4Driver4

Bumping this thread up after replacing my harmonic balancer yesterday. I'm in warranty for another two years, and the balancer looked fine, but reading about catastrophic failures and watching the odometer climb over 100k miles convinced me to drop $200 on a new balancer. I tow my car trailer long distances, many in upstate New York, and $200 is short money to avoid the risk of sitting by the side of road somewhere.

PSA.

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

Your not wrong for proactively replacing it, however it is fairly easy to spot-check this pulley visually for the known corrosion issues and advanced signs that confirm the pulley should be replaced, such as a crack or obvious gap forming around the heavily corroded central hub of the pulley right where the rubber is bonded to the metal, etc.

Also, as a PSA, don't forget to buy new bolts when replacing your pulley as they are of the single-use, torque-to-yield variety.
When you have this pulley removed, the water pump is accessible, so it's a good idea to roll these long-term maintenance items into one DIY effort, as neither has a specific timeframe for it to fail. Don't forget a new serpentine belt, belt tensioner, and idler pulleys if those items haven't been done prior, and you generally will require new bolts for everything you take off, where it gives torque-to-yield installation instructions (such as 12lb/ft + 90 degrees turn, etc.) for bolt attachment.

UNQ7E

Just lost my crank pulley over the long weekend. Happened about an hour away from home, fortunately while trying to pull out of a hotel parking space where we'd just arrived 10 mins earlier.

Next morning was able to nurse it over and drop it off at a nearby shop, which didn't open until this morning. So what do they tell me? "Sorry, we can't work on it because the timing will be off and needs to be reset, but we don't have the tools needed to do the timing for this car. Please come pick it up immediately." Umm, excuse me?

So I'll be picking up a new Corteco and the bolts tomorrow. Then heading out to rescue it and find a suitable spot to take it do a quick field repair. And tbh kind of thankful the shop decided they're not able to do it. Otherwise...?

Just to make sure, all I should need is a torque wrench, the socket for the 8 bolts, and the socket for the belt tensioner? Anyone happen to know the sizes off hand? (iirc they're all triple-squares, which I should have)

Somewhat interestingly, my local parts guy wasn't aware of this being a common issue. Up to now he's been pretty hip to usual pain points.

Which makes me wonder, any threads on here that cover what all the usual pain points are? Water pumps and brake pads and now the main pulley are all I know so far. But it would be great to have a "Here's all the not-if-but-when issues" thread.

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

Everything you need to know about the 4L Audi Q7 can be located via an internet search...that includes all the archived threads on myriad worldwide forums, etc.
Don't forget to replace the crank pulley bolts as they are designed for single use only due to torque requirements/aluminum stretch bolts.

You'll need a VAGCOM capable scan tool to read trouble codes (internal/hidden codes), as well as perform maintenance functions. Get the Ross-Tech VCDS if you plan to turn wrenches/maintain/repair this car. There are certainly other options out there touting how great they are, but I've now accumulated three VAGCOM scan tools, and only one consistently delivers results and saves me $$$...the VCDS system.

The linked video is known issues for the Gen 2 TDI engine (2013-2015 model years in North America). Suggest you also view the earlier video 'Different Car Review Audi 4L Q7' key words. Good videos if you want an overview of what to expect/known issues with platform / drivetrains.