Timing Tensioner Problems of Audi A4

Purchased vehicle 8/15/19 at select motors inc, smyrna TN. Clean car fax report. Ongoing oil consumption issues. Intake camshaft locked up following oil consumption test at Audi of nashville. Not driveable now. Audi of nashville quoted cylinder head and associated parts, timing chain, tensioner, cam adjuster and pistons. TSB-2027731-8 brought to my attention. Engineering defect with pistons a known issue. Contacted Audi of north America. Unwilling to provide financial assistance. Car beyond the 8year/80,000 mile extended warranty they offered following a class action lawsuit. Paid cash at purchase, put roughly 2,000 miles on the car and and being told will need to spend an additional $10,000-$13,000 to get the car running again for a known engineering defect with the pistons Audi is unwilling to classify as a recall.

See all problems of the 2009 Audi A4 🔎.

I was driving to work and as I slow down to park I heard and felt a pop in the engine. Luckily I was able to use the momentum of the car to park. The engine would not turn back on. After work I went back and the car would not turn on. The engine would just clank really loud. I had it towed home and the next day I called the mechanic. I then towed the car about a week later to the mechanic for him to check it out. After a few days he said that the engine chain tensioners broke and caused catastrophic damage to the engine. The repairs would cost $4800 and or we can put a new engine for $6300.

See all problems of the 2010 Audi A4 🔎.

Engine light came on. Car stopped running--was unable to start it. Audi dealership service identified it timing tensioner failure at just 70000 miles. Repair cost estimated at $3100. Recent class action settlement identifies this as a consistent problem with Audi/vw but does not include my VIN. However, this is identical issue as other Audi under recall.

See all problems of the 2013 Audi A4 🔎.

Driving vehicle and it started shaking. Got the car home and when I shut it off and turned it back on it rattled and sounded like metal. I was able to get it to the dealership. I had it checked by mechanic and he told me that the timing chain and tensioner were the problem and I was just two months out of warranty. The next day the dealership called to tell me I needed new cylinders because the car would not start. Quoted me $7,500 to repair. I do not qualify for the class action suit because my car did not break until after the window closed. Audi knew about the failure and did nothing to warn owners.

We were just informed of a class action lawsuit involving timing chain and tensioner failure. This failure could cause catastrophic engine failure while driving and cause the vehicle to stop possibly at highway speeds causing an accident and harm to vehicle occupants. The lawsuit could result in an extended pro-rated warranty but no recall or repairs made to any vehicle prior to engine failure. Audi is aware of this problem and has issued a technical service bulletin to the dealer network but will not offer any repairs outside of the current warranty. We believe all affected vehicles should be recalled and repaired prior to a catastrophic engine failure resulting in loss of life.

See all problems of the 2012 Audi A4 🔎.

Fully stock engine and drive train car experienced a timing chain tensioner failure. Being an interference engine, this cause catastrophic damage and the car requires a new engine. I was fortunate this happened while stationary at a gas station. I had driven about 100 miles and stopped for gas. Attempting to start the car yielded cranking but no turning over. The car was towed to a mechanic who confirmed the failure via engine compression. The failure could have happened while on my highway drive at highway speeds putting myself and the drivers around me in danger. This is a known issue and a class action settlement is taking place. The manufacturer should be forced to recall all affected vehicles for tensioner replacement.

Timing chain tensioner failed causing chain to slip and immediate engine stoppage.

Timing chain tensioner failed causing catastrophic engine failure and stall on city road intersection full of traffic.

Driving home from work, all of a sudden my vehicle was revving while it was idle and at low speed, making it very difficult and dangerous to steer the car and keep it under control. Upon inspection, it was found that the timing chain tensioner had failed and had caused serious engine damage, causing the pistons to fire prematurely. Previously the tensioner was replaced in 2014 by Audi when the car had ~50k miles and was reported as a "weak tensioner". My car currently has 92k miles. I believe that no replacement tensioner should only last 40k miles and cause catastrophic engine failure and put consumers at risk of not being able to control their cars.

Replacement of timing chain, timing chain tensioner, timing chain guides & lower timing cover with piston repair.

Timing chain tensioner failure. Causing significant engine damage.

Timing chain tensioner failure. The failure caused the timing chain to jump, throwing the pistons out of sync, causing damage to the valves. This occurred when first starting the vehicle.

Catastrophic engine damage caused by failure of timing chain tensioner. No early warning as vehicle was serviced the day before by Audi dealership and oil capacity and pressure were within manufacturer's tolerance. Vehicle was in motion at slow speed when check engine light came on.

Timing chain tensioner failure at 114km , caused the timing chain to skips a tooth or two, results in engine damaged to the head valves and entire engine shut down, this could results in fatal car accidents during driving to everyone.

Timing chain tensioner failed causing engine damage and almost caused a severe accident. While driving vehicle lost almost all power and decelerated to a 15 mph pace on major street with 45 mph speed limit.

While driving the car came to a complete stop and had to be towed to a garage - it did not start again. After investigation the tensioner failed causing piston and valve damage which equals an engine replacement! no insurance coverage and when I picked up the car - there was another one coming in for the same issue!.

Engine misfire likely due to timing chain jump. Extensive repair to engine including intake valves, timing chain, tensioner, and several related parts. At the time of the malfunction, the vehicle was being driven in albany, NY, during heavy traffic. The malfunction could have resulted in personal injury to occupants in this vehicle as well as to other vehicles. Cost of the repair was $3,194. 46, and resulted in loss of the vehicle for 9 days.

