Indeed you were lucky they did perform the recall inspection as
the 98 A4 1.8T had a problem not with the timing belt specifically but
with the timing belt tensioner. The tensioner design was flawed and
more than a few tensioner failures were reported in the AudiWorld
forums. The general consensus was to replace the timing belt and
tensioner (along with the water pump impeller and other belts while
you're in there) by 60,000 miles.

I'm very glad to hear that Audi did right by you.

- Charlie
04 S4 MT6
06 A4 Avant 2.0T Tip (the wife's ride)


In article .com>,
> wrote:
>I think I was lucky that the JK recall was done BEFORE the timing belt
>failed... if not, I doubt that Audi would have been so understanding.
>In fact this recall action happened when the oil cooler failed at 82000
>mi! It was about a $1000 repair, but looking back, it saved me the
>$5000+ repair for the new engine... Good luck with yours.
>
>Rick
>
>One out of many Daves wrote:
>> thanks for sharing that story.
>> It sounds like you had good success with Audi Customer Service.
>>
>>
>>
>> > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>> >I have a 1998 Audi A4 Quattro with the 1.8T engine and it recently had
>> > a timing belt failure (86,000 mi). I was surprised because the dealer
>> > had performed a related recall ("JK Campaign") just four months
>> > earlier. In fact, the service invoice clearly stated that the timing
>> > belt had been inspected and did not need to be replaced until 90,000 mi
>> > (this was when the car had 82,000 mi). After telling this story to the
>> > guy at my local shop, he advised me to call Audi and he gave me the 800
>> > number. The customer service advocate at Audi was nice enough and he
>> > verified that my wife was the original owner of the vehicle. He opened
>> > a case and asked me what I'd like Audi to do. At first I thought he
>> > was joking! So I told him politely that I'd like Audi to pay for the
>> > cost of the repair and the other expenses I had incurred related to
>> > this breakdown. So he took down more information and said he'd call
>> > back the next day to let me know what they could do. The next morning
>> > he called back and said that if it was in fact the timing belt that
>> > failed, then Audi would pay for the repair and even the towing costs.
>> > But he said I'd have to get it towed to the nearest Audi dealer (about
>> > a $300 tow charge). Since my local shop is good I knew they wouldn't
>> > mis-diagnose a timing belt failure, so I had it towed to a dealer. It
>> > took over a month, but the dealer did replace the engine (head and
>> > block) and there was no charge at all to me. (I did have to go without
>> > a car for a month, though). About a month after that, I got a check
>> > reimbursing me for the towing charges and a charge for three days of a
>> > rental car. (They refused to pay for the rental car gas and my one
>> > night stay in a hotel, though). While the car was in the shop, I got
>> > something in the mail from the dealer that did the recall work (a
>> > different dealer than the one putting in a new engine). It was a
>> > general advertisement stating that there was a high demand for 1998 A4
>> > 1.8T vehicles such as mine, and it went on to say that I would be
>> > offered some sort of bonus if I were to trade it in as part of a new
>> > Audi purchase. This was the first piece of advertising mail I had ever
>> > received from this particular dealer... I couldn't help but laugh at
>> > the coincidence.
>> >
>