Cam belt change

[SimonS4MTM]

Hi all

I will be putting my car into my local dealer soon for a cam belt change.

I have read a number of peoples views on this. In your opinion is it worth also changing

Tensioner
Tensioner bolt
Water pump

What should i expext to pay for the belt change and the other items if i decide to change them? [img]images/graemlins/audiS4black.gif[/img]

Thanks

[Golich]

I know Jim at Star Performance just carried one out and I think he told me the total price including replacing the parts you mentioned was around £400.

http://www.starperformance.co.uk/

I realise he is a long way from you but it's worth giving him a call if for nothing more than a little info. and confirming this price. If I am correct in thinking Audi are charging around £600 to change. (flaming rip off.) [img]images/graemlins/rocketwhore.gif[/img] it might well be worth £100 saving to you and trip up north at least considering any other Audi specialist as the B5 S4 gets older we should be able to find more and more independents with plenty of experience with working on our babies.

[Dippy]

Would have thought the tensioner & bolt were replaced as standard for the job.

I strongly agree that getting the water pump replaced at the same time is a no-brainer.

How many miles has your S4 done? The recommended mileage for this job is 80,000 miles, but I was thinking of having mine done at 60,000 miles.

[SimonS4MTM]

It has done 70k, i have been meaning to do it since my warranty expired in May

[Golich]

Erwin manual states for V6 2.7 engines AGB, AZB to replace the toothed belt, tensioner roller, idler wheel and tensioning lever for cam shaft drive every 120,000km which by my calcs is 75,000 miles.

60,000Km (37,000 miles)for engine type 2.7 V6 ASJ, AZR. i.e. RS4 engines.

[JohnW]

Excuse my ignoroance, but what is this Erwin Manual - like a haynes or Clymer manual by any chance ?

Do they cover the RS4,
How much are they, and
where can I get one ?

Many thanks,
John.
P.S. is there a manual available on CDRom ?

[Golich]

Hi John,

As far as I'm aware there are only two sources of manuals available for A4 quattros.

Haynes don't do a quattro A4 manual.

I believe some recent EU law forced all car manufacturers to provide workshop manuals to the public. (This maybe bull) but anyway Audi have put their workshop manuals on the net for direct download. These can be had at the following address.
https://erwin.audi.de/
The deal with this site you buy each section of the car individually. i.e. running gear, engine, exterior bodywork, interior bodywork, electric’s, etc. There must be well over 10 manuals for the S4. They work out at approx. £12-£13 each so it's a pricey set up! Also with some of the manual it's not that easy to determine exactly what their content is. I bought the Maintenance manual which is tells you what when things should be serviced but doesn't really tell you how to do it. eg. timing belt.

The considerably cheaper alternative to this is the Bentley workshop manuals which come in both paper and CD format. Apparently Bentley were given the rights to reproduce and distribute the Audi workshop manuals for the US/Canadian spec Audis.

Apparently the CD is the most complete with the paper manuals merle sections of the CD so therefore not as compete.

So far most sources both US and UK I've come across sell the CD for approx £70 despite the fact that the US price is $70! (Usual US/UK rip off). However, I got an email in from ROSS TECH VAG COM
http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/ who tell me they will sell me the Bentley CD for $70 in the UK at current currency conversion rates. I didn’t check to see what they want for shipping. Hhmm this maybe where the problem lies. Since I went to by an APR centre vent boost gauge until I discovered they wanted £50 to ship it!

Anyway I digresss, unfortunately I've not seen the CD but I wish I'd bought this from the outset rather than the Erwin manuals.

Note the Erwin manuals are for a subscription period of a year only so if you don't download and PRINT the manuals you have subscribed to you will loose your access to them after a year. [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img] The idea here is that you have up to date manuals that will incorporate the latest information. Well in the case of the B5 S4 I think that's well covered!

[Dippy]

I got my first Bentley CD thru Ross-tech as part of the package for VAG-COM, so it was even less than $70. Of course I have to pay some shipping (not much) and then import tax 'cos the post-office decided to do the C&E bit on my parcel!

That CD was stolen (with my laptop) [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] so I bought another. This time it was direct from Bentley. Again I paid list $US plus shipping which wasn't much. This time it came DHL all the way so no import tax.

I hate shops and distributors which charge the same in £ as the US $ price. So whenever I buy something expensive enough, I buy direct from a US company and have it shipped. It takes longer but is usually a lot cheaper.

[Golich]

Cheers for that Dippy. [img]images/graemlins/beerchug.gif[/img] I must get onto Ross Tech.

[img]images/graemlins/yellows4.gif[/img]

[SimonS4MTM]

I have booked my car in for its cam belt change at the end of September.

After a bit of bartering i have got the price down to £460, that includes changing the waterpump.

Not a bad price compared to what i was expecting to pay. [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Golich]

Is that an Audi dealer?

[Golich]

Oops I see from you 1st post - yes.

[SimonS4MTM]

Okay so I have had my cambelt change.

I was pleasantly surprised with the cost. 80k service (i supplied my own oil and fitted the spark plugs myself), plus cambelt and waterpump change and MOT, all for £630.

One problem though, i picked it up after the service and it was running in limp mode. I took it back the next day and tehy diagnosed that the intake air temperature sensor had failed. They have quoted me about £150 to change it.

Does anyone have the relevant pages from a manual that show how to change it. I would rather do it myself than pay 2 hours at Audi rates.

[SimonS4MTM]

Got my car back after having the inlet air temperature sensor replaced, cost me £205. The sensor had not actually failed, the wiring on the sensor was damaged. I had a look at it and it looks as though it had become trapped. My guess is that they damaged it during the cambelt change, but i cant see where they could of trapped it because the wiring all appears to be well away from the cam belt and hidden under the inlet manifold. Has anyone got any ideas on this???

They also said that my MAF was faulty, another £230.

Why did they not say that the MAF was faulty when the did the service 3 weeks ago????

What with the service and this work, i have spent about £1150 in three weeks [img]images/graemlins/crucified.gif[/img]

[DJG]

Ouch! [img]images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]