2001 Allroad 2.5tdi AKE timing belt tensioner failure

[ametlib]

Nice pics but sorry about your engine, looks like it's as bad as it gets. If you choose to fix the engine with new heads and tentioners and cam belt, do not overtighten the screws! Suspect that's the reason the tentioner bolt snapped

[bluezie]

Nice pics but sorry about your engine, looks like it's as bad as it gets. If you choose to fix the engine with new heads and tentioners and cam belt, do not overtighten the screws! Suspect that's the reason the tentioner bolt snapped

That's what I was thinking, I fit the tensioners with threadlock, so not tempted to over tighten to make sure they don't vibrate loose.

[adamss24]

You cannot overtorque that bolt, the threads in the aluminium flange will strip way before the bolt breaks. Also the cams look like cheap casts, they are marked with an e which are chinese...

[ametlib]

You cannot overtorque that bolt, the threads in the aluminium flange will strip way before the bolt breaks. Also the cams look like cheap casts, they are marked with an e which are chinese...

Maybe, maybe not, it's anyway a very good idea to use a torque wrench and the correct torque in the front of these engines.... and the rollers look QEM to me, both bolts on the pic have the right color and the bolt did snap ..

[bluezie]

Yes those cams do seem different, the metal is very granular, and the lobes are narrower than a genuine cam. These are my worn AKE cams...

24022013794.jpg

[skyegtb]

Nice pics but sorry about your engine, looks like it's as bad as it gets. If you choose to fix the engine with new heads and tentioners and cam belt, do not overtighten the screws! Suspect that's the reason the tentioner bolt snapped

Hi ametlib, for info I drilled the remainder of the bolt that had sheared firstly with a 3mm drill then a 5mm drill and used a stud extractor to remove the sheared part. Thankfully this worked out well first time (I have had many stud extractors snap on me in the past!) and when I examined the hole and the remainder of the bolt it was very obviously seen that the bolt had been cross threaded when fitted as there was lots of aluminium swarf caught in the bolt threads and the thread in the casting on the block was equally as damaged. I reckon that whoever fitted that bolt made a complete balls up of fitting it, damaged the threads then overtightened it which caused the bolt to be damaged. For info, I bought the car 3 years ago with 120,000 miles with a full Audi service history up to 90,000 miles and independent garages after that. The service book noted that the cam belt was changed on 22/04/2010 at 109,000 miles but no mention of cams being changed. When I got the car the thermostat was broken and the car would not get above 50°C and the injection timing was out... Seems the independent garage did a poor job of fitting the new belts... Anyway, I stripped the front end and fitted a new thermostat and water pump also a new fuel pump belt and pulley (the originals were both damaged). I obviously had all of the belts off and inspected the pulleys etc - all looked perfect and new but I obviously could not see if the bolts had been installed correctly. So, that's the story and unfortunately I have to fix the aftermath of that bolt shearing... That's life I guess.

[skyegtb]

You cannot overtorque that bolt, the threads in the aluminium flange will strip way before the bolt breaks. Also the cams look like cheap casts, they are marked with an e which are chinese...

Hi adamss24, thanks for the reply. I am now convinced these are not genuine cams, but cheap chinese copys, mostly due to the fact they showed almost no sign of wear and were obviously quite new and secondly due to the fact that one of them snapped so easily in the event of the belt tensioner failure. I can still hardly believe this happened.

[skyegtb]

Yes those cams do seem different, the metal is very granular, and the lobes are narrower than a genuine cam. These are my worn AKE cams...

24022013794.jpg

Good info, thanks

[ametlib]

Hi ametlib, for info I drilled the remainder of the bolt that had sheared firstly with a 3mm drill then a 5mm drill and used a stud extractor to remove the sheared part. Thankfully this worked out well first time (I have had many stud extractors snap on me in the past!) and when I examined the hole and the remainder of the bolt it was very obviously seen that the bolt had been cross threaded when fitted as there was lots of aluminium swarf caught in the bolt threads and the thread in the casting on the block was equally as damaged. I reckon that whoever fitted that bolt made a complete balls up of fitting it, damaged the threads then overtightened it which caused the bolt to be damaged. For info, I bought the car 3 years ago with 120,000 miles with a full Audi service history up to 90,000 miles and independent garages after that. The service book noted that the cam belt was changed on 22/04/2010 at 109,000 miles but no mention of cams being changed. When I got the car the thermostat was broken and the car would not get above 50°C and the injection timing was out... Seems the independent garage did a poor job of fitting the new belts... Anyway, I stripped the front end and fitted a new thermostat and water pump also a new fuel pump belt and pulley (the originals were both damaged). I obviously had all of the belts off and inspected the pulleys etc - all looked perfect and new but I obviously could not see if the bolts had been installed correctly. So, that's the story and unfortunately I have to fix the aftermath of that bolt shearing... That's life I guess.

Yepp, just bad luck. The 2,5 tdi are really not ment for greasemonkeys. Have no idea about the value of your car in the UK, but you can find heads with camshafts in good condition for around 200 eur. on Ebay.de. Add shipping cost and a new alu plate...
( what ever you do, do NOT use helicoil in the alu plate, you need to change it)

[skyegtb]

Now that I have both heads off and know that I need to replace the crankshaft end / timing plate (which has the thread damaged hole) I am now thinking that it would be easier and cheaper to source a good complete replacement engine. The question is, do I need to get an AKE specifically, or can I theoretically fit any of the 2.5tdi engines from 1999-2005? If I used my fuel pump, turbo, injectors etc are all engines compatible? What made the AKE 180bhp compared to the 155bhp and 163bhp engines? I have good leads on an AYM and a BAU engine. Are these OK for me to use?