Cambelt Change
---------------
I replaced the belt, water pump, tensioner pulley and roller over the Christmas holidays. It's a fiddly job as space is limited and there are a few pitfalls for the first-timers (me), particularly if you don't have the proper overhead engine support to hold the engine up when removing the front engine mount.
This is not a step by step guide but may be helpful for anyone who has read the Audi or Autodata manual and is still determined to have a go.
PARTS - Audi sell a timing belt kit which is cheaper than buying individual bits.
The 4 crank pulley bolts (allen head type on my 2001 car) are very tight and easy to chew up. Buy a spare set before starting.
Minimise future repairs by replacing the water pump(only £25 exchange)
People with vagcom can check the injection timing before and after - its comforting to know you got it right.
PREPARATION - remove the drivers side inner wheel arch liner and headlamp to improve access and visibility. Obviously the undertray has to come off as well.
I supported the engine under the sump but when you remove the front engine mount, this unloads the suspension and the body lifts, making it very difficult to unscrew the 3 mounting bolts and re-assemble them without damaging the alloy threads. If you have to do the same, try using 2 lenghts of threaded bar and nuts (M 10 I think) to separate and re-align the front mount.
Once the mount is off and the covers removed the engine can be barred over to the correct position and the locking pins inserted. Note the crankshaft tool has a reference mark which must align with the crank gear mark before the tool is slid over the teeth.
The cambelt tensioner pulley then needs to be locked. Its not really visible but the bracket on the pulley assy sits on a spring loaded plunger. The tip of the plunger has a waisted section - like a valve stem. The locking tool is inserted from the back (bulkhead side) of the engine, through a slot in the timing cover housing and locates round the waisted section of plunger tip. Once this is located the tensioner pulley can be carefully released. If the plunger is not locked off, it will fully extend making it impossible to fit the new tensioner pulley correctly. This happened to me and I ended up having to make a tool to squeeze the plunger back into its housing against the extremely strong spring.
One last tip - the manual suggests loosening the 3 bolts which lock the camshaft pulley to the cam, probably to compensate for tolerances in the belt tooth spacing or lenght. I did not find this necessary
If you have got this far then the rest is plain sailing.
When its all back together, check the crancase breather pipe which fits between the base of the oil filter and a box behind the radiator - this had come off on my car and resulted in a pool of oil under the car when I fired it up - a heart stopping moment.
One of the small turbo boost signal lines also came loose a week later resulting in a big loss of power, another consequence of lowering the engine which strains this particular pipework
Cheers Spike