Timing chain replacement cost S4 B7

Major-eyeswater

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What's a ballpark figure for replacing the timing chain on the 4.2 S4?

I enquired at a few local garages and had quotes between 1400-2000, does that sound too cheap to you lot - I thought itd be more expensive than that.

Also - will a cam chain kit cure the cold start rattle or do I need extras fitted ie tensioner, guides etc..
 
If you use Audi parts they are ~£1400 for all the bits you need. You want to do the chains, tensioner and guides. More often than not it’s the guides that break that then wedges a broken bit in between the chain and gear causing it to jump.

I would say it’s minimum 16 hours work by someone who knows what they are doing and has done it before. I wouldn’t expect it to be sub £2000

In terms of your rattle at cod start, yes it will fix this!
 
Wow that's heavy!

I wish I would have known this issue before buying the car, oh well!

It does have a slight couple second rattle at startup which apparently is normal.
I think theres a lot of scaremongering around this issue tbh.
 
I had a rattle which was maybe there for a year or about 15,000 miles. Then it was a weird tapping when I was on the way home one day. Wasn’t down on power at all, but then it needed a full engine rebuild as the chains had jumped. The parts bill alone was ~£2000 for the damage it did. Can’t comment on labour as I did it myself.

You can probably knock £300 off that if it is preventative, as that invoice included head gaskets and 6 new intake and exhaust valves as the chains had jumped and the valves hit the pistons on 1 bank (It’s a V6).

It’s still going to be £1000 in OEM parts. You can get pattern parts for maybe half this, but given they are on the back of the engine , are critical engine components and you have to drop the whole powertrain to get to them I would personally only use OEM.
 
The rattle is the chain tensioner being loose until oil pressure is built up, it should stay taught and not release tension, the 3.0tdi had issues with the top tensioners doing the same, it could be fine for ages, it could jump a tooth and take the valve train out, it’s always a gamble.
 
The problem is, the condition of the components cant actually be diagnosed without removing the engine - in which case you may as well do the work.
Even the audi bumf says a couple second rattle is normal - its knowing when it's gone beyond normal though.
 
Sorry to be pedantic but a couple of seconds of rattle would be concerning, oil pressure is built very quickly, I’d be inclined to say a couple of seconds is not normal for a start up rattle.

no rattle should be normal or half a second at most.

can anyone who’s had the work done say whether the rattle has disappeared on start up now?
 
The bumf;

A QUOTE STRAIGHT FROM THE AUDI TSB ON THIS ISSUE
“The Camshaft Adjustment is hydraulically adjusted and controlled by the engine oil pressure. If the engine has been turned off for a long time, the oil pressure drops down and the oil partially flows back into the oil sump. To ensure an efficient camshaft adjustment right after an engine cold start, the oil pressure inside the camshaft adjusters must be built up as fast as possible. During this time, a rattle or knocking noise may be noticeable. This noise is normal at engine start and will last until the oil pressure is fully built up, which takes about 1-2 seconds. There is no applicable production solution.”
 
That’s only talking about camshaft adjusters, and not the timing chain.

what’s the reference number of that Audi TSB?

I’ll also question what “long time” is referring to.
 

I’ve done 2 of these it’s engine out big job I allow 25 hrs labour but yes change everything inside you don’t wanna be going back inside again £1400-£2000 does sound a bit cheap really have they done them before??
Have they the right tools to re time don’t need to be far out and the variator on the cam shaft won’t come in leaving the engine flat at the top end


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I remember reading a couple of posts on this forum regarding timing chain rattle on 3.0tdi engines.
The 2 chaps replaced chains and tensioners etc and were disappointed on start up when the engine sounded exactly the same.
I have a 3.0tdi Quattro and that has a second of rattle or chatter on start up. I spoke to my mate who sold it me and he swears it did this rattle when he bought it, 6 years and 10k miles ago.
It could go bang tomorrow of course but equally it could maybe be a natural characteristic of the engine and carry on running for many years and miles?
 
Last edited:
Here is me changing the top tensioners on my D3 A8 with an ASB engine, once changed I had no more rattle on startup.



 
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