Was my cam belt idler roller missing????

**rhencullen1989** · 11-10-2010,09:57 PM

Hi there,

I have just replaced the timing belt on my 1.8T AEB engine, i bought genuine audi parts as i have a trade account with TPS, i also replaced the hydraulic damper/tensioner and the idler roller and also the tensioning roller/pulley, all with latest issue parts.

Question is, when i removed the old hydraulic damper (which was totally shot after 190K) there was no idler roller bolted to it like the new one has. There was a threaded lug on the damer body that had wear marks on it from the belt touching it (marks could have been from an old belt as i remember when that was changed at 120K by an audi specialist they showed me the old belt which had deep score marks in it) The belt i took off had some marks but not as bad. So should there have been an idler roller or not?

**phil miller** · 11-10-2010,10:19 PM

was the belt really slack before you replaced it? by the sounds of it the idler may well have broken up, its unlike TPS to supply the wrong parts and the one local to me always say if the parts have been modified

**A4 Lad** · 11-10-2010,10:25 PM

Out my my experiance, there is always an idler wheel there. Bolted on with a 13 mm ? Sounds a bit bizzare that its not ! Someone must have left it off and tensioned the belt accordinally so thats why its stayed on. If it was there and fell apart ( i think ) it would have got caught up as its big enough

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**rhencullen1989** · 11-10-2010,10:56 PM

Yeah, TPS have definately given me the correct parts, i would not have thought the roller could have broken up, but i also could not believe someone had left it out and tensioned the belt accordingly.

The more i do to my own cars the happier i feel that a job has been done properly, i took my time with the belt change, marked timing marks, cleaned the plastic covers, loctited the damper bolts and tensioner bolts, copper greased other bolts.

The place that did the belt last time (2003 and 120K) even left one of the main bolts out from the front panel to chassis, and the hidden 5mm allen headed bolt on the lower cam cover was rounded off causing me a bit of grief, i found a nice stainless one in my box of bits and also replaced the front panel to chassis bolt with a stainless steel item.

I really think you can do a better job than most garages if you have some decent tools and some engineering back ground.

**phil miller** · 11-10-2010,11:01 PM

Originally Posted by rhencullen1989

Yeah, TPS have definately given me the correct parts, i would not have thought the roller could have broken up, but i also could not believe someone had left it out and tensioned the belt accordingly.

The more i do to my own cars the happier i feel that a job has been done properly, i took my time with the belt change, marked timing marks, cleaned the plastic covers, loctited the damper bolts and tensioner bolts, copper greased other bolts.

The place that did the belt last time (2003 and 120K) even left one of the main bolts out from the front panel to chassis, and the hidden 5mm allen headed bolt on the lower cam cover was rounded off causing me a bit of grief, i found a nice stainless one in my box of bits and also replaced the front panel to chassis bolt with a stainless steel item.

I really think you can do a better job than most garages if you have some decent tools and some engineering back ground.

i would have thought if the roller had been missing for 7 yrs the belt would have snapped,

its always good to do bits on your own car, as you said you know its done correctly then

**A4 Lad** · 11-10-2010,11:04 PM

All depends on the individual and his workmanship. In my workshop, all we seem to do is fix other peoples crap work. If a jobs being done, we make sure its done right, even if it starts of bad from previous repairs. Its all about a man that has pride in his wotk but costs £5 an hour more than an apprentice that does half the job in his garage at night. Sometimes it hard to get that point over to people. Ok, thats my rant over !!! :-)

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**s1turbomike** · 11-10-2010,11:15 PM

I dont know if this helps but i have recently done my cambelt and my A4 with AEB engine in and it should have the idler as i got my kit from GSF with a new damper which also came with idler.

Your very lucky it didnt kill the belt and your engine.

**rhencullen1989** · 14-10-2010,12:16 PM

I have found out that the old damper SHOULD have had the idler roller, this means i have done 70K miles on a cam belt with the idler roller missing and the belt rubbing on the threaded lug where the idler should have been.

I can't believe a so called well known audi specialist replaced the belt and tensioner roller (allegedly) and did not notice the idler roller was missing, should this roller not have been in the cam belt kit anyway!!!

I think i am lucky the belt never snapped, will change belts myself from now on, luckily my B6 1.8T Q S-line is not due for a few years yet!!!!!