high mileage 2013 a4 timing chain tensioner ?

[Celiot29]

i have 175k miles on my 2013 a4 and i am also fairly certain it was built right after they made switch to upgrade the tensioner early 2013 as the build date is january 2013. that being said if it is the upgraded one should i still be worried considering i’m going to drive this thing into the ground? it runs beautifully and i have never had an issue engine wise other than pcv oil separator needing replacement and that was even covered out of warranty. ive changed oil every 5k since i hit 100k. i have yet to ask My specialist lee malo from gloucester MA he’s well known around here for his expertise in all things audi and a straight shooter, but i just want to get an idea of people’s experience with the upgraded tensioner and whether it should
be a life long part.

does anyone suggest i replace the tensioner or maybe even just have him
inspect it thru that little hole? not sure if it matters but i don’t drive it hard just a couple high revs here and there to let it breath a bit any thoughts would be appreciated


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smac770]

The tensioner style change was at least 12 months prior to your build. There should never be a need to replace that tensioner. You'll still monitor chain elongation by looking at how many teeth out the tensioner is through the inspection hole and by checking the camshaft adaptation value. Chains are better now than originally, but they are still not forever parts.

[19birel]

That's an impressive amount of mileage!

While you have the updated tensioner, the chain is still subject to stretching over time. I would check the cam phase adaptation value via either VCDS or OBDEleven (android version). There is a whole thread where people have posted their results to give you an idea of what's safe and what isn't. At that mileage I would imagine that sooner or later you will want to do a timing refresh though.

[Celiot29]

appreciate the replies and info!

i will see if my guy can check out the values when he plugs into the comp to see how elongated it is.

on the mileage yes i drive a lot and it has been super reliable, i can’t help but think it’s got something to do with the oil i use, Lee swears by mobil 15W 50 for these turbo engines i know that’s super thick and basically used for motorcycle and semi truck engine but it coats everything so well inside and i burn way less oil than if i was using the ow40 which is basically as thick as water lol i switched over as soon as i was out of warranty and i don’t regret it.

thanks again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[19birel]

appreciate the replies and info!

i will see if my guy can check out the values when he plugs into the comp to see how elongated it is.

on the mileage yes i drive a lot and it has been super reliable, i can’t help but think it’s got something to do with the oil i use, Lee swears by mobil 15W 50 for these turbo engines i know that’s super thick and basically used for motorcycle and semi truck engine but it coats everything so well inside and i burn way less oil than if i was using the ow40 which is basically as thick as water lol i switched over as soon as i was out of warranty and i don’t regret it.

thanks again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No worries, please post the values whenever you get them! It would be interesting to see where your car is at after all those miles, especially with the 15w50 oil

[Celiot29]

No worries, please post the values whenever you get them! It would be interesting to see where your car is at after all those miles, especially with the 15w50 oil

will do!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wack0]

2013 allroad here. my timing chain was stretched and threw a code at 126k miles. sounds like your chain is doing much better!

[Celiot29]

2013 allroad here. my timing chain was stretched and threw a code at 126k miles. sounds like your chain is doing much better!

wow atleast it threw a code before it broke and cost u a piston or two i’m definitely going to have my guy check it soon. did you go to indy shop or dealer and what did it cost you for chain replacement?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wack0]

wow atleast it threw a code before it broke and cost u a piston or two i’m definitely going to have my guy check it soon. did you go to indy shop or dealer and what did it cost you for chain replacement?

yes i was very lucky! indy shop quoted me $2300, but dealer did it for $1700

[audrobotic]

appreciate the replies and info!

i will see if my guy can check out the values when he plugs into the comp to see how elongated it is.

on the mileage yes i drive a lot and it has been super reliable, i can’t help but think it’s got something to do with the oil i use, Lee swears by mobil 15W 50 for these turbo engines i know that’s super thick and basically used for motorcycle and semi truck engine but it coats everything so well inside and i burn way less oil than if i was using the ow40 which is basically as thick as water lol i switched over as soon as i was out of warranty and i don’t regret it.

I know we all say “chain stretch” but we are really talking about chain wear. (literally the metal pins wearing down). Most engine wear occurs at cold startup. So if you are driving tons of miles daily, those are easy miles. And maybe that is some magic oil too. But either way - the fact that you haven't had trouble with your chain yet shows your engine is wearing nicely considering all those miles.

[Calderone]

I have a 13’ A4 Prestige and just had mine replaced at 110,000 miles. The Audi tech said the tensioner was on notch 8 and was stretched pretty good. They claimed I also had the old style chain/tensioner even though it is a 2013 A4

These prices are with labor included at an Audi dealership. $200/hr USD and 10 hours of labor for the complete timing chain/tensioner/guides
IMG_4046.JPG


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Smac770]

Well, to replace the timing chain, the upper and lower covers have to come off. And you always replace the lower cover when removing it unless you like high risk of oil leaks. And a new lower cover always has the front main seal as a part of it. So line items 1 and 2 are already going to happen as part of performing line item 3, so they are just parts costs.

upper timing cover, $160 - https://www.genuineaudiparts.com/oem...ver-06h103269h
and then also the N205 inner o-ring, but that's like $5.
lower timing cover, $205 - https://www.genuineaudiparts.com/oem...er-06k109210af
and then also the crank bolt

10 hours, dealership did mine for 9 hours, close enough. $200/hr? Damn, was $150-$160 for mine, but that was also ~4 years ago?

oil control valve? Are they replacing the control valve in the intake cam shaft for some reason? I see they are quoting the crank seal and crank bolt and upper timing gaskets twice. Maybe they mean for these to be option A, B, and C, not for all three to be done together? Still, wtf is $375 supposed to be buying if it's only the gaskets? The gasket, seal, and o-ring are only ~$30? Another $40 if you replace the 5 bolts with their integrated o-rings (which are hard as rocks on mine).

