Hey

Summer is coming and taking some road trips. I’ve been looking at the rusty crankshaft pulley for awhile now .
is it time to swap it out ? Use OEM part?
2014 TDI 110kms

Do anyone have procedure on how to? I read that you need a special tool.

Any advice would be appreciated. Cheers

 

The only “special” tool you will need is the Torx socket.

Mine broke last year. Took me all of 30 minutes to take off the broken part, attach the new part, put the belt back on.

Easy replacement.

 

IMHO, if you are concerned with it, and no longer under warranty, or just don't want to have any anxiety about it failing on you while out on holiday, then swap it out. There are documented instances of this part failing randomly, with very little warning, and on cars that were still inside factory basic new-car warranty at the time. Of course, the issue is much more prevalent on TDI's that live in regions where road salt is commonly used in winter. Don't forget about the idler pulleys, tensioner, and new drive belt if thinking about doing this as preventative; those are all wear parts too. Do them together is lots easier at once while belt is already off.

FCP Euro sells the OEM part for approx $160 (US$) last I checked. It's made by Corteco, and Audi sells the same exact part (made by Corteco, thus the OEM) for hundreds more in cost. They also sell the tensioner and idler pulleys.

I did get a dealer put it in writing on my invoice that they couldn't replace it under the extended warranty on that visit, as the part had not yet met their required standard of having failed completely or been observed to be visibly wobbling off-axis when inspected, which is what Audi requires in order to replace it via the long-block warranty as regards the crankshaft sub-assembly.

I hedged and bought the Corteco 'harmonic balancer' (and belt tensioner) from FCP Euro as a spare to keep in the car, just in case. I've got two of the TDI's so I'll use it on one of them, no doubt about it, but our '15's is getting really ugly now, with gaps on the first and second tiers. If you are under warranty, then you also get access to Audi towing services, which is not something they really talk about. The Service Mgr at same dealership shared that little nugget with me, as I was over 3 hours from closest dealer at the time.

 

@ '10Q7TDI_Prestige
Sounds like a good idea to buy a spare. I’m going to get on it now.
unfortunately when mine broke FCP was out of stock and I had to pay $350 for one. 160 is a great deal.

 

Swap it out now. I ignored it last year and ended up stranded on a camping trip. Not a fun time.

 

The part # (harmonic balancer) you buy today is actually the replacement/ redesigned part, and should be more durable/resistant to corrosion than the original, whose metallurgy couldn't cope with corrosive influences. The net-net is that it should hold up better in a corrosive environment. It is also designed to support engines with the start/stop mild hybrid systems, and so should be quite durable on the TDI engines. That's also why you don't want to buy any 'new/old stock' of this item off eBay or wherever. I had to wait a bit for FCP Euro to get them back in stock, but that was due to global supply chains issues/Covid backlogs, etc. There are multiple vendors selling them for less then Audi does, but FCP Euro is the best deal on it I've found, and with a lifetime warranty to back it up.

I failed to mention that the data indicates you will likely get 3-5 yrs out of the old/original part if living in snow-belt/rust-belt regions, so not an immediate concern if you just replaced one recently...especially if you do your winter 'salt-purge/removal washes' and pay attention to rinse radiator/heat exchangers & the front of engine region.

As for those planning big trips when your harmonic balancer pulley is visibly corroded up & cracked/gapped all around the central metal hub, most owners have reported this part failing either during an extended trip (with it's additional, myriad stresses from vehicle load/towing, terrain traversed, etc.), or often, immediately upon return from an extended trip, it lets go and just falls off at the next restart. Some are less fortunate and it falls off while on the freeway or while in motion, resulting in an unplanned loss of the power steering, cooling pump, alternator, air conditioning, etc. The TDI engine will still run as it's a compression based ignition system, but you will cook/damage your engine if you don't get off the road and shut it down related to loss of coolant pump.

Owners in dryer, more arid climate regions w/o salted roads, are much less likely to experience problems with this part, but should still check it for issues at least annually.

I can look at the front of my engine and literally see where the salt spray/droplets from road came in via radiator fans, and this pulley is the only one impacted. I've viewed a lot of threads and pics of other's crank pulleys, but never seen one where the second tier metal ring is visibly corroded too, but on ours the corrosion has broken through the rubber damper just beyond that second tier metal support ring too, revealing the corrosion has made it into an area of the pulley that appeared to be in excellent shape just a few weeks ago. It's literally eating it from the inside out.

 

Could you elaborate on the towing benefit? There is nothing mentioned about it in the extended warranty document, so I am curious how one would use it. Who do you call to get a tow?

Interestingly, the warranty document from the NHTSA website doesn't specifically list the harmonic balancer in the list of covered parts.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...33387-9999.pdf

 

Like I said, I didn't know towing privileges (Audi Towing) were reinstated by the extended warranty either, but since it is an 'Audi North America' extended warranty program it makes sense that it is available for the duration of warranty coverage, at least for warranty related issues. Had I not pressed the Service Mgr on worst case scenarios, such as the crank pulley falling off when I'm 3.5 hrs drivetime away from them, stranding me with zero recourse, etc., then I woudln't have found out about it either. He told me it was not a public disclosure, but is included, and then he gave me the phone # for Audi Towing.

In hindsight, his disclosure of the Audi towing perk aligns with the fact that they found, after much input and fact-checking from me, and plenty of initial denial from them at the dealer level, that Audi warranty approved their replacing the harmonic balancer/crank pulley as part of the long-block sub assembly of the crankshaft, as stated in the warranty document. The key to actually getting one from Audi is that it has to fail first, or be visibly failing (wobbling off axis) to meet their replacement criteria under the extended warranty. Simply being fugly and hazardous won't cut it. On my invoice it stated I told them it is corroded and concerns of failing part, which strands the vehicle when if fails. They noted Audi warranty has ruled that it can't be replaced via the warranty as the part has not yet failed.

That, of course, means the crankshaft pulley/harmonic balancer is a covered item, which makes perfect sense as it is connected to, and a part of the crankshaft sub-assembly, but like other warranty covered items, it has to meet Audi's failure/replacement criteria, which they have defined in writing for me.

Was it easy to get them to finally validate it's covered? NO! I received several rejections and went back & forth with them using the exact warranty document verbiage to support my request/arguments; even sending highlighted sections to the Service Manager, etc. At that point they had no longer had any basis to reject my claim, and it was approved. Let me tell you, I've heard just about every excuse from Audi dealers about items not being covered via warranty that actually are. Some of it is simply ignorance of the settlement documents/coverage, but usually I get the feeling they are just trying to control the narrative.