'04 S4 died while driving

**macduk28** · 06-12-2008 02:39 PM

Two days ago my battery light came on, car was operable, however, yesterday after work driving home, all of my electrical components shutoff (radio, air conditioning, power steering) and then about 5 mins later my car eventually died. I was able to start my car 1 more time but it died again shortly thereafter and I ended up getting it towed to the nearest audi dealership. It was looked at today and the service person I spoke with said that the accessory belt needs to be replaced, estimate ~$300, after they replaced that they said they would check out the alternator as well and some other things. My car has 43,000 miles on it, was serviced last month, and had a major service at 35k. Does anyone know if they are supposed to look for wear in the accessory belt during services? Could this have been pushed off on purpose knowing that my new car warranty expired last month? Anyone know if I have any recourse against this? My extended warranty does not cover belts.

**ngng** · 06-12-2008 02:42 PM

test your battery, check your alt. the batt holds the charge, the alt charges it. belt shouldn't be a big deal if it isn't broken...and if your warranty covers alternator/battery, they should replace the belt too

**ItzDarrellS4** · 06-12-2008 03:03 PM

what was the major service at 35k?

sorry to hear

**Quattroownsyou** · 06-12-2008 03:09 PM

Alternator belt tore on mine as well....160.00 for the part, couple of hours to install. The heat generated under the hood can result in belts wearing down and eventually tearing. If you can get the front end of the car off, you can probably replace it yourself.

**Tek4ever** · 06-12-2008 03:25 PM

Macduk28-

I see what you're saying. I don't think the service department cares if the warranty company pays for the part or the customer. Don't most dealership mechanics get paid per job? If so, I don't think they would do anything more then complete the job as fast as possible. If he noticed the belt being bad then, he probably would have recommended replacing it then to book the time.

**macduk28** · 06-12-2008 03:48 PM

hey ItzDarrellS4, thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that my car died in February too and I brought it in and they replaced the battery at that time. That was about 4k miles ago. I had a major service at 35k and another at 42k. I guess the belt wear can go undetected pretty easily or maybe the belt was fine 4k ago and rapidly detioriated?

**macduk28** · 06-12-2008 04:11 PM

thanks ngng, quattroownsyou, tek4ever. is the accessory belt also refferred to as the ribbed v-belt? looks as though they dont replace that until 75k. i just feel as though this should have been detected during the services or when they replaced my old battery 4k ago.

**mioStile** · 06-12-2008 04:28 PM

I'd also have the fuel pump checked. Not that it has anything really to do with the alternator but --- a similar thing happened to be last week. The display said my brake light was out, then it flashed ABS a few minutes later, and within 20 seconds the car died. This is a 1.8T quattro B6. I took it in and had the alternator and fuel pump replaced.

**macduk28** · 06-14-2008 11:38 AM

Good news. After I gave Audi the go ahead to fix the v-belt, the SA said they dug a little deaper and found out that there was an issue with one of the pulleys. They said because of that they will cover the entire cost of service (cant remember exactly which parts they were replacing but there were 3) under my extended warranty. Interesting. The SA then said to come back to Audi so they could take back the budget rental car they had given me and put me in a brand new Audi A3. Maybe they were reading through this forum? lol.