I was lucky that my car did not fail while driving down the highway like other owners with this problem have. The timing tensioner and chain failed, causing a costly repair. I understand that there are three class-action suits against Audi-vw regarding this problem, yet no recall. Why? I want Audi to pay for this costly repair and have a recall. I can send photos if necessary.

Timing belt tensioner failing at under 70k miles but Audi suggests that no need to perform any timing belt related work before 120k miles. This causes catastrophic failure on the engine and entire engine needs to be rebuilt or replaced. There are several lawsuits and complaints in several states. I wanted to officially start this complain and I'm in missouri. These tensioners and chains should have been replaced under the original warranty or an extended warranty program since Volkswagen knew these components were defective and would cause premature and often unannounced expensive engine failure. This is evidenced by the subsequent revisions to the tensioner and chain performed in late 2011 in an effort to correct the original defects.

See all problems of the 2011 Audi A4 🔎.

The timing chain tensioner broke causing the engine to completely stop which made the car unable to move or respond in any way. At the time the vehicle was stationary but completely disabled.

The timing chain tensioner failed causing the Audi interference engine to become out of sync resulting in the engine becoming totaled. This has become a common occurrence and is widely reported on 2009 and newer models. Below is an article with their assessment of the situation. The car had been taken in 2x for misfires and was diagnosed as an issue with the spark plugs, it is now clear that this was the timing chain being out of alignment and missed. Upon the engine light coming on the car was left parked until the day before the service appt when it was to be dropped off at the service location, at that time, upon starting the vehicle the timing chain tensioner failed and caused the engine to fire out of alignment damaging the engine. When speaking to a member of the Audi dealership it was shared that another vehicle is in for the same issue and that they are seeing this occur more and more in their vehicles. This failure is also reminiscent of the 2007 class action law suit which prompted Audi to move from a timing belt to the for the same outcome occurring. . Read more...

The timing chain tensioner failed causing the Audi interference engine to become out of sync resulting in the engine becoming totaled. This has become a common occurrence and is widely reported on 2009 and newer models. Below is an article with their assessment of the situation. The car had been taken in 2x for misfires and was diagnosed as an issue with the spark plugs, it is now clear that this was the timing chain being out of alignment and missed. Upon the engine light coming on the car was left parked until the day before the service appointment when it was to be dropped off at the service location, at that time, upon starting the vehicle the timing chain tensioner failed and caused the engine to fire out of alignment damaging the engine. When speaking to a member of the Audi dealership it was shared that another vehicle is in for the same issue and that they are seeing this occur more and more in their vehicles. This failure is also reminiscent of the 2007 class action law suit which prompted Audi to move from a timing belt to the for the same outcome occurring. . Read more...

2009 Audi A4 was recalled for oil consumption issues. Rebuilt in March of 2014. July 2015 timing chain tensioner failed causing timing chain to jump and drop a valve. Car is now sitting at Audi dealership with an unfixable engine. There are hundreds of examples of this part failing after oil consumption rebuild. This as a defect and very dangerous because car just stops running. Audi will not take any responsibility despite the mounting facts against the part.

Vehicle began to run very rough and started to shake. Parked and stopped engine. On attempting to restart it briefly fired but then died and stalled. Subsequent attempts to start the vehicle resulted in it turning over with no apparent firing. Vehicle was towed to the Audi dealer and we were informed it was due to timing chain slip. It appears from information online that the timing chain tensioner in this 2009 b8 2. 0t engine is defective. The head and pistons were all damaged and the engine was declared unrepairable by the Audi dealer. Dealer charged $1300 for inspecting the pistons and wants $13,000 for a new engine. This vehicle had replacement piston rings out of warranty but at no charge to us due to the known excessive oil consumption issue (for which there was a class action lawsuit). Audi increased the engine warranty from 4 to 8 years as part of settlement of this class action, but only in respect of failures related to the excessive oil consumption issue. Audi maintains that this issue is unrelated but the dealer service manager told me that anecdotally she's seen several such failures after piston ring replacement (I have this interaction recorded on video). Searching online shows that there are several websites selling replacement timing chain tensioners to replace the defective part that Audi uses on this engine. Audi refuses to acknowledge any fault on this issue. Red line speedworx website which sells upgrade kits to replace the defective part says that typically this failure occurs at 80k miles plus. Since the standard warranty is 50k miles this means that Audi views itself as not liable for these failures. We are filing a lawsuit against Audi over this issue.

At approximately 1000 miles on the odometer of my 2012 Audi A4 avant quattro, a strange noise began from the front area of the engine. The noise happens at the first startup of the engine regardless of ambient temperature. After about 2 minutes when the engine idles down the noise stops. Different Audi technicians at two dealerships have diagnosed the noise as 1) cam tensioners, 2) a bad bearing inside the cam case, 3) secondary blower motor and, 4) lash in the vvt system. None of the technicians have put a wrench on any of the named components because, according to the dealerships' service managers, Audi USA will not authorize repairs. According to Audi USA, the strange noise is a normal function even though Audi customer service cannot explain why the noise was not apparent for the first approximate 1000 miles of driving.

A4's have a poorly designed cam tensioner that eventually leaks oil. The cost to repair the item is approximately $1000. The dealer (carousel Audi) even admits to the fact that it is a poor design and there have been numerous complaints about it at the dealer. I've also read numerous complaints about it on Audi forums. The leak typically found shortly after the warranty period has expired. I feel strongly that this should be a recall on all respective cars to have it repaired!.

See all problems of the 2001 Audi A4 🔎.