I have a 2001 A4. I picked my car up from a garage today that I had to have weld a new flex pipe onto the rest of my exhaust, as the old flex pipe had broken off. After driving the car home I decided to go to a friend's house. I was approaching a traffic light when I saw a sudden drop in rpms and the car just shut off. I was very perplexed. I called my friend whose uncle is a mechanic and after the two of us looked at my vehicle for a while he first thought that it was the starter, but we noticed that the other belt would spin when trying to turn the car over. So, he pulled open the cover that hides the timing belt and had me try to turn the car over again. The timing belt did not move and he said felt kind of loose. I know that most of you guys work on these cars quite often, so what do you think? It sounded like the car wanted to turn over, and (like I said) the belt and fan would spin. The battery is also fully charged and was resting the entire time at 12v. If it is the timing belt should I have my father who is a very experienced mechanic do a full timning belt replacement using a kit? Also, my father does not work on Audi's very often and wanted to know what the timing belt settings should be after it is replaced (what should the timing be at)? All help is greatly appreciated.

 

Was the timing belt turning when you were trying to start your car?

Have you checked for codes?

 

+1 for the ECS kit. The waterpump they include is also revised with a metal impellar unlike the stock one which uses a plastic impellar which can break. ECS always has fast shipping and good customer service.

 

If the timing belt slipped or broke you'll have bent valves.

 

No, the timing belt was not spinning when we were trying to turn the engine over, but the other belt and fan were spinning. Why would the valves bend if the timing belt goes? Also, I do not think that I can check for codes, as I do not have a computer to hook it up to- if that is what you meant. My father told me this was a possibility, but he said he wouldn't know until he actually got in there and pulled the radiator out. Also, he said that he would check out the water pump, pulleys, tensior, etc when he got in there to see if they need to be replaced, but my car has 77,000 miles on it and I am thinking that they probably should be.