2004 Audi A4 1.9 tdi avant. Please help me with this guys, really down with this issue

[ak07]

HI,


I am the proud owner of a 2004 A4 1.9 tdi avant B6.(85kw BKE)


i love my car but this problem has really really got me down right now, to the point I am thinking of getting rid, a real shame as it is mint example as it only has 70k and I am the second owner,


Please could you guys take out a few minutes to read the information and please advise, sorry for the long winded description but want to give as much detail as possible.




In February this year I started the car in the morning and heard a squeal on what sounded like the fan belt, it lasted for a couple of seconds and quickly disappeared , over the next few week it began to last longer in the mornings until it warmed up and would then disappear, over a few weeks it got to the point where it was constantly squealing on idle (not screeching or vibrating shaking or bouncing etc).


i took it to my local garage who inspected it and advised me to change the fan belt and tensioner, I purchased genuine parts and did this.


He also advised me to change the alternator pulley as these were a common fault but as this had been changed only a couple of months earlier and seemed to be working fine (clutch etc) we let it be..


After changing this all was fine and the squealing stopped and the car felt perfect again.


About three months later the exact same problem began again, starting with a second squeal eventually building up to a constant squeal over a few weeks.


I went back to the garage who removed the belt, the power steering, crank, air con, and alternator pulley all seemed fine, the belt was not jumping when observed and none of the pulleys had any movement left to right or forward to backwards etc, no resistance or signs of seizure. The clutch system on the alternator pulley worked fine when locked, ie only turning one way.


the mechanic suggested it may be a faulty tensioner, so I returned the parts to Audi who replaced it alongside the belt without and questions asked,


again when fitted it was perfect,


three months later exactly and I have the same problem again,


we have checked the battery in case it was putting extra load onto the alternator which was making the belt slip when cranking it up in the mornings, but battery is all good,
belt has been removed again and all pulleys seem fine again,


there is no noise when the car is started with the belt off,


i had no alternative other than to book it in with Audi for the £102 diagnosis,


this was done on Friday,


when I arrived at the garage I explained to the technician what has had been going on, he started the vehicle, turned the steering to check for a fault on the power steering pulley but there was no change in the sound, so he concluded it would probably not be the power steering pulley, he than said that it was very unlikely for it to be the alternator pulley if it the clutch system was working fine and there was no movement in it and also it was only 12 months old


he then went to turn the air conditioning on to see if that made any difference , at this point I told him that I have not been able to use the air con for about 18months as the ECON light is stays illuminated when I press it..


it wasn't always like this but about 18 months ago the ECON light was constantly illuminated. I originally thought it was out gas but never had it gassed as we had no summer and probably out of laziness,,


he then told me that more than likely that would be the problem, I asked if he could explain further as I was under the assumption that if the air con compressor was not engaging the belt would just be running on the air con pulley freely without any king of resistance etc,


he then requested for me to leave it with them for further investigations


i returned to collect later on that day, I was handed a report which concluded that the fan belt was squealing due to a faulty air con compressor, £1400 to replace, when asked how the diagnosis had been carried out, they explained that they used a stethoscope to listen to all areas the belt covered and they thought the the aircon compressor area didn't sound quite right,


as you can imagine I was not totally convinced by this, I understand that the aircon not working is a problem, but I wanted to be sure that I would be spending my money on the correct parts,


bearing in mind that the belt it self would need replacing as it was now damaged, I knew that if just the belt was changed it would stop the squealing for three months anyway like previously, so I wouldn't really know if the problem had been resolved until 3 months later, I was also paranoid that if I Returned 3months later I would then be diagnosed with a different fault etc


I kind of had the feeling that the technician had diagnosed the problem solely on the basis of the ECON light not diffusing


on the way home I got my air con re gassed, the ECON light now works fine, it diffuses which is meant to activate the aircon, problem now is the temp of air stays the same as in ECON mode which indicated to compressor is not engaging,


I don't hear the engine idle change when I press the ECON button, bit I'm not sure if I'm really meant to,


questions now are,


why is the air con not functioning properly, after doing some reading on here I think it may be the clutch/pulley not engaging the compressor, but not sure if my car has the clutch system on the unit?


what do you guys recommend I do?
I wouldn't be able to afford a new unit from Audi to be honest. I think the clutch pulley kits are about £120, but don't want to be buying one if I need the actual compressor as well, there are some complete units that breakers are selling from £100-200. Are these worth the risk?


is there a diagnosis process to determine if I need the clutch pulley or complete unit?


And more importantly could this actually be the culprit causing the squealing of the belt in the first place? As I would hate to go thought the whole process of changing it all only to have the same problem three months later..


