Lets play a game of... how old is that timing belt.

[B6ayfour]

Alright guys so as the title suggests i don't know when my timing belt was replaced as the PO left me without a single receipt. Everything i have seen on the car was oem parts so thankfully it seems to be dealer maintained. Anyways cutting to the chase here i wanted to see if you guys could guess how old this belt is. interval according to the manual is 105k and the car has 146k

[eljay]

It is really hard to tell age and mileage from a belt just by looking at it. So, I don't think anyone can tell you this with certainty. Perhaps someone who knows what original OEM belt from 2002 looks like can chime in and say that a version with logos you have was produced from 20xx and that gives you an idea.
My Gates Racing belt that has only 40k on it looks horrible (tiny cracks) and I will be changing it. Your belt certainly does not look 14 years and 146k old, so I'd say it has been changed at some point. But that's a $4000 guess from a guy on the internet. You can also removed the cover completely, grab an inspection mirror and check the bolts on the water pump, crankshaft pulley etc. for signs that they have been removed/replaced. You would see obvious signs like sockets scratching the area. That should tell you that work has been done.

What I'd do is go to your friendly neighbourhood Audi dealer and ask nicely whether they can search your VIN and tell either printout a copy of the history they have (they will likely not do this due to privacy issues), or write down all the major service performed (too much work for them) or simply tell you whether timing belt service has been done.

Hope this helps a bit.

[16vCorey]

That actually looks pretty dang new. It doesn't take long to wear the printing off of a timing belt. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it has less that 15k on it. I'll tell you that mine was done about 65k miles ago (according to the PO) and it looks like total crap. It's discolored to a brownish hue and there's absolutely no printing left on it. I'm changing it out this weekend.

[16vCorey]

Not mine, but this is approximately what mine looks like at "65,000" miles. The PO was full of shit about a lot of things, so take that figure with a grain of salt.

[SJorge3442]

Goldern Rule of timing belts: Unless you have documentation of when it was last changed, CHANGE IT ASAP.

[AudiSport12]

^ This. If you don't know, CHANGE IT!!! $2-300 in parts now will save you a hell of a headache

[jpulll]

Goldern Rule of timing belts: Unless you have documentation of when it was last changed, CHANGE IT ASAP.

I concur. better safe than sorry when in question of a timing belt.

[B6ayfour]

thanks for the input guys, yeah i did plan on changing it soon. Now that i have taken a look and it doesnt seem to bad im not sure that i will do it before i try to get documentation from the dealer. my "guess" would be that it was replaced right on interval at 105k.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

I wouldn't wait if I were you. Belts can be deceiving... The back may look good but all it takes is a couple teeth on the belt to let go and good bye valves. And that's if it lets go at low rpm and you get lucky and not have the head of the valve/s break off and it destroys pistons and cylinder walls...

Jason

[egovreau]

Carfax has a service called MyCarfax. Once you sign up, you can add a car to your garage then you should be able to see the past service records for the car.

I've been using it for some time, but I seem to remember that you did have to go through a certification step to prove the car is yours.

There's an Android app and a standard web browser front end. Probably iOS as well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Audizine mobile app

[CyberPMG]

It's nearly impossible to tell the age of a timing belt apart from excessive wear due to other issues (not the age of the belt). A belt can look fine and then snap in the next 100 miles. If you have no service history from the previous owner, the safest solution is to go ahead and get the timing belt service done now and reset the service interval clock from there.

The typical recommended service interval for timing belts (as discussed in older threads here) has been:

60k - 70k miles for the 1.8T engine

80 - 90k miles for the 3.0 engine

Audi factory originally had belt replacement done every 105k - 115k miles regardless of engine, but I think it was reduced to 75k for the 1.8T (not sure for the 3.0).

Yeah, you're paying now, but you'll have piece of mind knowing that it's been addressed and good to go for a long time.