Seems not entirely solid to me. I bought all the parts from ECS for maybe $600, and that included the lower cover and two chains/two tensioners/all guides. Then supplied that to the dealership, which did the work for $16xx. I guess if you like them and just want to run the business through them, it's not entirely bad, if you find a 10% or 20% service discount coupon for them. :-)

[Calderone]

Well, to replace the timing chain, the upper and lower covers have to come off. And you always replace the lower cover when removing it unless you like high risk of oil leaks. And a new lower cover always has the front main seal as a part of it. So line items 1 and 2 are already going to happen as part of performing line item 3, so they are just parts costs.

upper timing cover, $160 - https://www.genuineaudiparts.com/oem...ver-06h103269h
and then also the N205 inner o-ring, but that's like $5.
lower timing cover, $205 - https://www.genuineaudiparts.com/oem...er-06k109210af
and then also the crank bolt

10 hours, dealership did mine for 9 hours, close enough. $200/hr? Damn, was $150-$160 for mine, but that was also ~4 years ago?

oil control valve? Are they replacing the control valve in the intake cam shaft for some reason? I see they are quoting the crank seal and crank bolt and upper timing gaskets twice. Maybe they mean for these to be option A, B, and C, not for all three to be done together? Still, wtf is $375 supposed to be buying if it's only the gaskets? The gasket, seal, and o-ring are only ~$30? Another $40 if you replace the 5 bolts with their integrated o-rings (which are hard as rocks on mine).

Seems not entirely solid to me. I bought all the parts from ECS for maybe $600, and that included the lower cover and two chains/two tensioners/all guides. Then supplied that to the dealership, which did the work for $16xx. I guess if you like them and just want to run the business through them, it's not entirely bad, if you find a 10% or 20% service discount coupon for them. :-)

Yes line 1 and line 2 got cancelled out because they’re included in line 3. $200/hr is Chicago Audi dealership. I mainly went in to fix a leaking front crank seal and they said the top gasket was leaking as well. And since I was at 110k miles I decided to just replace everything. I can throw up a parts list


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[acidvoodoo]

I have a 2013 also. Just hit 90K and had them check the stretch at my last oil change two weeks ago, its at -2°

[Calderone]

IMG_4356.JPG


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Celiot29]

i finally got it down to my guy

deviation was -.015 and the other important one was -4.015 and this is at 177k miles!!

i’m pleased to see that number for sure. i do mostly highway miles so i wasn’t surprised to see it wasn’t in dire need but i’m surprised i’m not running to get quotes as we speak lol. at -4.015 i would say i have another year to get it into a shop, what do you guys think?

thanks for all the replies


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Celiot29]

yes i was very lucky! indy shop quoted me $2300, but dealer did it for $1700

is this the first ever dealer beats indy shop story




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Celiot29]

I have a 13’ A4 Prestige and just had mine replaced at 110,000 miles. The Audi tech said the tensioner was on notch 8 and was stretched pretty good. They claimed I also had the old style chain/tensioner even though it is a 2013 A4

These prices are with labor included at an Audi dealership. $200/hr USD and 10 hours of labor for the complete timing chain/tensioner/guides
IMG_4046.JPG


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

some 2013s have old style tensioner build date has to be after december 2012 so i’ve heard, but some say last half of 2012 for engine build date had updated tensioner so who knows

with january 2013 build date i’m fairly certain mine is updated and my adaptation value was -4.015 at 177k miles so i assume i got updated tensioner with those values, not sure about chain though, i think i have a year or so before i start really considering replacement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Smac770]

The adaptation value indicates nothing about which tensioner you have. The 06H tensioner is the old style. The 06K tensioner is the new style. Reflecting its 06K parts bin designation, it was for the gen 3 motor that came with the refresh in 2012 (for the rest of the world, "MY2013" for us and no new engine for us either, got more of the gen 2 though with updated parts such as the tensioner and PCV). When did they start using the 06K tensioner on the 06H engine? Good luck getting a solid on that, but one reference implies May 2012, which would have been for the start of 2012 production (2012 for ROW, "MY2013" for us).

[Calderone]

some 2013s have old style tensioner build date has to be after december 2012 so i’ve heard, but some say last half of 2012 for engine build date had updated tensioner so who knows

with january 2013 build date i’m fairly certain mine is updated and my adaptation value was -4.015 at 177k miles so i assume i got updated tensioner with those values, not sure about chain though, i think i have a year or so before i start really considering replacement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ya my build date was October 2012


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine