A6Gary

I understand the draining down of the oil after letting the car sit overnight or longer. That is why there is an oil check valve in upper part of the block to keep that from happening. As LarryJa notes, proper maintenance can/should extend the life of the tensioner. However, if the design of the check valve and oil passages has reliability issues, then there is the potential for lack of oil to the upper tensioners. In a number of postings, it appears that the driver's side tensioner fails more often than the passenger side, which indicates a design problem to me (as a licensed mechanical engineer). But I believe Audi proved the chain driven camshaft design in their racing engines before they introduced them into production engines.

So, my position is as before - they should last as long as the other critical rotating engine parts, assuming the maintenance specified by Audi AG is strictly adhered to.

mkongsiri

I had one of the one's I replaced fail again after about 50k miles. My fiance had been driving the car with the oil low about a quart for sometime. So I agree that poor maintenance will hasten the failure. Everyone of the ones Ive seen fail, it is the hydraulic tensioners that are blown versus the actual guides wearing.

Kim lovejoy

I drive a 2006 Audi A6 3.2 Quattro and am having issues with the bank 1 tensioners. Running rough but only intermittently. Dealer said I needed "timing chain and adjuster replacement" at a cost of 11,000.00. I declined and drove the car home, and it ran like new. Does this repair require removal of the engine? It has 156,000 miles, and I've had it serviced at the dealership since I bought the car new in 2006. Any suggestions?

beep-beep

I think the wear of the guides is a function of number of cold starts and oil viscosity. So maybe a car with a lot of highway miles lasts longer then a car wit a lot of frequent cold starts and driving around the city.
using 0w40 oil instead of 5w40 in cold climates also should be helful.

beep-beep

To see if the timing is off, you can use VAG tool to read the group 93. It shows the off angle for each bank. The value has to be close to 0 and less then 8 degrees. That is the sum of the angles between left and right bank. i.e. if you have left bank at 3dg and righh bank at -1dg, then the angle is 2 dg.

if the value is far off (i.e. more then 6 degrees) you can try to replace the upper tensioners and see if that fixes the issue. The upper tentioner should cost less 2k between the parts and the labor.

I do not really see a point in replacing the chain for 11k since you can replace the whole engine with a used low milage for a half that price.

LarryJa

Yesterday, I had to change my engine-driven hpfp. When I pulled the old pump, I found the cam follower for it barely, if at all, worn.
My '06 3.2fsi engine has 191k miles on it.
My block 93 readings have been steady, at 3.0 & 6.0, for the 40k miles that I've owned this car.
I'd say that's a reaffirmation of the 5k oil changes I've been doing with VAG approved 0w40 synthetic oil.
When I 1st bought this car, I also bought the cam lock tool set, for the "inevitable" upper timing chain tensioner change out. It looks like I may never need them to hit my 250k mile target.
Oil maintenance is recognized as typically the most critical factor in engine life.
We'll see....

shzbushed

Hi everyone,

I am new to Audiworld, but have been a loyal Audi owner for over 20 years, but unfortunately that may change.

Yesterday, I was informed by my Audi Service Department that my 2010 Q5 that has 51,000 miles on it will need major work. They told me the timing chain tensioner was stretched which caused problems with the camshaft, ultimately the interior of the engine. I am in total shock, since they quoted me $13,500 dollars. As you would expect, I am still in shock. I have never missed an oil change, service or recall notification. My car was running fine, and to me this is a manufacturer defect not something that could of ever been done at this low of miles. I called the attorney that is handling the Class Action Lawsuit regarding this, and he said that the case is not guaranteed. Therefore, is there anything anybody can do? This is such a dilemma for me, I loved my car but I have 2 small children and wondering if ever putting them back into this car, let alone paying that stupid money. Any advice would be great

pacheco75

shzbushed

Since my car only has 51,000 miles on it, why would this happen?

shzbushed

It is beyond any sort of reality that this chain tensioner would stretch (fail) at 51,000 miles. I am beyond livid at Audi for this failure. I sent a complaint to Audi of America waiting now to see what they will do. To me, this is a MFR defect