a1sailor

Has anyone replaced the belt tensioner and idler pulleys on a Q5 TDI? There is very little room to get access to these parts between the back of the rad fans and front of the motor. How is this work done? Just for prevent maintenance at this point.

MurrayA4

Actually it's pretty easy.Audi planned for the front bumper condenser and radiator to be removed or swung out of the way and this gives you full access to the front of the engine. It's a good system, far less complicated than it sounds.

a1sailor

Yes in researching further I have looked at some YouTube and other forum links about doing this for different sedan Audi models. I located a YouTube link (below) showing removal of the front bumper fascia for a 2015 Q5, so this will help when it is time to replace these components. I expect getting the rad into the service position should be a similar procedure to some of the sedan links I have located.
On prior Eclass Benzs I changed the serpentine belt, the tensioner and idler pulleys at about 100,000 kms, do you know when I should do this on a Q5 TDI?
Due to a lack of space it is very difficult to loosen the belt to spin the pulleys to listen for bearing noise.

here is link for Q5 bumper fascia removal:

MurrayA4

a1sailor this question is difficult to answer.The Audi serpentine belt and tensioner and idler pulleys&bearings can go a very long way.My previous A4 3.0L went 450k kms/ 280k miles and was still going strong.It's important to visually inspect the belt, it can tell you a lot.Obviously cracks etc.are a signal.
Bearing failure will present as an unusual noise up front.

a1sailor

Murray thanks, the potential service life of those components is encouraging. If the belt starts to show signs of wear it would be a fair amount of work to remove the fascia and putting the rad into the service position just to change the belt but I guess this is the reality of the vehicle's design for service.