Question for anyone familiar with Audi 2.0t

[RBBailey]

Am I correct that this engine has a timing belt (front) and also a cam timing chain (rear)?

It is a 2006 A3 2.0, that we bought last winter, got some work done on it, then delivered it to my son last spring. I don't know this vehicle too well, and we are needing to get it repaired long distance -- 1000 miles away...We had the timing belt replaced just 3k ago, and he is saying the timing chain needs to be replaced.

One way or another, I'm just trying to use you as a 3rd party to make sure that in our long distance communication we are talking about the same thing. Seems a good shop, good reviews.

Thanks!

 

[RBBailey]

Never mind, I think this is my answer:

Pretty good look at both ends.

 

[lithium1330]

I had a 2006 A3 2.0t also. Great little commuter car and good utility. I sold it at 177k miles.
I think you found the answer, but.. the timing belt (rubber belt) is on the passenger side of the transverse engine.
The chain is for the cams up top.

On that car & engine, you'll want to pay extra attention to the cam follower (a metal cap looking thing). This cap separates the high pressure fuel pump ($500+ part) and the camshaft. The follower is $60 part (maybe an hour shop labor to check/replace) and a wear item that needs to be inspected/replaced every ~20k miles then at 30k miles. If the follower (cap) wears out/through, the pump will make metal-metal contact with the cam lobe. You'll get CEL and need to replace the follower, the pump and the camshaft.

If your shop is replacing the chain, they should also replace the cam follower with new one. Make sure they put in a genuine... not a part I'd skim on to save $30 since everything else downstream is so much more expensive.

If you feel like going down the rabbit hole with this one... https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/changing-hpfp-cam-follower-on-s3-8p.138827/

 

[RBBailey]

This may actually be what happened... When we bought the car, the guy had done a lot of the engine work on it himself. I'm not sure how good he was, but everything seemed to check out in the pre-buy inspections. Work included the cam follower and timing chain just 10k miles ago. So the mechanic is digging into this assuming that it is the chain (because that is what he thinks he hears) but will be pulling the HP fuel pump and other items along the way to see if it is something else. After a bit of research, I'm sort of beginning to think it might be the fuel pump. The first indication that anything was wrong was a loss of power at 6000 feet, then return to normal. Then again. Then the car simply died when he pulled it into the driveway at Big Bear, at something like 10k+ density altitude. It wasn't till two days later when the rattle and rough running started. He only ran it for a few minutes like that, and didn't put load on it.

After I tuned it up with a cleaning and new coils and plugs, the thing ran really well. It's a nice little turbo, and would be fun to tune for some performance -- but that will wait till the kids have run it through their years in college, then we can make it (more) unreliable.

Thanks,

 

[Brrrrt]

So I had bought a 2006 GTI for my son with the same engine and set up…just mounted 90° off from the Audi. We ended up finding that the cam follower was shot and the fuel pump was riding on the camshaft lobe. I had to replace the camshaft, the fuel pump, Cam follower, timing belt, cam chain, tensioner, remove the oil pan to look for debris, etc. as well as fix a vacuum leak (all parts replaced, but it was actually the valve cover and brake booster hose). Digging inside and engine was way beyond my engine knowledge and experience at the time, but I was able to do it and it ran great despite costing a small fortune. I have subsequently sold the car for peace of mind and since it ruined my winter shop time on my Rovers.

 

[rocky]

I was just in the market for a used car. Was so disgusted by the condition of cars not even three years old, and the obscene pricing that I stumped up the extra and bought him a new Mazda CX30.
Never had a Mazda in the family before. It’s a pretty darned nice ride when compared to the Toyota/Honda/VW equivalents.