Bad Harmonic Balancer?

[KWATTRO_S4]

As I was leaving my house after about half a mile I noticed my power steering going out as well as my car going into some sort of a limp mode. Then I noticed when I gave it a little more power my car started to over heat and then it started throwing alternator faults. I parked the car and looked under the hood and noticed one of the belts was shredded. Still intact but shredded. I immediately got it towed to my local shop and this is what they told me. They told me that the serpentine belt was what has shredded which to my research seemed reasonable due that controls the power steering, water pump, alternator ect. But what they also told me I needed to replace my supercharger belt (not too worried only $40) but they said the Harmonic Balancer was bad (never heard of it... Sorry I'm a noob) and this is like a $600 part... What does this part do and why did it need to be replaced. Cars in the shop so I dont have any pictures sorry.

[S4'ed]

The crank pulley (aka harmonic balancer) is a known failure item on these engines. The pulley is made of 2 metal parts, with a rubber "band" damper that holds them together. The outer metal ring breaks loose. The part was improved by Audi, make sure you get the latest revision of the part. The part costs about $300, plus the belts, and labor.

[theweebabyseamus]

The crank pulley (aka harmonic balancer) is a known failure item on these engines. The pulley is made of 2 metal parts, with a rubber "band" damper that holds them together. The outer metal ring breaks loose. The part was improved by Audi, make sure you get the latest revision of the part. The part costs about $300, plus the belts, and labor.

+1, very common failure and symptoms.

[KWATTRO_S4]

How long of a job is do you know? Just trying to think how much the labor will cost me.

[MSq5]

How long of a job is do you know? Just trying to think how much the labor will cost me.

The length of the job may vary depending on whether the delaminated pulley and shredded belts took out anything else under the hood, thrashing around. Hopefully there is no damage to anything else.

But, assuming that there is no other damage, the job should be similar to those of us who have replaced the stock crank pulley with an oversize pulley to run Stage 2 tunes. Honestly, I did it in 45 minutes. There is a link here for a 30 minute "how to."

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...r-2-in-a-jiffy

But, a shop is likely to charge you for three hours, which will include their set up time (getting the tools together) and time to put everything away.

I would suggest that you consider a good aftermarket pulley from Fluidampr or a one piece pulley in OEM size from companies like JHM. A one piece pulley cannot delaminate. Problem permanently fixed. Replacing the OEM with another one, even the most up to date version, is still risky. The new ones are failing, too.

[Tech/Sales@JHM]

The length of the job may vary depending on whether the delaminated pulley and shredded belts took out anything else under the hood, thrashing around. Hopefully there is no damage to anything else.

But, assuming that there is no other damage, the job should be similar to those of us who have replaced the stock crank pulley with an oversize pulley to run Stage 2 tunes. Honestly, I did it in 45 minutes. There is a link here for a 30 minute "how to."

But, a shop is likely to charge you for three hours, which will include their set up time (getting the tools together) and time to put everything away.

I would suggest that you consider a good aftermarket pulley from Fluidampr or a one piece pulley in OEM size from companies like JHM. A one piece pulley cannot delaminate. Problem permanently fixed. Replacing the OEM with another one, even the most up to date version, is still risky. The new ones are failing, too.

We no longer offer a stock diameter replacement pulley. We do have either a 179mm or 187mm overdrive pulley available for the 3.0T.

[MSq5]

We no longer offer a stock diameter replacement pulley. We do have either a 179mm or 187mm overdrive pulley available for the 3.0T.

Thanks for that information. I just hate to see OP repeat the scenario with another failed OEM.

I love your products and can attest to their reliability having run both the 179mm and now the 187mm.

But, what would you recommend for those who might not be ready to jump up to a Stage 2 and want a reliable crank pulley?

[Tech/Sales@JHM]

Thanks for that information. I just hate to see OP repeat the scenario with another failed OEM.

I love your products and can attest to their reliability having run both the 179mm and now the 187mm.

But, what would you recommend for those who might not be ready to jump up to a Stage 2 and want a reliable crank pulley?

You can run the 179mm with stock software. The excess boost will typically bleed off the extra boost being made. We have a few customers who have done exactly this who either wanted an upgrade over the failure prone factory pulley or were waiting to have software flashed in the future.

[KWATTRO_S4]

Thanks for that information. I just hate to see OP repeat the scenario with another failed OEM.

I love your products and can attest to their reliability having run both the 179mm and now the 187mm.

But, what would you recommend for those who might not be ready to jump up to a Stage 2 and want a reliable crank pulley?

Unfortunately I purchased an OEM one off ebay as I was time pressed as this being my daily. I wish I did more research and went through FCPEuro and got an aftermarket one with lifetime warranty.. but I do plan on going stage 2 right off the bat next summer so hopefully this should last til then. The car just broke 92,000 miles and I imagine that it was the original from factory so I should be alright til then right?

[Scaughtedaug]

I just had this replaced on my 2010 S4 with 71k miles. Needed the crank pulley and both belts + labor ran me $800. I'd either cough up the money and get a Fluidampr one ($700) or stay OE and make sure you get the updated "F" type pulley. P/N: 06E105251F