Would appreciate any views on this please.
Had my 64,000 mile 2.0 tdi Audi serviced and the morning after the service my wife was driving to work and heard a loud bang and car lost power.
She limped the 1 mile to the garage and after investigating they have advised that the chain drive to the oil pump has snapped and so they will need to replace. Having looked at Car by Car breakdown, this appears to be a known issue for this engine - but it strikes as being far too coincidental for this to snap immediately after the service. The car was running completely fine before the service. The garage have said that the chain snapping is unrelated to the service and just one of those things - what should I say when I collect it tomorrow if the garage try and charge for the remedial work?
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This is a well known weakness on the 2 litre diesel balancer engines - before VAG changed the design to gear drive. To avoid it, buy a 1.9 or a late 2.0 (but then you get a DPF instead).
My theory is that the design team were working on the CR engines so they got the apprentice to modify the old units to include the balance shafts. There has always been a chain here - on the old 1.9 engines, it just drives the oil pump.
Unfortunately, twin balancer shafts running at 2x crank speed do not constitute a smooth load for a chain - unlike an oil pump. It's a suicidal design which is bound to give trouble and I would caution anyone against buying a VAG diesel with chain driven balancers.
The mileage you give is slightly on the low side of expected life. You will probably need a new engine if the old one ran any distance without lubrication - sorry.
VAG know all about this problem of course - watch for feigned "surprise".
659.
Edited by 659FBE on 10/02/2010 at 15:56
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I have a late 2.0 TDI B7 A4. The engine code is BRE is this engine 'safe' from this scenario.
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Have a look here - you may need to dig around a bit:
tinyurl.com/ycel63w
I don't have a definitive answer to your question because when I was shopping for a big VAG PD diesel I just couldn't believe that they would use a chain to drive balancer shafts - so I removed the 2.0 litre engine from my search list.
It seems that the way things work in VAG land is that the newest developments are sold badged Audi (to get the best margin) and then work their way down the line to Skoda before they drop off. So, there is a potential penalty for buying the Audi badge in terms of long term running experience. (Maybe this partly accounts for skoda out-performing the other clones in the reliability stakes).
I bought the big Skoda with the old AWX 1.9 engine which was still in production whilst the Audis got the ill-fated chain balancer engines. There is a mod kit to convert the chain drive engines to gear drive. The price is eye-watering as is the labour. Any chain driven cars are best offloaded to a (VAG) dealer.
659.
Edited by 659FBE on 10/02/2010 at 22:47
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I waded thro all of that blurb, and it turns out that the BRE engine variant has the spur-drive pump so I'm okay it seems, this is after all quite a late itteration of this engine, as it came out in 2004 I think - thanks..
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Hi Folks, this problem is a complete nightmare and Audi don't appear to give a toss, but luckily for me I found an Audi expert in Coventry who converted my 2.0 Tdi BLB engine to a gear driven oil pump, basically converting it to a BRE engine, if you live anywhere near Coventry or can get your can there, I highly recomend this guy, his name is Mike and his mobile number is 07970 478931, he fixed mine for under £1,000 inc parts, with a warranty and that was including a cam belt kit with water pump. He also has an Ebay shop where he sells Audi A4 Tdi engines and also offers a fitting service if your engine is screwed, take a look at this link 2.0 TDI engine AUDI, BLB on eBay (end time 10-Dec-10 19:44:41 GMT) or contact him via his Ebay user name volksbreakers. Any work is undertaken and he speacialises in Vw/ Audi, in paricular the 2.0 Tdis, but will quote you for anything, give him a go. By the way, I am not related in anyway, nor do I have any financial interest in this guy, I am just passing on someone who I found to be great, when Audi quoted me over 2K !!
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Heard a loud bang but drove a mile to the garage. Dear me, if my wife did that I would be a single man. Regards Peter
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Although Audi say the oil pump chain is no longer available, it is.
For around £22 it is far cheaper than the £6-700 for the gear kit.
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Although Audi says this chain is not available it is and at £22 it is far cheaper than £6-700 for a gear kit.
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