[alfa] Of mechanical cambelt tensioners!

["John Fielding" <johnf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi All,

Whilst visiting a customer today I saw a pair of  Audi A4 heads with bent exhaust valves.
This belongs to a person from Joburg who was visiting family in Durban.  On the return
trip y'day, about 10 miles after leaving Durban, the cam belt popped off and wrecked the
heads, this is the 2.6L V6 engine.  The bucket tappets, very similar to the AR 4 cyl
engine, have big ding marks on all the exhaust valves where the cam lobes stopped, so bad
they are all scrap. 6 bent exhaust valves!  Strangely enough the inlet valves are OK.

The cause?  The tensioner let go, and you think AR V6 cambelt tensioners (obligatory Alfa
content) are the only ones to have this problem.  The owner told me he had just had the
cambelt replaced by the agents in Joburg before making the 600km trip last week.  This is
the second time this has happened in a couple of years to the owner.  Fortunately one of
the local head repair shops is able to help the owner out, most places are closing for
Xmas this week and only reopening in the New Year.

John
Durban
South Africa
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