Freak accident (has anyone ever heard of this happening)

[jasennn]

So right after Christmas time I'm driving back home from visiting the family. 2.5 hours into my 3 hour drive I hear a very quiet bump and then my battery warning light pops on. I had replaced the battery 2 weeks prior and was certain that I had installed the wires tight. Anyways, after driving the rest of the way home I park it for the night and it fails to start in the morning... Strong crank , but no start. I open my hood and see my serpentine belt had decided it no longer wished to be a single entity and shredded itself and ejected itself out the bottom of my car (no splash guard.. very typical I know). I replaced the belt and still no start.. ac line was smacked by the belt and snapped so the ac doesn't work still. Further digging showed that there was shredded belt stuck in my crankshaft pully and timing had jumped a tooth. My exhaust camshaft pully was not aligning when the camshaft was aligned. The exhaust cam had snapped near the pully and friction welded itself back together. I don't know how it managed to drive home just fine. or the damage was caused when trying to start it the next morning. either way 3000 dollars in parts and tools and my engine is put back together and I have a fresh timing belt, new camshaft, water pump and serpentine belt. Still trying to find a replacement ac line used because a new one or 3rd party is 600 dollars. Moral of the story on the A3 TDI is replace your serpentine belt early. Mine had 0 signs of wear when I replaced the battery so be cautious. Has anyone ever heard of this happening before or is this one in a million bad luck on my part?

 

[P2B]

It's not uncommon for serpentine belt failure to result in collateral damage. It's best to pull over as soon as possible when the battery light comes on and remove any belt remnants.

 

[Mozambiquer]

Its a pretty common problem.

Common Rail TDI Lower Timing Belt Cover

After multiple customer requests and seeing a handful of shredded serpentine belts get sucked into the timing belt, we felt a solution was necessary. CNC machined in house from 6061 aluminum, these fit much tighter around the harmonic balancer to effectively eliminate the possibility of a belt...

whitbreadperformance.com

Matt whitbread made a cover that helps protect that. One other thing to watch is that if the alternator clutch pulley is locked up itll cause the belt to fail as well.

 

[jasennn]

Its a pretty common problem.

Common Rail TDI Lower Timing Belt Cover

After multiple customer requests and seeing a handful of shredded serpentine belts get sucked into the timing belt, we felt a solution was necessary. CNC machined in house from 6061 aluminum, these fit much tighter around the harmonic balancer to effectively eliminate the possibility of a belt...

whitbreadperformance.com

Matt whitbread made a cover that helps protect that. One other thing to watch is that if the alternator clutch pulley is locked up itll cause the belt to fail as well.

Thanks so much I had no clue that someone even made these.

 

[gforce1108]

My coworker has a 12 or 13 A3 TDI with 150k on the original timing belt. I had him order a kit from idparts and I'll be doing it ASAP. I sent him the link to the whitbread lower cover too but I don't think he's going to order it. I would!

 

[gforce1108]

My coworker has a 12 or 13 A3 TDI with 150k on the original timing belt. I had him order a kit from idparts and I'll be doing it ASAP. I sent him the link to the whitbread lower cover too but I don't think he's going to order it. I would!

I guess I scared him yesterday because he ordered it last night! Perfect time to install when everything is off for the timing belt.