Timing Chain

[carpetbagger]

Hi all a bit of advise and help needed had my car (audi a6 c6 2.7 tdi 2005 avant ) for over a year passed mot no advisories over the last month on cold start up there is a rattling noise coming from the n/s passenger side head it lasts for 1 to 2 seconds .
Sometimes more noticeable than others if car started up again the noise is not there if left for 30 minutes or more then the noise is there
Have read a few threads it could be chain or adjusters if it was chain would noise be there all the time?
if adjusters can these be replaced on their own with engine in
Audi want £60 for first hour is that about right (car has done 162k )
Thank you in advance for any help and advise

 

[Davee60]

Hi,
I have a similar problem with my 2005 A6 3.0 tdi which I have just purchased and is suffering from the same symptoms as you have although I don't know which side it is coming from. The car is booked into a specialist near Chippenham who will have the car overnight Monday (29th Sept) and let me know what they find Tuesday. Once I know I will advise of the outcome. I did speak to a friend who has worked at an Audi dealership for many years and he said that is fairly common and don't worry about it, but I'm not so sure. The car has also been checked at a different Audi dealership who said the same!

 

[carpetbagger]

Hi look forward to hearing the outcome i also have mine booked in with a audi specialist they are also having it overnight
Dropping it of to them on Tuesday night so they can start it up from cold and try to diagnose the issue by letting it cool down and start it up again
Will post outcome as soon as i can

 

[Davee60]

Hi,
Mine has been diagnosed as the upper right hand side (drivers side) timing chain tensioner. This has been mentioned as the most likely cause elsewhere in this and on various other forums. Total cost to replace including vat is £193.45 for parts (tensioner, sprocket & 8 bolts) + £330 for labour. As soon as the work is done, Thursday at the latest assuming nothing else is found, and I have had time to check it, I will post again. Considering that most other garages were quoting me circa £2000 to replace all the timing chains (which I thought was reasonable considering all the work involved) etc it's not to bad.

 

[carpetbagger]

Hi
Thanks for the update i have dropped mine of and awaiting a call to let me know what the problem is
Glad to hear yours was the lesser of the two evils seems to be a reasonable price
I am assuming that the job can be done with engine in
Has anybody done this job if so would like to hear if special tools are required and how hard a job it is
Will also update when car has been diagnosed cheers

 

[carpetbagger]

Got the phone call to pick up the car just to be told that it was chain related which i already knew
Spoke to the technician who was very helpful and agreed that the most likely cause would be the tensioner or guides
but did not rule out the chains
This was also a job that they would not undertake so going to get the tensioner replaced when i find someone willing to do it

 

[Davee60]

Hi,
Got my car back Wednesday, started it up this morning (Thursday) with no timing change noise. Well pleased, now booked in for an economy map next week. I did ask at what sort of mileage the chains should be changed but was told they should last the life of the car. Out of interest mine has done 111,000 miles with the Audi longlife service intervals, I shall be changing the oil every 10,000 miles or so using Castrol Edge 10-30W.

 

[carpetbagger]

Glad to hear your all sorted will get mine done when i find someone willing to take the job on

 

[gupsterg]

It's known issue with the chain tensioner, VAG have a tech bulletin regarding it AFAIK the production date 07 onwards had the improved part and the earlier ones the poorer one. This issue effects all VAG models using the 2.7 / 3.0 V6 TDi.

Long life servicing is supposed to exaggerate/expedite the issue and creates stretched chains from what I've read from posts by some experienced VAG tech forum members.

When I had chain rattle occur and read a thread about it one poster had the poorly produced chain tensioner replaced and then a while later the rattle returned, then he had all chains, guides and tensioners done. So I opted for the full monty onslaught on £££ .

VAG haven't even learnt from this mistake as recently read a tech bulletin concerning the second generation V6 used in the A6 4G stating that models earlier then MY13 have again a poorly produced tensioner which causes chain rattle .