jinsoojoo

I have been having an issue with the tensioning components of my timing belt. I recently changed my timing belt for a second time. After pulling the pin on the tensioner, everything worked great. I patched everything together and drove the car around for a day. Then, the next day, I start the car and it sounds like a diesel!

Upon inspection, it turns out that the tensioner lever that is supposed to push against the shaft that sticks out of the back of the tensioner pulley/roller got wedged under the shaft. As a result, the lever could not push the shaft appropriately and the pulley would not tighten the belt. The section of timing belt between the passenger-side cam sprocket and the crank sprocket was not properly tensioned - it was loose!

Anyhow, I reset the lever against the shaft and sure enough, everything sounded great! Then, the next day, the diesel clatter came back and the same thing happened - the lever wedged under the shaft. This has happened to me three times. I'm either doing something wrong or the tensioner that I have is not pushing hard enough against the lever to prevent the belt from pushing the shaft off the surface of the tensioner lever. I doubt it is the later because the piston is VERY difficult to push back in...

Surely this has happened to someone out there. Are there any ideas on how we can all prevent this from happening?

Thanks in advance for all any help!

mc_hotmail

Can you take a good photo of it? I don't completely understand the situation (lever ... got wedged under the shaft).

After you tension the belt, manually turn the crankshaft 2 revolutions while checking the tension. It should be evenly tight. If one position is looser than others, you must redo it:

1) fit the cam lock bar at TDC
2) loosen (not remove) both cam sprocket bolts
3) remove the cam lock bar
4) pull loose both cam sprockets (not remove)
5) fit the cam lock bar again
6) tension the belt to about 20nm
7) tighten both sprockets
8) install the crankshaft cover and vibration damper
9) verify you are still at TDC

In any case, the tensioner is about $60. If you car has high mileage, change it.

Prospeeder

did you remove the lever? Install a new one? Never touched it? Not had this happen before, never had any issues with the lever. Iv done alot alot of these.

jinsoojoo

Thanks for your responses Prospeeder and mc hotmail.

I ended up throwing in the towel and bringing my car to my independent Audi mechanic. They replaced the tensioner pulley - apparently it was not spinning. I'm sure they put the timing belt on according to appropriate protocol. The problem was resolved for a few months, but I just took the allroad on a trip to Tahoe this past weekend. The same thing happened again!

mc, I don't have a photo of it right now, but basically, the lever pivots too far clockwise and the tip of the lever slips off the shaft sticking out the back of the tensioner pulley. As a result, the lever does not push the pulley into the belt so the belt doesn't tighten.

I'll be taking the car back to my mechanic tomorrow to see what they say - hopefully they won't charge me again...


Anyone out there with thoughts?

Delmed83

Funny you say this....I just did my TB Service and I had to re-use the old lever because the new one was not correct. It wasn't the same shape and didn't stick out far enough to keep contact with the tensioner roller's eccentric tab.

Audi2.7Allroad

seems like im having this same problem with my 05 allroad. i replaced my tioming belt tensioner as well.
Did you notice any kind of rubbing marks on the plastic cover? like where you said there was play in the belt by the passenger side cam?

also, does it only make this noise intermittedly? i tend to get the noise shortly after startup, during idle. but once i drive it around a bit and park it, the noise tends to stop.