Accessory Drive Belt & Tensioner failures!!

[Jeff@USP]

How many of you have had to replace your accessory drive belt and/or belt tensioner due to failure? We've had 4 come in with this same problem in the past 2 months.. I was wondering if this problem is as common as it seems to be around here. Symptoms are always a battery light on the dash. You obviously won't lose power steering, like on most cars, because these 4.2's are driven off a gear on the motor. When they come in the belt is shredded and the tensioner seems to be off balance creating abnormal contact on the belt, which seems to be why the belt is shredding. Audi service says to replace the belt at 75k, but doesn't say anything about the tensioner.. 3 out of 4 of these cars were under 75k, one was at 55k. I felt compelled to put these 2 things our site as well if any of you run into this in the future.. at only the lowest prices of course - Tensioner, Accessory / Alternator belt.

[drew]

that, or while running a poorly designed thupercharger...hahahhah

[mad70sx]

I had my belt,tensioner and idler pullys replaced under CPO at approx. 65,000 mi. Either the tensioner or idler was whining so loud I thought someone did a ninja supercharger install when I wasn't looking. Luckily I got it fixed up before the belt had a chance to shred. I would add the idler to your inventory as well.

[ASpec818]

is anything else further damaged when the belt shreds?

[jfunkey]

Nice post.. If you have a warranty they will replace it for free. They have a updated part.. It would be good for people to replace it if needed

[mbgt72]

that, or while running a poorly designed thupercharger...hahahhah

Post for the win!

at 75k, mine is fine, but replaced the belt around 60k just for the heck of it.

[altavant]

I just had to do mine..a 2004 with 42ishK miles...makes an ugly sound..kinda glad it was just a belt and pulley..

[earhythmic]

just fixed mine for the second time...

[GTiGLi]

They wouldn't cover mine under CPO

[jfunkey]

They wouldn't cover mine under CPO

Some dealers are like that for some reason.. Maybe try another dealer

just fixed mine for the second time...

Yes usually if your good you can save and fix the old one.. Its not real rocket science.. Getting a new one never hurt but saving money is nice

[SquiddyB6S4]

My dealership (more specifically my technician, who is also my best friend from high school) told me that the belt and tensioner and pulley are part of their recommended 55k interval change, because they do see them fail before 75k sometimes, and they certainly do fail. I bought the car with 56k on it, and the 55k had just been done, but it was an indy shop, and the RO said that they replaced the "belt", but didn't specify tensioner, pulley, etc, so I went ahead and bought a new set of parts just to make sure. Just the tow bill alone is more than the parts, let alone a new battery and/or alternator if you spooge it when the belt shreds.

[JimmyBones]

They wouldn't cover mine under CPO

That depends on which CPO warranty you had and/or how you made the complaint to the dealership.

There are two different CPO warranties from Audi because they made a change somewhere along the line. The older style CPO covers the 75K service and the tech that works next to me had to do two 3.0 liter V6 timing belts under CPO because it was covered. Then there is the newer CPO that only covers up to the 65K service because Audi stopped wanting to pay to replace the timing belts and serpentine belts. On a side note, read that last sentence and then think why the spark plugs are replaced at the 55k service which happens to be out of warranty. Do you get the connection yet?

Then if you made a complaint to get the dealer to replace the belt that is not covered, they wouldn't do it. Now if you made a complaint about the tensioner "making noise" and then pay the extra money for the new belt they would have replaced it all: serp belt, tensioner, roller.

[SquiddyB6S4]

Then if you made a complaint to get the dealer to replace the belt that is not covered, they wouldn't do it. Now if you made a complaint about the tensioner "making noise" and then pay the extra money for the new belt they would have replaced it all: serp belt, tensioner, roller.

Words of wisdom. Warranty work is ALL about how you approach it. Also related to how much you bitch, and how good a customer you are (i.e. how much money you spend, though usually only related to how expensive [and young] your car is).

[GTiGLi]

That depends on which CPO warranty you had and/or how you made the complaint to the dealership.

Mine had actually snapped while I was driving it. I had only had the car 28 days, and I expected that the dealer should have checked something like that when they certified the car...or at least their checklist says they did. Anyways, I bought the car out of town, and had it serviced in my home town. There isn't another dealer around and the VW service I received from them was generally sub-par, so I figure anything that a 'nice' dealer would do for you, I'll probably never have that convenience.

But as for how I approached it: My battery light is on and I think my alternator is toast.

At the time, I didn't realize that the serpentine belt drove only the alternator and none of the other accessories. I also didn't realize it was a high failure part, and it's not necessarily visible at first glance.

[BCsniper]

^^
Trust me, having that happen is no fun.
I'd recommend getting the battery checked out to make sure that it's not bad and that may be your problem. If it is bad and a new battery doesn't fix your problem then I'd say look into getting a rebuilt alternator since a new one is near $1000. Replacing it yourself is not a whole lot of fun but entirely doable if you have the time/patience

[PAT@RSW]

I have seen the same thing on a new A8s

[amoujaffar]

mine blew apart around 98K, kinda higher milage so not terribly unexpected.

[Jeff@USP]

Ok, definitely a common problem. I think all Audi service shops should recommend this no later then 55k, its a good thing its not something that will leave you on the side of the road.

is anything else further damaged when the belt shreds?

Fortunately, no.

[beemercer]

General recommendation I've been making since I shredded mine.. if you are in a salt state, and you are replacing the belt, replace the idler and tensioner. The bearings fall apart or something and shred belts.

I shredded one in Detroit back in February, and then had to drive through 15 or so red lights to make it back to VAST before the battery died... fun ass time lemme tell you

[SquiddyB6S4]

Ok, definitely a common problem. I think all Audi service shops should recommend this no later then 55k, its a good thing its not something that will leave you on the side of the road.

Oh yes is will, if you're not close to where you're going. If the belt shreds/snaps/fails etc, you're alternator-less, so you're at the mercy of the battery alone to supply all the high-draw devices on the car, like the coil packs, engine management and sensors, etc. We have a humongous battery, but it will strand you if you keep driving, and the battery will probably be toast from drawing it all the way down.

Lead acid batteries (99.9% of all things that have an engine with electric start, including cars use this to start) tend to have really lousy lifespans when using their full charge capacity. And if you just go until it dies, you're really over-draining the battery; most types of batteries respond very poorly to being completely bled dry.