Timing Chain Service Interval

[JD23]

Is there any consensus on the mileage/age for B8 timing chain and tensioner replacement? I have a 2011 A4 with only 35k miles, but it is now nearly six years old and has the same number of cold starts as an average car with 50-60k miles. The lowest mileage B8 that I have read about having a stretched timing chain seems to have around 65k miles, so I may be overly paranoid, but I don't want to wait too long.

[b6Hate4]

This is a tough question to answer. Per Audi it is 110k, and some people are well past that with their original timing components. Once replaced with the latest revision tensioner you should be good for a lot longer than the first revisions were worth, so there is that to consider. If the car is mostly city driving with more wear and tear than the odometer would suggest than I would say just get it done ASAP so you will sleep beter at night. Then dont worry about it until atleast 100k

[petraman]

Does that apply equally to the B8.5s?

[keiffr]

Is there any consensus on the mileage/age for B8 timing chain and tensioner replacement? I have a 2011 A4 with only 35k miles, but it is now nearly six years old and has the same number of cold starts as an average car with 50-60k miles. The lowest mileage B8 that I have read about having a stretched timing chain seems to have around 65k miles, so I may be overly paranoid, but I don't want to wait too long.

I just had mine replaced by the dealer during my Stage 2 Oil Consumption Test. I had 92k miles on the odometer and my timing chain was at 6 of 8 notches. My dealer said usually the chains need to be replaced at 125k


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[avant-grd]

Can somebody explain why would you want to replace timing chain when maintenance manual does not list it to service? I would think that Audi evaluated this component thoroughly before making service recommendations. No car manufacturer wants to willingly tarnish their brand and cut corner on such critical component as timing chain.
Just my 5c.

[b6Hate4]

Can somebody explain why would you want to replace timing chain when maintenance manual does not list it to service? I would think that Audi evaluated this component thoroughly before making service recommendations. No car manufacturer wants to willingly tarnish their brand and cut corner on such critical component as timing chain.
Just my 5c.

Maybe because they have been failing left and right...

[lettuce]

Can somebody explain why would you want to replace timing chain when maintenance manual does not list it to service? I would think that Audi evaluated this component thoroughly before making service recommendations. No car manufacturer wants to willingly tarnish their brand and cut corner on such critical component as timing chain.
Just my 5c.

Yeah I agree. No way Audi would sell a car with such a critical part of the engine inherently broken from the factory, which is guaranteed to fail necessitating a full engine replacement/rebuild in nearly every A4 with that motor.

[avant-grd]

Yeah I agree. No way Audi would sell a car with such a critical part of the engine inherently broken from the factory, which is guaranteed to fail necessitating a full engine replacement/rebuild in nearly every A4 with that motor.

Nice try and good sarcasm. But... Oil consumption problem was not because of a design flaw but due to manufacturing oversight. That is the difference.

[lettuce]

Nice try and good sarcasm. But... Oil consumption problem was not because of a design flaw but due to manufacturing oversight. That is the difference.

Installing the wrong piston rings in every single CAEB motor they sold for over a year and a half sounds like a design flaw to me.

[b6Hate4]

Nice try and good sarcasm. But... Oil consumption problem was not because of a design flaw but due to manufacturing oversight. That is the difference.

Lol.

[SDF1]

Transmission Oil = Audi Says Lifetime = ZF says 120,000km
Timing Chain = Audi Says Lifetime = Audi Mechanics say 120,000km

Audi Warranty? 80,000km
Does this answer your question? lol

But in all honestly, they would probably make it to 160,000km and that's the highest warranty you can get with Audi. So they want to keep the price of the maintenance low to be competitive with all the other manufacturer and they all play the same game.

[bagged00]

I've always heard audi says a timing chain should last the lifetime of they car. I've read things saying audi says 100k is the lifeine of the car. Here's my problem with this. My tensioner just went out on my car. So I replaced the tensioner and put the old chain back on just fitting things really. My chain was so stretched that even with the new tensioner the chain still jumped a little. Not bad for turning the motor by hand but bad enough it would definitely cause a problem. So the chain that's suppose to last 100k only lasted about 86k for me. I believe the chain was the ultimate cause of.the tensioner failire

[JD23]

I would think that Audi evaluated this component thoroughly before making service recommendations.

Did you write this with a straight face? Obviously, everyone here likes Audis, but, putting it mildly, the company has a long history of cutting corners in terms of long-term reliability.

[Allowencer]

Installing the wrong piston rings in every single CAEB motor they sold for over a year and a half sounds like a design flaw to me.

From what I've gathered, the supplier for the pistons were off spec by 0.005-0.008" and the piston rings were cut that much off as well. That's too large of a tolerance to be off from the 'acceptable' tolerances themselves. This is why we saw a lot of blowby and oil being consumed at a high rate. Those that got Stage 1 oil consumption fix only and it resolved the issue, were on the lower part of that tolerance gap where it wasn't affecting them as steep.

I've always heard audi says a timing chain should last the lifetime of they car. I've read things saying audi says 100k is the lifeine of the car. Here's my problem with this. My tensioner just went out on my car. So I replaced the tensioner and put the old chain back on just fitting things really. My chain was so stretched that even with the new tensioner the chain still jumped a little. Not bad for turning the motor by hand but bad enough it would definitely cause a problem. So the chain that's suppose to last 100k only lasted about 86k for me. I believe the chain was the ultimate cause of.the tensioner failire

Ryan, this you?

The chain doesn't lead to the tensioner failure. The tensioner fails because it wasn't designed 'well' enough. Take the ring off of the tensioner, flip over the pawl, take a pic and share. You'll see the evidence yourself as to why it fails.


Audi has 'stated' that the timing chain should last the life of the motor; well, I can assure you to not accept that nor go by it. The chain has also been redesigned (wonder why). Not only should you install a new tensioner, but a new cam timing chain as well.

[bagged00]

Oh yeah it's definitely a crappy design tensioner. As is the new one imo.but I don't think the blame is completely on the tensioner when the chain is stretched so.much that a new tensioner extended all the way out can't even pull all the slack out of the old chain.

[in4mation]

FWIW, my 2011 has +175k on the clock (+80% long-distance highway driving) with the original timing chain assembly. I never heard of anyone replacing a timing chain, so I never gave it a second thought. Lucky for me, I've since been educated and have it scheduled for a full rebuild of the timing chain assembly in a few weeks. When I asked the mechanic how often I should replace it, he confirmed what had already been stated on this thread. So then I asked how I managed to nearly double the mileage without issues. In summary, it all has to do with how you drive the car. My situation is likely to be somewhat rare but a little luck never hurt anyone!

[Theiceman]

this isan 8 year old thread , there are much newer and relevant ones.. but good on you getting that much out of it .