| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 003253577 | Incident Date: Dec, 26 2003 |
| Consumer's City: ATLANTA | Consumer's State: GA |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO | Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| Model Name: A4 | Model Year: 1998 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Engine and engine cooling:engine:gasoline:belts and associated pulleys |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: WAUED68D7WA | Date added to File: May, 25 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Jan, 09 2004 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: Feb, 11 2001 |
| Was Original Owner: No | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 6 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: Sudden & catastrophic failure of bearing/pulley of main timing belt, while driving at 70 mph on a busy interstate highway. vehicle had fewer than 55k miles on odometer and was well maitained.*ak such failure can cause instantaneous destruction of the engine, with resultant loss of control and/or sudden and rapid decceleration, possibly causing a catastrophic collision. the loss of the bearing causes the main timing belt to shift position and/or to snap, causing the engine valves to move out-of-sync with the engine pistons or to stop moving altogether. the pistons then collide with the valves, causing engine destruction. failure occurs without warning and instantaneously. there are no signs of impending failure that one can observe during a vehicle inspection. in my case, engine failure did not occur, but there was a loss of power. i was able to drive directly to a dealer for repair. the technician who did the repair said that, in my case, i was extremely lucky and that only slippage had occured, and that the slippage was just below the point at which engine destruction would have occurred. this technician was from germany (as was the vehicle), and he said that premature failure of this bearing (and/or associated water pump) is a common problem with this vehicle. he also said that in germany a recall was ordered by the government as they considered the failure premature, frequent, and that it could result in serious injury or death, as the engine could easily destruct at highway speeds, causig a collision. an internet search reveals dozens of reports of premature failure of this belt/pulley/water-pump system on this vehicle. (1998 audi a4 2.8l quattro automatic) |
