1996 - 2000 A4 Defective Timing Belt
10-15-2002, 01:33 PM
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1996 - 2000 A4 Defective Timing Belt
Since my timing belt destroyed my engine last November, I continue to get emails from others around the country who have the same disaster occur to them. It's time to get the word out. 1997 - 2000 year model A4's have a defective timinig belt tensioner that will fail between 50 - 80k miles. When it fails, it's a 50-50 chance that it will destroy the engine. Because this happens just outside of warranty, Audi will not cover the cost. This would not be a problem for the fact that this part is part of the 90k scheduled maintenance. If you bicker and annoy them enough, they may cover part of the ~$8,000 cost to replace the engine. Why I'm angry, and everyone else is as well, is that this defect can cause one of the most costly repairs possible on a vehicle, outside of an accident. Also, there is no warning when this happens. For me, my girlfriend (now wife) was driving it around town. For another it happened on their honeymoon. We all know that being stranded on the side of the road is not a pleasant experience. Being stranded on the side of the road with your $30,000 luxury sedan due to a part Audi knew was defective since 1997 is... well, infuriating. What can I do to get this put into widespread distribution so that other Audi owners can avoid this incredible repair bill?
-Alex Candelaria
candel@pobox.com
-Alex Candelaria
candel@pobox.com
10-15-2002, 01:42 PM
#2
My understanding is that it is the Timing Belt tensioner and not the belt itself.
That was updated in the 99.5 and up models. I wonder how many people with the updated tensioners have damaged engines due to TB failure.
10-15-2002, 01:43 PM
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Stuff breaks. That doesn't mean the timing belt problem is an epidemic...
The vast majority of people with '97-'00 cars have not and will not experience that problem. If a problem happens to X% of a particular car, the manufacturers are obligated to recall & repair them. But this problem isn't that widespread.
10-15-2002, 01:45 PM
#4
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<raises hand>
Tensioner failed on my car *just* out of warranty. Luckily, I wasn't the owner of the car at that time. AoA "goodwilled" 50% of the repairs.
Andy
Andy
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10-15-2002, 01:50 PM
#8
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Well, actually...
...it is an "epidemic." It might not be on recall scale, but it's definitely a common problem. The tensioner design on the '97-99 1.8T is faulty--I'd say that's a fact! Know why? Because Audi revised their tensioner design around '99. They realized the tensioner design was faulty, so they fixed it. Again, maybe it's not enough failures to warrant a recall, but obviously enough to alert them and design a new one.
Andy
Andy
10-15-2002, 01:53 PM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
;-)
Yeah, see the previous owner had to deal with all that. But, once I realized that there was an updated tensioner design floating around, I figured I'd better check to see which was installed after the first one failed. Yeah, you guessed it, they put the old style back on there. So that's how the timing belt FAQ came about...I figured I'd better get it outta there before it blew --again! ;-)
Andy
Andy