1998 Audi A6 2.4 V6 Cam Belt Change

I'm considered buying an 1998 A6 2.4 V6 but it doesn't have any service history and when the cam belt was last changed is unknown. It has 168,000 on the clock.

How easy is the A6 to work on for general servicing and how easy is a cam belt change?

Well you would need some special to type tools and you have to move the whole front of the car into the 'Service Position' The front is designed to move forward by approx 6 inches to give you access to the front of the engine. If you search the post you will no doubt see pictures of this process. Regards Peter

As Peter D says you need a few special tools. Laser tools make alternatives to the VAG tools but it will still cost you about £140 - £170 for those tools. That is still probably cheaper than the labour cost as it is a long job, but it is a lot to spend on tools you may on use once, depending on how long you intent to keep that car.

Servicing an A6 can be expensive if you pay someone to do the work. DIY'ing is quite easy for the basic tasks (oil changes, filters, plugs etc.) Work in the engine bay can be hard due to the lack of space, often you have to remove a lot of stuff to get to what you want.

Parts aren't cheap, although ECP and GSF do carry a lot of OE spec parts which can be cheaper. The other problem is access to workshop info, there is no Haynes manual. Bentley publishers produce a book and DVD but it is expensive and is only for cars sold in the USA market, so your 2.4 wont be in it.

You can be the Audi workshop manual of Ebay, but that is a dodgy pirate version so I didn't tell you to buy that :p

A cambelt and tensioner change should cost around £400. You ought to add a water pump and thermostat aswell, as if they fail in a few months, you'll need to redo the cambelt at the same time.

i have shopped around for parts as im going to do mine myself but eurocarparts are £172.67 inc vat for the timing belt kit but ive priced at audi and its £110 inc vat thats a massive difference and its a genuine part

Check exactly what you are getting with the kit. There are many belts, rolllers etc that might come with one kit and not the other. Waterpump and thermostat might also be included

An Audi Kit carries a two year warrantee. Read this :
http://www.thevwaudispecialists.co.u...eltchange.html
No I do not work for them, but the article covers some important points. Regards Peter

big job to change the cambelt, tensioners, etc. on the AGA engine.

at 168K, it should have just been changed, or be overdue (80,000 miles or 4 years recommended interval)

if your not above average DIY, and have the instructions and tools then don't even think about it.

would allow about £500 for this job via a decent independant

as for other servicing on this engine, oil plugs filters etc. are easy enough. do watch out for oil leaks, as they can be a pain to cure on all the V6 engines, though I do finally have one that does not leak