Audi car part confused for a bomb, entire building evacuated: Details here

A part of an Audi car, a timing belt tensioner created quite a ruckus in Salt Lake City in the US. The Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) said that it had to evacuate an entire building on June 29 out of an abundance of caution after a mysterious metallic object with a pull pin was discovered in an apartment complex. The device appeared like a grenade, an explosive device. However, Twitter came to the rescue.

The SLCPD also said in a statement that the car part resembled a possible explosive device. It also said that the officers were baffled enough by it to release a photo asking Twitter for help identifying it as it is an unusual-looking item. The SLCPD's online request on Twitter returned a number of responses, accurately identifying the object as a timing belt tensioner commonly found on Audi cars.

The timing belt tensioner used in Audi cars is a serpentine belt tensioner or drive belt tensioner, which provides tension to the drive belts in an attempt to ensure the belts stay in contact with the crankshaft pulley and the pulley that the belt is meant to drive. In case the timing belt tensioner fails, it loses tension. As a result of that, the timing belt becomes lost the valve timing can be thrown off. This results in engine performance issues. It is recommended that if any suspicion arises that the timing belt tensioner has failed, it's important to check the tensioner and replace it if necessary.