Cambelt Tensioner Damper - Heads Up

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Piester

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I had my cambelt done on Friday by they guys from 4Rings (did a great job as ever, cheers guys!). After reading a post last week that mentioned how important it is to have the tensioner damper done at the same time, I made sure they replaced it as well as the usual belt, tensioner and pump, which 4Rings always do apparently.

It turned out that my old damper had been leaking pretty badly to the point that it was bearly providing any resistance, so was only a short amount of time before things started going horribly wrong. A ****** big relief to say the least! The car's done 110k and was going to leave it until 120k but decided better to be safe than sorry. Probably the wisest £430 (all in!) I've spent.

As the post mentioned, this isn't always done by all Audi garages and although my belt had been done before, the tensioner hadn't been touched.

Just a heads up really. If you're doing the cambelt, make sure that you spend the extra £80!
 
Yeah, had the pick up and sump changed (couldn't be bothered to clean it) at the same time, as well as the haldex oil and filter.

The 4Rings guys are excellent, always give you an honest opinion and never charge over what they quote you. Top lads! They don't mind installing the odd mod as well, which is great from a load of ex Audi dealership mechanics.
 
I'm having ym cambelt done this week and I'm trying to make sure I get the right stuff.

I spoke to Camberly autofactors this week, who say they can do a full cambelt kit for £97 which includes 'everything'. When I asked about the tensioner damper he just said 'it's all in there' but didn't seem to know anything specific about the tensioner damper.

Called GSF and they quoted me £68 for a cambelt kit, £22 for a metal impeller water pump, and another £58 for the tensioner damper.

What do you think guys? the garage that's doing it usually get bits through camberly autofactors, but if their kit isn't going to include a tensioner damper, it's going to be a fail.
 
I'm pretty sure that Dean said that the tensioner comes in the kit as standard. The only extra you should need to get is the water pump. Oh and there is another belt down there that might be worth changing at the same time. I cant remember what it is off the top of my head but I'll find out.
 
That's the aux belt I think. They had a look at mine but said it was still in perfet knick so I didn't need to spend the extra £25 on a new one.

As for the autofactors kit, it does seem pretty cheap to also include the damper. Just remember that a large number of Audi stealers don't do it as standard unless you specifically ask them. According to 4rings, it's bascially the only way they can look to be competitive with the independent garages.
 
Damn it! I just spent 20 mins searching my old post to find out what belt it was, I found out that it was the Aux belt and came back here to find that you've posted it. lol I had mine replaced anyway.
 
tensioning damper is not in kit

Cambelt kit with tensioning roller ;
06A 198 119B
�97


Belt tensioner damper
06B 109 477
�91.27




Coolant Pump
06A 121 012G
�67

these for BAM, AMK and other 1.8t
 
Contitech do a few kits, of varying levels of completeness.

Theres also a chassis number change but you need either CT909K3 for later cars ( CH-NO 8L-Y-125001 onwards) and CT909K6 for earlier ones if you want the damper and pulley.

Give AllGermanParts a call for the bits.
 
I had mine changed at Volkswizard/Wizard Works in Birmingham last month. £299 without the hydraulic damper, £349 with. No brainer really. This is my car's second cambelt change, and I doubt if the damper was changed first time.
 
I used a contitech kit on the A4, and everything in the kit was identical to the Audi parts removed.

You could see where the audi logo had been machined off the damper, and the manufactuers stamps on the bearings and damper were the same.
 
Ok, my cambelt was changed at 62k, the car's now on almost 80k.
Theoretically it shouldn't need to be done again for a while but I can't be sure what else was changed when the belt was done. Plus, I think my aux belt is squealing.

I'm not made of money, but i've just priced up the following on ECP;
Contitech Timing Belt Kit (with tensioner damper)
Contitech Drive Belt (is this the Aux belt?)
Circoli Water Pump (is the KWP one any different/better for £20 more?)
Water Pump Gasket (required? Or supplied with new pump?)
Total - £191

Would you? Opinions please.
 
Don't want to scare everybody, but had my belt, pump, tensioner & idler all changed @60k just under 3 years ago.

Just before last Christmas I had the VVTi unit changed and the mechanic noticed a worrying noise from the Cam belt area. This turned out to be the tensioner just about to let go after 25k & 2 years. May just have been a dodgy part, but keep an ear open for noises in that area!!

Cheers,
 
I just had my 2nd cambelt, waterpump and tensioner all done at Midland VW.

Was going to get it done locally, but didnt have the time, but ECP do a Contitech kit, with all the parts including the tensioner, at a decent enough price.

Think I paid about £320 for everything.
 
Problem solved for me, I've decided to supply the bits to the garage myself, rather than risk them getting the wrong kit.

ECP are £140 for the contitech kit without a water pump, but with the tensioner damper

GSF are £130 for the 'OEM quality' kit, also with the tensioner damper, and £22 for the metal impeller water pump. oddly, the VW waterpump with plastic impellor is £33.

Will be going with the GSF stuff as they're local to me, and a few quid cheaper.
 
It seems as though only quite recently people have started posting about the tensioning damper needing to be changed in addition to the regular 'cambelt kit' parts. My 2003 A3 is on 55k now and a belt change is imminent, just not sure that the tensioning damper is actually needed at that mileage? Immpossible to know I guess!
 
IMHO, for the sake of an extra £20 or so for the tensioner, it's a no brainer. If it lets go or seizes, it's almost certainly bent valves time. Likewise I would always change the water pump at the same time, for the same reason.

Cheers,
 
I think the only reason the dampener question is coming up now is that its due, the majority of S3s in here are about the 10year old mark and upwards, so a few of them will be on their second cambelt, so will be worth changing it thats all.
 
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