medula

I have 2011 Q5 95K miles on it. I am facing Timing Chain Tensioner issue and it damaged cylinder head costing me $4500. I have opened a case with Audi and they rejected for any assistance. My pointing is if Timing chain fails we can fix on our cost, but because of their fault design time chain issue damaging the other part of the engine. Which is completely audi design issue. I am not sure why audi is not recalling this. Please help me where i should approach.



Thank you
Murali

medula

Does anyone know what is the warranty on Timing Chain?

Bob Petruska

In the US the warranty if 4 years, 50K miles on the chain and tensioner.

Anyone facing the tensioner failure issue needs to get together and start a Class Action case, otherwise any failure cost will most likely be your own.

Audi is basically saying that after the warranty period your Audi vehicle may just not hold up.

medula

Thanks Bob.

Main issue is, if time chain warranty is over after 70K thats ok, we can base that cost, but it is damaging other engine parts. That is the big issue and costing more $$

Thanks
Murali

rdA4WtQ5

After the factory warranty runs out, Audi has been known to good will this issue and others before the class action suit settlement covers future and past failures up to certain mileage. From reading this forum and other forums and speaking with my dealer about this tensioner issue, service history seems to play a large role in the outcome from Audi. Original owners seem to do better as well.
Are you the original owner with a documented service history? If so, don't give up easily with Audi making good on this. If you end up fixing yourself save all receipts for the future settlement. Good Luck.

apoelistas

Thank you for this information. 95K miles is about 150K km which means this is the life expectancy of Audi tensioner (before the revision).

I will have mine done when I reach 130K Km.

Redd

M-
It is not a "faulty" design, but rather an engineering choice. VW, Honda, and several others CHOOSE to use an "interference" design where the valves and pistons can smash each other up. This design increases engine efficiency and gives you more power and higher economy. Toyota does not, they use a "non-interference design" as does Detroit, last time I heard. This results in a less efficient engine, but one that doesn't tear itself apart on timing belt/chain failure.

Now, if the timing chain failed under warranty, and any required warranty service/replacement had been done on schedule, then the entire incident would be part of a warranty failure and covered.

If you're out of warranty but the mileage I less than what Audi recommended for replacement...probably not much you could do there, except (in the US) pay a lawyer $100 to send a legal letter, and then spend $25-300 by filing a case in small claims court, against Audi, not the dealer. They have to send an attorney to represent themselves (you don't) so they have some incentive to make a partial accommodation to you, warranty or not.

CrownSeven

Sorry been out of the loop on the q5 world. Is this a known issue with the 3.2 motor? If so I'll be planning on replacing the tensioner and chain as preventative maintenance.

Lyth

I am also curious if this is a problem on the 3.2. I have had what sounds like the timing chain slapping at low RPM or a long time. I can hear it when backing up into my garage. Its more of a slight rattle for a second at around 1,200 rpm. Had the same issue with a toyota motor and it was just a guide that wore out but had no real danger of damaging the motor.

Jmeitz

My wife's 2012 q5 is getting towed to the dealer today. Won't start and throwing a cmp sensor / speed sensor error which the dealer said is usually something wrong with timing belt. Glad others are having this issue.