Hi all

I hope this is ok to ask here even though not VW specifically.

My A4 serpentine belt has not been replaced in 188k kms. Have had the car since new.

I would like to replace the belt and thinking that its a good idea to change the tensioner and idler as well. Would you replace the other parts when doing the belt replacement?

I have checked on parts availability and have the following options.
Goldwagon
Dayco belt
INA tensioner
INA idler

Masterparts
Dayco belt
Autostar tensioner
Egi idler.

Midas only has the Gates belt

Appreciate all advice.

After that mileage, it's definitely a good idea to change all those parts, yes.
I don't know Dayco, Autostar or Egi.
Between the options you list, I'd buy the Gates belt from Midas and the INA parts from Goldwagen. Both Gates and INA are OEM or OE-quality.

Thanks for that.

I will do so.

On my TDI, I used to change only the belt and not worry about the tensioner and idle roller. That caught up with me, when the bearing in the roller seized in the middle of the Free State... The belt got chewed up into hundreds of strands, but fortunately none of them got caught up in the timing belt...

So I've decided to replace the roller and tensioner at least on every second change of the serpentine belt.

What is the recommended replacement of the serpentine belt?

With the belt disconnected, U can feel for free play on the rollers, if it's feels too loose, replace it. The tensioner roller can be replaced separately, no need to replace the entire tensioner if that's still ok.

Unsure of the intervals but aux belts last a long time, tbh I don't think they even have an interval. If they have cracks within the grooves they need to be replaced.

Stay away from dayco aux belts, the opposite side of them is almost always too shiny which ends up causing a noise after a while, especially when running on metal rollers.

VW uses dayco as OEM for timing belts on certain engines...