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- From: nicos@cs.bu.edu (Nicos Kontopoulos)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos.vw
- Subject: timing belts
- Message-ID: <102415@bu.edu>
- Date: 18 Nov 92 07:18:39 GMT
- Sender: news@bu.edu
- Organization: Computer Science Department, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
- Lines: 32
- Originator: none
- Originator: nicos@csa
-
-
- I'd just like to add my 2 cents in the timing belt discussion:
-
- - A friend of mine lost his timing belt at 27K miles on a 16V Porsche.
- - Someone on the net replaced his timing belt in time at 135K miles on a 8V VW.
-
- It depends on what kind of person you are, and on what kind of money you
- want (and/or have) to spend on the car. People change oil at 2K miles
- when the manufacturer recommends 7K mile intervals. They say it is good (and
- cheap) insurance. I agree with them and do the same thing.
- It is also cheap insurance to check and replace the timing belt as often as
- possible - check every 7.5K; replace every 30K or less for multi-valve engines.
- (It is not as cheap as changing oil, but it should NEVER cost more than $150
- AT MOST). If you believe my mileage limits are very small, they probably
- are. But I use the same car in competition and as a daily driver and it
- is almost 12 years old.
- All multi-valve engines have shorter recommendations for timing belt
- replacement than 2-valve engines. It also depends on the way one drives.
- It also depends on pure luck. So it is up to you to choose which way you'll
- go. But, please do not think that your mechanic is trying to cheat by
- suggesting a timing belt check, even if you only have 30K miles on the car.
-
-
- BTW - I am not a mechanic nor do I intend to become one. I did have to pay
- for my last timing belt change - the second one after "only" 90K miles.
-
-
- --
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