> He
> >looked at mine and claimed it was good for lots more mileage. It
> broke the
> >next week!  Last time I consulted an expert.
>
> Some "expert".
>
> YOU CANNOT TELL THE BELT'S HEALTH BY LOOKING AT IT.
>
> One moment it looks fine, the next it's broken!

Well, yes and no.  Granted, a belt can look fine and not be.  But a belt
can also look like hell, a very good sign that it's not fine.  A few years
ago,
the Rabbit diesel I was driving had about 60K since the timing belt had been
changed (the belt was about 3 years old) - popped the timing belt cover off
to look at it, and you could see cracks on the inside of the belt.  This
visual inspection just reinforced what I was already gonna do - change the
belt.  It just put things in perspective, like - don't drive this thing
anymore until this gets changed.  ~j.