On my 2000 a6 2.8 I just discovered about 1/2 inch of the pad/shoe on my cam chain tensioner is broken off. There is no evidence of it in the valve cover, so I believe a previous mechanic broke it and just put the tensioner back in, because the tensioner is $500-600. Ouch!!! Basicly the part that is broken is the overhanging plastic piece to the left on the tensioner for the 1,2,3 bank. Audi dealer parts guy says there is no way to replace the shoe/pad, you have to replace the entire tensioner. Anyone know differently? I see there are a few sorces to replace shoe/pad on some VW products, i have not found the pad for my audi. If I can't replace the pad where can I find a good quality tensioner without breaking the bank. Should I just leave it alone?
Thanks

 

I actually had the opposite problem. When I changed the valve cover and cam chain tensioner gaskets, I found a chunk of the plastic pad sitting by one of the cam bearing caps. There was no record of the assembly ever being replaced before I bought the car, so I figured that I would find a corresponding chunk missing from the cam tensioner pad. Nope. It was all still there, so I have no idea where the extra chunk came from. Weird.

 

Theres a guy on ebay that sells just the pads for the tensioner and they can be removed and replaced. I had one of mine done this way after paying to replace the other entirely. If you cant find the guy PM me and ill get you his name.

 

I imagine you have to pull the tensioner right out to do this correct ?

 

I don't know how you replace a pad on the tensioner. I would imagine you would have to pull it out. I decided to break down and throw away $500 bucks and put in a new tensioner.

 

When I put the Cams back in, can I put them in slightly off the timing mark and roll them back to the mark. As long as both crank shaft and other cams are locked in place. The tension on the valve makes it easier to install them slightly off.

 

Bklynrx7, how do the new pads go on? My A4 2.8 Quattro has a bottom pad that has disintegrate. I found some pads online but am worried that I'll buy them and not know how to get them on correctly. Are they flexible at all when new so they can be bent around the ends of the steel pad or what?

 

I am wondering the same. Do they just press on with a little pressure, or do we need a special tool?

 

I went ahead and purchased two pads. They were super simple to install. The old pads pop right off and the new ones slip right on and lock in place. Much cheaper and extremely simple. I'm purchasing new pads for the driver side as well!

 

I'm a noobie and basically a parts changer only, for what its worth, this is just what I've learned from my mechanic. For the 2.8L A6 the passenger side cam chain tensioner can be replaced by just lifting up the cams and sliding it in because it is at the rear of the engine. However, in order to replace the driver's side tensioner, because it is at the front of the engine, you must dissasemble the entire front end of the car to replace it Guess which one went bad on my A6? Not the easy one.

My mechanic said these tensioners don't fail that often, in the three years he has had his Audi/VW specialty shop open, mine is the third he has had seen fail. He also cautioned that typically you only replace the pads if there is a grove in the existing pads, not when the pad has broken off. He warned that cam chain can cause severe damage to the engine if it skips a tooth on the sprocket, so if your tensioner is bad, replace it immediately!!!

I discovered I had broken cam chain tensioner pads when I replaced the oil pan gasket and found mangled bits of brown plastic floating in the pan. I guess my oil filter doesn't catch everything.

Just for diagnosis, if it sounds like your car is tap dancing on one side of the engine, you might want to see a mechanic immediately.

I've decided this is a good opportunity to replace my timing belt as well because I'm basically doing it anyways to get this tensioner out of the car.