hello, new poster here.

i'll jump right in with a serious issue that i'm hoping someone might have some insight on. my wife's 1998 a4 lost power while on the freeway. all electrical still seemed fine, just no power to the engine when hitting the gas. trying to re-start the car resulted in no obvious sounds from under the hood (although we were on the side of a noisy highway so i wasn't able to listen for clicks or anything).

the diagnosis from our repair shop is a broken timing belting resulting in bent valves...to the tune of $4500. a couple caveats: this same repair shop had replaced the timing belt less then two years earlier. their guess is that something came loose and got caught in the mechanism resulting in damage.

what has me wanting to get a second opinion is that after returning to the car post-diagnosis, the battery is completely drained to the point where even the power locks don't work. could this be due to the timing belt, or the result of screwy electronics? coincidence? i read the troubleshooting guide and it mentions that loss of power while driving is a timing belt issue, but i've got my fingers crossed that it could be an easier fix...battery or whatnot.

the extent of my car knowledge is from a '65 ford falcon so i know the basics, but anything from the 90s onward is a black box to me. thanks in advance!

 

take the battery to shucks or oriely, whatever their name is and get it tested. Maybe take the alternator if youre so incline. If both are fine, ur probably lookin at a valve salad.

Do a compression test to see if the motor is popped. That will tell you just about everything you need to know. You will need a charged battery to crank the motor over. But, it doesnt sound good.

good luck