The Circumstances below have Finally been"Resolved" in terms of parts and labor reimbursement by the Service Director andOwner at theDealership.
I am obligated to report this on behalf of the dealership, although my opinions of theire Service Manager are still my own.





Original Message:

Ok, I started taking apart the front of my A4 last night to start the WP and timing belt job at ~157K miles. After getting the radiator and viscous fan out of the way, I notice the WP belt is clearly much too loose. How did this happen? I started looking for adjustments on the powersteering pump to see if there was a bracket to adjust/tighten it, which may have come loose? There is no such adjustment...the WP Pulley comes apart,and when the two halves are put back together, the belt that drives the WPbecomes tightened in there. The belt is so loose that I can't hold it to take off the 3 socket head screws that hold the 2 halves of the pulley together. I was able to get a grip on the back part of the WP shaft backing plate with some Channellocks and loosen the 3 bolts.

Then it all becomes clear....the back half of the pulley was on backwards!!! It caused the wpbelt to slip like crazy for the last 70K+ miles!!! The belt wasn't tight enough to even spin the wp under load, and I bet it wasn't even pumping at least 95% of the time.

I gotthe WP andtiming beltdone last time at ~85K miles at the dealer -Valenti Auto- Watertown, CT, where I bought the car. So for $1300. So it's 11:55 AM - the dealer closes at 12. I call them immediately and tell the service advisor, Brett, to not go anywhere and I'll be down there in 3 minutes. I showed him and this other guy, Bob the pulleys and the worn, cracked WP belt. I showed him how there was rust on the part of the back pulley that was facing the engine instead of making contact with the belt, as it should.

I am dumbfounded: 1. That the engine is still going with the belt like this for 70K miles.
2. That this happened when the dealership did the timing belt job back in 2005.

The service advisor asked me what I wanted done about it....?

First, I'd like my $1300 back that they charged me to do the job that was done incorrectly.
Second, I thought about this on the way home...I'd like them to pay $150 for the new AKG radiator I just had to buy.

If my engine overheated and seized up due to this issue, they'd be giving me a fresh 0 miles 1.8T.
I got my evidence in writing (since I need to get this thing back together - and they sure as heck will never touch another Audi of mine ever again) and the service manager, Rich, is supposed to be giving me a call on Monday.

Unbelieveable.......What would you all do if this happened to your car by the dealer? What does Rich owe me?

Here's some pics for you all to enjoy....that I will also be sending to Audi of America.

BTW...Like the 034 snub? It's in and fits tight.

 

dear god.... i live in central CT and have bought some misc. parts from valenti before, although never had any work done there. strange that you didnt notice any overheating with the belt like that, was there even enough contact between belt and pully to somewhat pump water? from the pics it doesnt look like the water pump would be turning at all. too bad they wont spring for a brand new motor and install hah (although that could be more hastle then its worth, and i wouldnt let them touch my car after something like that)
good luck

 

I remember noticing once or twice a few months back that it was loose, but it never caused coolant overheating, and the engine oil temp was always around 225*F, which I figured was just normal. I don't remember what the oil temp is supposed to be at, since it was up at 225*F for the last 70,000+ miles. If it is supposed to run cooler, someone let me know, because this may have caused some problems that I'm still unaware of.
I just finished flushing out all of the hoses that I could get to, the 2 by the oil filter, the resevoir hoses, upper intake hose....I disconnected all them except the heater core hoses, I think, but that probably got flushed in the process as well.
Time to put the hoses back in order with all new clamps and get the new T-stat and wp in, then put the new timing belt, tensioners,etc in. I'm doingeverything that came in theECSUltimate kit, minus the cam and crank seals - they're not leaking now,soI'm not taking a chance causing a leak by replacing them. I'll post more pics later, and maybe one of the techs at Valenti can read it and learn how to put a wp pulley and belt together the right way. For this, oh yes, I have started drinking early.

 

i think they should at least give you your money back. i partly know how you feel man. just put new tires on my dad's highlander and they weren't mounted properly and all 4 leaks. and the bad thing is he had to travel in like 2 days. but i fixed it before he left, thank god. good luck man

 

i would be trying to get your money back and except nothing less, the second you do they win, stick to your guard and do not let the m wear you down, if they give you sh*t call Audi, and they will compensate. i had the same issue with my grand am, i had the power windows replaced ($800per) only to have them brake the same way 30,000 miles later and had the dealership tell me the warranty was for 25,000 i called GM and they replaced them both for free.

 

Well the normal operating temp is around 225 F, and un-fortunately the part never really failed due to poor workmanship. So this is how its gonna boil down, the dealer is liable for the problem, not the parts, and not audi of north america. You're gonna have to go to battle with this dealer to get all if not some of your money back. You CAN contact AOA about it but they aren't gonna compensate you for the money, they can add additionalpressure to the dealer to pay you your money back however.
As for your engine it should be just fine, most of the time when i have to do water pumps on old 1.8T's the belt is loose like that too, because the water pump bearing is just worn out.
Good luck.

 

Thanks, at least I can be pretty sure now that there was no real engine damage from the engine running too hot consistently.Andthe water pump bearing still feels brand new... I'm thinking because it never really had any load on it, and the belt was never tight enough to keep the pulley turning at high rpms. It's heat and load that wears out a bearing, and this bearing most likely saw neither. Regardless,I already installed the new water pump.Any advice from anyone else on how to go about getting compensated by the dealer?

 

Idk man, I really dont think you will ever see that money... I think that he is gonna tell you everything will be taken care of and then in the end he will ignore your calls and when you finally come in there he will say they didnt do it.

 

Well since I replace the wp, and t-stat, the normal temp dropped from 225-230* down to 200-205*, so my car was running hotter with less coolant circulation than it should have had before the loose slipping belt.

 

that is cRaZy! i hate letting people work on my stuff, i let a supposedly good german auto tech to my exhaust because i didnt feel like it... ended up with a deep scrape on my passenger bumper (from his belt buckle) and a scrape through the paint on the rear bumper then two weeks later i have an exhaust leak to find 2 untightened bolts on the DP and a loose air connection... i could have saved $150 and fucked it up myself!

ill bet u dont get anything back! good luck though!
i went to my audi dealership (gossett in memphis, TN) for my first free oil change, and they didnt change the filter i had put two scrapes on with my pocketknife before i pulled in.... they gave me two cases of oil and filters to go with it