Now: timing chain reliability

[Cody Forbes]

The chains themselves are fine, it's the plastic guides and tensioners that are the problem. On 4.2l V8's they are known to break as early as 75,000 miles or even less. I simply don't know enough about the V6 in the original topic because I typically only deal with S-cars, but VAG very commonly shares design traits across all products.

Here is a very very good thread about the 4.2's:
http://www.euroaddiction.net/forum/b6-b7-platform/5527-b6-b7-s4-timing-chain-faq-information-discussion-thread.html

-Cody Forbes (mobile)

On Dec 5, 2012, at 10:46 AM, mkb <mkb125 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>Cody Forbes <cody at 5000tq.com>
> In the case of the 4.2 I just did it was $22,000 from Audi. If it was the other engine code somehow it was less at $12,600.
> 
> I just looked up the 3.2l in question and its $15,999.96 retail, but has been super ceded to a lesser-equipped engine which is only $9999.98!
> 
> -Cody Forbes (mobile)
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> 
> Not to hijack the thread or anything, but this kinda begs the question of whether a timing-belt would be better/easier to maintain.  I can see advantages/disadvantages to both:
> 
> timing belt - every 60-90k miles but at least it can be done without taking the engine out
> timing chain - 150k or more?  Costs more, engine needs to be removed?
> 
> And how reliable are the 3.2 and the newer 3.0T engines?  I'm sure most us will be looking at these as values drop.
> 
> --
> mohammed
> 2008 a4 2.0tqa s-line