be done at the same time too and is easy when done with the valve cleaning. The valve cleaning, thermostat, and timing belt can be done in one day but you would have to have no problems... yeah, right. Better devote a full weekend for the full job.

Here's your sticking points:
For valve cleaning, there is a support bracket for the intake manifold that is a PITA to remove. Make sure you have the right tool. Cleaning is a PITA too. And make sure you have the injector seals if the injectors come out.
For timing belt, there are two-part timing belt covers and one part covers. I have a one part cover and it was a major pain. You must remove the passenger side drive axle, regardless of what any DIY says. I had to lift half the engine out of the car to get enough clearance to remove it. I think the next time I will buy the two-part cover and cut my one part cover off.


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## lausch (Mar 29, 2002)

MisterJJ said:


> You must remove the passenger side drive axle, regardless of what any DIY says.


That, sounds like a lot of work.


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## tp.wannabe.s3 (May 21, 2010)

Driver Too said:


> That, sounds like a lot of work.


nah takes max 15 min to unbolt it


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## dutchcar (Oct 23, 2012)

Ha, valve cleaning. I forgot about the direct injection implications. Yes, that would probably be over due then.

So how about service interval? Should I just do the whole thing (valve cleaning, t-belt, thermostat, water pump) now at 72K and call it good, or just do valve cleaning now and do t-belt, t-stat and waterpump later?


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## tp.wannabe.s3 (May 21, 2010)

dutchcar said:


> Ha, valve cleaning. I forgot about the direct injection implications. Yes, that would probably be over due then.
> 
> So how about service interval? Should I just do the whole thing (valve cleaning, t-belt, thermostat, water pump) now at 72K and call it good, or just do valve cleaning now and do t-belt, t-stat and waterpump later?


do everything same time


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## dutchcar (Oct 23, 2012)

Ok, doing all at once makes sense. After reading more confusing info on service intervals for the t-belt I was thinking of cutting the difference between 110K and 75K in the middle and do it at 90K (which will be in about 1 year from now). Reasonable to just do all of this at that mileage? Or is this something I should be doing now (or should have done already).


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## tp.wannabe.s3 (May 21, 2010)

if belt snaps then engine go bye bye


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## dutchcar (Oct 23, 2012)

Yes I know that, hence the question on the recommended service interval. If the recommended service interval is 75K, I'll do it now. If 110K, then I'll do at least t-belt later, but probably not taking it beyond 90K. I will look for more info, but keep getting contradicting info. If someone happens to know what the correct interval is or can direct me to a reliable source then that would be great. 

In the end I realize it may be good to do sooner than later, but want to be reasonable as much as possible. 



tp.wannabe.s3 said:


> if belt snaps then engine go bye bye


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## brungold (Oct 8, 2007)

dutchcar said:


> Timing belt change 2006 Audi A3 2.0T, need input/*encouragement*


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## MisterJJ (Jul 28, 2005)

I haven't seen any early failure of timing belts for these engines. I think there was some guy that went to 108k or so and it broke. And one fool that made it to 215k miles (http://forums.fourtitude.com/showthread.php?5403018-Blown-engine-hoping-for-some-advice!) There's been a few that have gone out early but it was because the cam follower blew out and took most of the valve train with it. You have checked your cam follower, right?

I did my timing belt around 80k.

Here's a pic of my valves at 73k:


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## 091500pt1 (Jul 13, 2013)

*Did you manage to fix it?*

Hey, I'm considering working on the same problem myself and found this thread. What was the outcome?


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## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

091500pt1 said:


> Hey, I'm considering working on the same problem myself and found this thread. What was the outcome?


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## mike3141 (Feb 16, 1999)

Since this thread is from October 2012 and the OP has a total of 4 posts I don't believe an answer will be forthcoming.


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