Thermostat and housing

[Matt82]

im changing these on my car, but from experience plastic housings like to warp and overtime leak bad

is the stat housing on an S4 plastic and therefore prone to leak? it has never been mentioned on here according to the search, but you dont get many people DIYing on here

anyone with any experience know?

the housing costs 50 ****** pounds

 

[Matt82]

no ideas on the thermostat hosuing?

 

[Broken Byzan]

I have never heard of one leak/split on an a4 or s4

 

[Matt82]

ive called PW motorsport to ask for their advice (seeing as theyre the people who actually do these things) but then ill get a biased answer because id be buying to kit from them etc

ive found out the conti kit has INA rollers... which is a really good thing

 

[Matt82]

i just spoke to philip walker himself.

stat housings are apparently metal, so unless the surfaces are corroded and dont clean up, there is no need to replace.

as for the damper, he doesnt see that as a part typically replaced. he will test the part and if there is any defect he will replace it, but in his experience they dont have to be replaced.

im gonna email him for the parts to be ordered

 

[Broken Byzan]

Nice bit of info there.

The A4 is plastic, but again only ever leak when the #stat is replaced without changing the seal ( sadly learnt from experience)

 

[aragorn]

While i might take a chance with the tensioner on a 1.8T motor that can be replaced for £400, would i hell be taking a chance with it on an S4...

Both the Gates and Conti kits have a "with damper" option, and its seriously not an expensive part when you consider how expensive things would be if the belt slipped.

 

[adamss24]

I would replace the damper on a v6 tdi or audi s4 (any v6 engine as such) at every 2nd cambelt job. U can get the damper on its own from ECP for about 50 quid(its made by INA so OEM), dealer wants double that ! If it fails you liiking at a big bill to rebuild the engine !

 

[Matt82]

its made by febi, so id steer clear tbh

im waiting for parts prices from PW, failing that im getting the ECP conti one with damper

 

[adamss24]

its made by febi, so id steer clear tbh

im waiting for parts prices from PW, failing that im getting the ECP conti one with damper

Yeah, you do that... Its not worth taking chances especially if you planning to drive the car hard.

 

[Matt82]

the ecp kit actually comes with INA rollers as far as i can tell. the damper, thatll be a lottery brand wise

the reason i beleive PW is because he actually has experience with it, something which no one here seems actually have. all you ever read abuot is how much people paid other people to work on their cars

ive seen the construction of the damper, the parts that would appear to be able to fail would be rubber o rings. on the 928 ive been restroring i had to rebuild its hydraulic tensioner/damper beacuse the rubber bellows on the end had gone brittle and perished, but the rubber o ring inside was still tip top after 20 years+

so im, at least, speaking from experience

 

[adamss24]

the ecp kit actually comes with INA rollers as far as i can tell. the damper, thatll be a lottery brand wise

the reason i beleive PW is because he actually has experience with it, something which no one here seems actually have. all you ever read abuot is how much people paid other people to work on their cars

ive seen the construction of the damper, the parts that would appear to be able to fail would be rubber o rings. on the 928 ive been restroring i had to rebuild its hydraulic tensioner/damper beacuse the rubber bellows on the end had gone brittle and perished, but the rubber o ring inside was still tip top after 20 years+

so im, at least, speaking from experience

I am not telling you to do how i think is right(cause i know i'm right !) i am only suggesting that you should replace the damper at least every 2nd(!) cambelt job ! I actually have experience with the VAG line-up of engines and i will be able to tell if the tensioner is still serviceable ! Dealer dont do cambelts, they do comission someone to make belts for them(dayco/pirelli, Contitech,Goodyear,etc.) and tensioners(Littens, INA, Ntn,etc.)... If you wanna do it on the cheap, just do the belt and tensioners but if the thermostat fails soon after, its just you to blame and re-do the job ! If its your own car, i would replace every plastic roller for the auxiliary/AC belt- especially if you intend to keep it for long !