Cambelt change

[TarmacTerrorist]

I did think my service booklet was out of date/ wrong one originally supplied when it was registered. May be later cars comes with a revised service booklet with the relevant info.

There is a tick box on each empty page of the service book which is to be marked for any 'additional work' that has been done during a routine service. If you read the first few pages of the service manual it gives the details of the 'additional work' which has to be done on certain engines within the audi range at specific mileage intervals, it clearly says in this section that the cam-belt on the RS4 has to be done at 40,000 miles or 60,000 Km (which is nearer to 38.5k miles). S4 is at 80k.

[bjacks]

Ok, got it booked in for the 40k and belt.

Thought it would be prudent to phone around to see if the pricing varied for this job, guessed it would do a bit as labour rates are different throughout.

Result - a good laugh. The 40k service cost ranged from £380-£420; which was what I expected.
The cambelt ranged from £350 - £655! I asked for a breakdown of parts/labour in each case and it was all down to the amount of labour estimated. 2.9 hours to 5.5 hours to do the same job. They're all supposed to be reading off the same hymn sheet for these jobs so the only explanation is that they're looking at the wrong vehicle on their system.
By luck, one of the most reasonable prices was my local dealer (Harold Wood) so I have booked in with them. They want £380 for the 40k and £470 for the belt. They have confirmed it is a 3.5 hour job so I will make sure it's all in writing before I hand over the keys.

On another note, I enquired about doing the water pump at the same time (£41+VAT) as it will be nice and accessible. Is it worth it?

Cheers

Ben

[simple1]

My personal view is.........do anything that may need done while you are doing something in the same area If you had to fit a water pump at a later date and had to pay the same amount of labour again, you would be pissed off My dealer suggested that the water pump was done while the belt was changed and offered to do it for the price of the pump

[bjacks]

That's basically what I've asked for - just didn't know whether anyone had any views on the matter.
I think they change the rest of the belts at the 80k cambelt service don't they?

[SimonS4MTM]

I believe that if the waterpump fails, its can result in a broken cambelt.

I did the waterpump with the cambelt change on my old S4, definately worthwhile doing

[bjacks]

Good news. Anything else?

[SimonS4MTM]

You might want to mention the ribbed belt as well. I am led to believe that this should be changed automatically when you ask for a cambelt change, however mine was not. I was a little bit annoyed, seeing as they take it off anyway.

[bjacks]

I was told that more gets replaced at the 80k change. Mind you, some dealers were quoting 3 parts for the change and some 4.

I'm going to have a word with the mechanic pre-job so I can get his views on what can be changed whilst he's doing the job.

[simple1]

Some replace the tensioner, some don't hence the different volumes of parts, I would have all parts done, a £34 item failing could take the rest of the engine with it, not worth the risk

[PhilT]

This might help.... http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... opic&t=951

[bjacks]

Cheers Phil. Only wish I could get the £69/hr labour rate