My local mechanic seems to think that it can't be the problem but at the same time doesn't understand what could be


What I can't understand is if this is the problem, why does it take about three months before I hear the belt to begin to squeal?




please guys your advise would be really great, this has really got me down, just to put the icing on the cake the airbag light illuminated on the way back from Audi, which I have never seen before,


i am paranoid to even drive it now invade the belt snaps and causes further damage


Please please I would really appreciate some good advise,


thankyou for taking the time out to read the post,

[Doctle Odd]

I know you brought the car I assume they scanned it for faults? A stethoscope has some uses in a garage but it's not the first tool that would spring to mind. If there's no squealing with the belt removed then it's a pulley or bearing.I would suspect the aircon pulley. Can you get a VCDS scan done? Is it squealing at present.? Do you do the spannering yourself? If so try a belt from a non-aircon model, see what sound you get at start-up.

[ak07]

I know you brought the car I assume they scanned it for faults? A stethoscope has some uses in a garage but it's not the first tool that would spring to mind. If there's no squealing with the belt removed then it's a pulley or bearing.I would suspect the aircon pulley. Can you get a VCDS scan done? Is it squealing at present.? Do you do the spannering yourself? If so try a belt from a non-aircon model, see what sound you get at start-up.


Thanks for the reply,

The scan shows no faults whatsoever, the belt is squealing at present, I've got a good understanding of mechanics but I use a local mechanic as he is a mate,

i have thought about trying a non aircon model belt, but as far as I am aware I don't think there is one listed on the 2004 model, please could you confirm this is the case? This would be perfect for diagnosis

[micheal balbrig]

Thanks for the reply,

The scan shows no faults whatsoever, the belt is squealing at present, I've got a good understanding of mechanics but I use a local mechanic as he is a mate,

i have thought about trying a non aircon model belt, but as far as I am aware I don't think there is one listed on the 2004 model, please could you confirm this is the case? This would be perfect for diagnosis

Is it possible that the crankshaft pulley may be causing the squeal. I had a similar problem on an old 80 tdi and found the crankshaft pulley causing the squeal. the ribbed
part of the pulley was able to slip on its rubber cushion when under heavy load.
Regards
Michael

[nevo]

Is your pump run off the serpentine belt? my 2003 has its own belt,its mounted down on the offside,so there is a smaller belt available but might not fit if yours is mounted elsewhere,you could try spraying some water on the pulley with a handheld sprayer like dettol,see if that quietens it.

[Doctle Odd]

There is a belt available

http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/v-ribbed-belts/audi-a4-8e2-b6-1-9-tdi-116ch_v18225_g305.html


Thanks for the reply,

The scan shows no faults whatsoever, the belt is squealing at present, I've got a good understanding of mechanics but I use a local mechanic as he is a mate,

i have thought about trying a non aircon model belt, but as far as I am aware I don't think there is one listed on the 2004 model, please could you confirm this is the case? This would be perfect for diagnosis

[ak07]

There is a belt available

V-Ribbed Belts for your AUDI A4 (8E2, B6) 1.9 TDI (116HP) (http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/v-ribbed-belts/audi-a4-8e2-b6-1-9-tdi-116ch_v18225_g305.html)


Hi

will order this belt and try

thanks

[ak07]

Is your pump run off the serpentine belt? my 2003 has its own belt,its mounted down on the offside,so there is a smaller belt available but might not fit if yours is mounted elsewhere,you could try spraying some water on the pulley with a handheld sprayer like dettol,see if that quietens it.


Yes my pump is run off the belt, also when I sparky water on it , the squeal stops for a few seconds

[touranasurus]

HI, with the British weather not been the best, why not remove the air-con from the system and fit the smaller belt for the same model car without air-con,i know its not ideal , but would prove that it is the air-con, plus would save you a packet. I'm not a believer in throwing thousands of pounds at cars,In the summer i would open the windows LoL. good luck.

[ak07]

HI, with the British weather not been the best, why not remove the air-con from the system and fit the smaller belt for the same model car without air-con,i know its not ideal , but would prove that it is the air-con, plus would save you a packet. I'm not a believer in throwing thousands of pounds at cars,In the summer i would open the windows LoL. good luck.


This is what I originally was going to do, just to diagnose the problem ,however my local parts dealer and TPS both informed me that there is no belt listed for a non aircon model on a 2004. So a little confused, I have been provided a link for what seems to be the belt but there is no information on compatability on the link really

[zollaf]

if you wet the belt and the squeel stops, then its the belt at fault, probably sticking to a pulley. ribbed belts have a habit of doing this. what make of belt is and has been fitted ?

[ak07]

if you wet the belt and the squeel stops, then its the belt at fault, probably sticking to a pulley. ribbed belts have a habit of doing this. what make of belt is and has been fitted ?


