My buddy has a 2000 A4 1.8t Quattro that he purchased about 6 months ago and a couple months after he purchased it the timing belt broke and obviously smashed the valves. (interference engine) He got another car because it is way too much money to fix (if your not mechanically inclined or have any clue where to start)

So I am trying to pick it up from him. He wants 1000$ for it but I am only going to pay 500$ for it.

My question is that I have been talking to many people (Euro fanatics) and they say that there is a good chance that the Pistons are damaged as well and possibly turbine damage. What is the possibility of this ? (car has 135k miles)

I have a honda prelude that the belt snapped on and just the valves were bent, pistons where fine. But a guy i talked to said that Audi use everything really light weight so the pistons are very thin.

What do you guys think i could be in for and what is most likely wrong with it other than bent valves?

 

What were the circumstances of the timing belt breakage? Depending on the state of the motor before/during the break, its very possible that the pistons, cylinder walls, turbo, etc. WERE damaged. Typically it just bends/breaks valves and the marks on the top(s) of the piston(s) can be sanded down no problem, but if he was going 100 on the interstate when it happened or something I would assume the worst.

That said, I wouldn't pay more than $500 for the car. Are you planning on doing the rebuild yourself or taking it to a shop?

 

I just asked him how fast/ what was he doing when it broke. Thats crazy you say dont pay more than 500 for the car. I was thinking you guys would think I was being cheap. lol

And honestly I was thinking (best case scenario here) Just either getting the head rebuilt, or just going to the junk yards and buying another head with a little lower miles on it and putting it together

 

Eh other people might disagree with me, but I personally see no value in a car that doesn't run. People say "oh well you could get 5 times that if you part it out." Ok. So part it out then. You've already expressed your lack of desire to do that by putting the car up for sale "as is" and I'm not gonna pay more than $500 for what is basically a two-ton lawn ornament at that point

You may be able to get away with having the head rebuilt, like I said it depends on how violent the timing belt breakage was. I've seen pics of (what used to be) motors that were completely destroyed by losing a timing belt, and heard from other guys who only bent a handful of valves.

 

i totally agree. he said that he was going about 40mph when it broke. and it is a manual trans.

 

I think you're gonna have to get it and tear apart the motor and just see how it goes. Do a compression test too.

 

what do one of those motors cost? not a brand new one but low mileage one like if worst case scenario and i had to get a whole motor

 

If you get lucky you can find a motor in a part out for a couple hundred bucks. Keep an eye on the classifieds here, the zine, whoretex, etc.

 

I think a compression test with belt breakage at 40mph is going to show zero compression in all four cylinders - I don't see any of them escaping damage. What you're likely to find is what I call "valve salad." be sure that if you replace the head, you get the right one. A couple different versions of the 1.8T are offered so you'll need to verify that the donor engine was the same model as your engine. And I also agree that you'll need to plan for the worst and hope for the best on the pistons - at elevated engine speeds you're likely to have scoring on the pistons which can cause detonation via hotspots.

Or you could avoid all the crap and pass on the car to buy one that hasn't tried to mulch its valvetrain...

 

yeah. I dont want this car for my self really. Was just thinking to buy it fix it , and flip it