Has anyone ever had a new timing belt tensioner roller fail?
10-14-2008, 12:41 PM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Has anyone ever had a new timing belt tensioner roller fail?
I installed a new one from a Groton ebay kit. The bearing seized up within a month, causing the belt to loose all tension while driving. Luckily, the belt did not jump any teeth, but I had to replace it with an NTN part and a new tensioner lever, which was very expensive.
Overall the Groton kit was fine except for this one part was suspect, and guess which one part failed? Has anyone else had this problem? Is it worth trying to get any money back from them on it?
Overall the Groton kit was fine except for this one part was suspect, and guess which one part failed? Has anyone else had this problem? Is it worth trying to get any money back from them on it?
10-14-2008, 01:23 PM
#3
NTN = OEM part. Both my 2.7t and 2.8L ATQ engine had NTN tensioner rollers and idler rollers.
Doesn't answer your question directly, but just thought I would throw this out there in case someone cares...sorry to hear about your experience. That is my worst nightmare - replacing everything in a TB job and having one of the new parts fail.
10-14-2008, 02:22 PM
#5
AudiWorld Super User
Blame China (sung to the tune of blame canada, South Park rules!)
Who knows where the hell parts, including counterfeit ones, are coming from these days. Even the OEM manufacturers are getting stung.
10-14-2008, 02:23 PM
#6
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I had my idler roller fail, it was not catastrophic as I heard it going before it failed.
When I got it apart, I could see the bearings and it was dry. I still thank my lucky stars on that one. Blau was good and replaced the part. Can't blame Blau on that one, it was the OEM part. I just got a bad one.
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10-14-2008, 05:37 PM
#8
Uh - I know you don't believe in preventative replacement of a part that is still working, but
surely you can't believe that any roller will last for hundreds of thousands of miles. I know of too many people who had just the timing belt changed on their engine (most were non- Audi) and then less than a year later something fails, kills the TB and they have pistons hit valves and trash the engine. Would you really take the chance of losing an engine instead of replacing a roller or a water pump? You seem to advocate never replacing something like this until it breaks, but most times you don't get a lot of advance warning that a part is failing and taking the TB out until the belt actually fails.
My main point is to educate me to the details of your point of view, not to criticize it just because it is different from mine. For the record, I have had 3 TB jobs done in the past year (all my cars were due within a year, dammit) and I replaced EVERY part that touched the TB and rotates. Only my Acura cost more for parts than labor. The water pump on my '00 Passat was beginning to bind a bit; thus it would have likely failed soon if I had not simply replaced it prophylactically. Thanks for any insight you are willing to provide, Bernie!
My main point is to educate me to the details of your point of view, not to criticize it just because it is different from mine. For the record, I have had 3 TB jobs done in the past year (all my cars were due within a year, dammit) and I replaced EVERY part that touched the TB and rotates. Only my Acura cost more for parts than labor. The water pump on my '00 Passat was beginning to bind a bit; thus it would have likely failed soon if I had not simply replaced it prophylactically. Thanks for any insight you are willing to provide, Bernie!
10-14-2008, 07:16 PM
#9
AudiWorld Super User
It`s my experience that most all parts give some warning of impending failure, even infant mortality
failures. That said, I look at the statistical life expectancy of a part, (usually seat of the pants, from personal experience and list postings) for my replacement decisions, always 100% DIY. Example: i replaced the TB on my 200Q-20V at 150K only because of a WP failure. Otherwise I would not have, it was in great shape. Relubed the ball bearings in the TB idler roller, still going strong at 225K. I just don't believe that one buys reliability (more likely achieving negative reliability) by spending money indiscriminately on new parts. Disassemble, inspect and decide. Thermostats, same thing. Once you find a good one, stick with it. Running the original UFO rotors on the 200. Under spec but dead true, making for great brakes.
On the '02 A6 at 100K have only replaced the after run coolent pump and the front wheel bearings. Relubed TRE and CR ball joints and shimmed wheel bearings to achieve -0.25 front camber, zero rear camber and zero toe, all four. Tires last forever.
If and when a WP starts leaking or a roller gets noisy I may well decide to replace the TB, certainly not before.
On the '02 A6 at 100K have only replaced the after run coolent pump and the front wheel bearings. Relubed TRE and CR ball joints and shimmed wheel bearings to achieve -0.25 front camber, zero rear camber and zero toe, all four. Tires last forever.
If and when a WP starts leaking or a roller gets noisy I may well decide to replace the TB, certainly not before.
10-15-2008, 05:35 AM
#10
Thanks for the excellent reply!!! That's the beauty of DIY and the pitfalls of having someone else
do the work, like in my case. While I am confident I could do the work myself, I don't really have the room in my garage to really work on the car properly and the time thing is tight, thus I have to rely on a wrench and in that situation, it seems to me the best bet is to do the preventative replacement and roll the dice on infant mortality. DIY and paying attention to your ride trump anything else.
I envy your skill and ability to do all this DIY! Thanks again - it's exchanges like this that make this a great forum.
I envy your skill and ability to do all this DIY! Thanks again - it's exchanges like this that make this a great forum.