Belt only stops squealing for a couple of seconds,, belt is genuine Audi part,, cants see three belts all being faulty though

[Doctle Odd]

go to your local motor factor he will sell you one, plenty of people put on a shorter belt it slightly lowers fuel consumption

[zollaf]

ok, spray water on belt and belt stops squeeling, its got to be the belt. try spraying some silicone spray on it, or get some special spray designed to stop belts squeeling.
it can be very hard to correctly diagnose these things, but we need to find out if it is an auxillary device or the belt for sure.
if some spray shuts it up for a while, then its the belt either sticking to a pulley, or a pulley out of line. so, next job is to get a straight edge and place this across all the pulleys and make sure they are all perfectly lined up and one isn't sat in the wrong place or otherwise mis aligned. presuming they are all ok, i would remove the belt and wire brush clean each pulley in turn.
what happens you see is as the belt comes off the turning pulley, it sticks to it due to friction and as it pulls away it squeels. this can happen if dirt is built up in the pulley grooves or in some cases if the paint is worn off the pulley and there is some corrossion on it.
incidentally, some makes of belt will squeel when others won't. i had a discovery in that i fitted 3 belts to, all made by delco and they all squeeled. then tried a gates and that was and still is fine. i doubt a genuine would squeel, but it might be worth trying something else, certainly cheaper than a new aircone pump, which i really don't think has a problem.

[ak07]

go to your local motor factor he will sell you one, plenty of people put on a shorter belt it slightly lowers fuel consumption


Will be there in the morning, hopefully they should get me sorted,, could you please explain how it lowers fuel consumption please?

[ak07]

ok, spray water on belt and belt stops squeeling, its got to be the belt. try spraying some silicone spray on it, or get some special spray designed to stop belts squeeling.
it can be very hard to correctly diagnose these things, but we need to find out if it is an auxillary device or the belt for sure.
if some spray shuts it up for a while, then its the belt either sticking to a pulley, or a pulley out of line. so, next job is to get a straight edge and place this across all the pulleys and make sure they are all perfectly lined up and one isn't sat in the wrong place or otherwise mis aligned. presuming they are all ok, i would remove the belt and wire brush clean each pulley in turn.
what happens you see is as the belt comes off the turning pulley, it sticks to it due to friction and as it pulls away it squeels. this can happen if dirt is built up in the pulley grooves or in some cases if the paint is worn off the pulley and there is some corrossion on it.
incidentally, some makes of belt will squeel when others won't. i had a discovery in that i fitted 3 belts to, all made by delco and they all squeeled. then tried a gates and that was and still is fine. i doubt a genuine would squeel, but it might be worth trying something else, certainly cheaper than a new aircone pump, which i really don't think has a problem.

Tried silicone spray on the last one and it made the squealing sound much louder to the point it was no longer bearable and had to change the belt, all pulleys have been checked for alignment and movement and are all defiantly fine, they were checked for debris etc while being inspected but all seemed fine.

[nevo]

Just reading your original post again,firstly your pump will have a clutch,second you will need the klima scanned for faults,very likely be the high pressure sender bad,this wont bring up the econ light,I would also get up close to the clutch and take a fused 12v supply to the clutch and see if you can get it to engage(engine off)check the pully alignment with a straight edge,against the others if poss,also check the air gap on the clutch.

[Doctle Odd]

These's a slightly smaller load on the engine as it has one less pulley to turn.

Will be there in the morning, hopefully they should get me sorted,, could you please explain how it lowers fuel consumption please?

[micheal balbrig]

Tried silicone spray on the last one and it made the squealing sound much louder to the point it was no longer bearable and had to change the belt, all pulleys have been checked for alignment and movement and are all defiantly fine, they were checked for debris etc while being inspected but all seemed fine.

The squeal you have at present. Just to confirm, is it when idling and does it intensify when revved,
It will be good to eliminate air con pump by bypassing same with your shorter belt. can you access loan of altenator as test and possibly idler pulley if fitted.
Has your model got a metal shield behind crank pulley that may be rubbing belt.
Regards
Michael

[ak07]

Just to update, I had a mate plug in to the car via a snap on machine.
It bought up the following fault


00819 high pressure sensor - G65 signal
Too low intermittent


I have searched for this and read up some, I think it is the sensor under the passenger headlight. It seems like an easy change


I understand that this could be the fault with the air conditioning but how is this contributing the fan belt actually squealing?

[Doctle Odd]

00819 - High Pressure Sensor (G65)00819 - High Pressure Sensor (G65): Open or Short to GroundPossible Causes

Wiring/Connectors from/to High Pressure Sensor (G65) faulty
High Pressure Sensor (G65) faulty

Possible Solutions

Check Wiring/Connectors from/to High Pressure Sensor (G65)
Check High Pressure Sensor (G65)


00819 - High Pressure Sensor (G65): Signal too LowPossible Symptoms

Climate Control stuck in ECON Mode

Possible Causes

Insufficient Refrigerant Pressure
Wiring/Connectors from/to High Pressure Sensor (G65) faulty
High Pressure Sensor (G65) faulty

Possible Solutions

Check Refrigerant Pressure

Check Measuring Value Blocks (MVB)


Check Wiring/Connectors from/to High Pressure Sensor (G65)
Check High Pressure Sensor (G65)

[nevo]

The high pressure switch will stop the clutch from engaging,you may find the squeal will go if you get it engaged,or you may find the clutch is goosed and the cause of the issue.