Harmonic balancer pooped out!

rt_hawk

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Location
Boston Area, MA
TDI
2011 Audi Q7 TDI S-Line
Got lucky and it just seperated, 10k miles into a malone stage 2 tune, I drive a ton for work....now to get held over the coals by the local dealer since I can't seem to find any aftermarket solutions that are close by and I need my Q7 back today. Anyone know of any good aftermarket brands for harmonic balancers for a 3.0 tdi??
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Looks like Corteco makes one, they're good quality. Price is about $259. I could get it here (at IDParts) tomorrow.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
This may be becoming a trend, you are not the first to report one of these failing on the V6 TDI.

I wonder if someone needs to come up with an improved (solid?) version.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Used to be a 30k PM item on the 6.2L and 6.5L GM diesels until someone came up with an improved version. The Jeep 4.0L I6 broke a lot of these too.
 

soot1

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Location
Houston, TX
TDI
Currently none. Formerly: 2010 VW Jetta TDI 6M, 1993 Dodge Ram W250 Cummins 5M 4WD, 1990 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1986 VW Jetta Diesel 5M, 1980 VW Uabbit Diesel 4M. Currently driving 2018 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD.
I put almost 200,000 miles on my 1993 Cummins B5.9, but the harmonic balancer never gave me any trouble in those 16 years I owned it. How is it possible for a component that simple to fail? If Cummins was able to make it right almost 30 years ago, why can't Audi do the same today, especially with all the modern design and manufacturing tools that were not available back then?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I put almost 200,000 miles on my 1993 Cummins B5.9, but the harmonic balancer never gave me any trouble in those 16 years I owned it. How is it possible for a component that simple to fail? If Cummins was able to make it right almost 30 years ago, why can't Audi do the same today, especially with all the modern design and manufacturing tools that were not available back then?
You could say the same thing about a million (or a billion) things. Lots of Cummins 5.9L blocks had castings that were poor and they cracked and leaked coolant. Never ever seen any VAG cast iron block do that. So..... ????

Yeah, stuff breaks. Man made. We deal with it. Some stuff breaks a lot, some stuff never does. This is why I have less faith in an unknown "new" something or other, when the old tried and true is well known.
 
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rt_hawk

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Location
Boston Area, MA
TDI
2011 Audi Q7 TDI S-Line
All fixed!!

I needed my car tomorrow for work, so I road my triumph tiger 1200xca down to the Audi that had 8 bolts, the shim and damper in stock, stopped at idparts for a belt and idler kit+tensioner. Threw it together this afternoon. Purrrrrrrs now. I’m not sure this makes a difference but the car did sit for 1.5 years in storage waiting for the “fix”. I can see that causing some bearings to fail with grease settling, I had several noisy idlers, but not a rubber damper? Maybe I should put a layer of protectant on it?
Oil hammer, I would have ordered from you if this wasn’t a one day activity....unless you are in the Boston area??? Or know anyone who carries contitech in the Boston area? The new OEM looks like it’s better quality, although the one on my Q7 was 8 years old with 54k on it...
 

rt_hawk

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Location
Boston Area, MA
TDI
2011 Audi Q7 TDI S-Line
Crap!! Indigo blue wagon, I was at your shop at like 11:30am today...wish I would check this forums more...I was busy with parts searches!!! Doh!
 
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