Timing belt success!

[Elliott]

Well a buddy and I decided to tackle this today. It really wasn't too bad of a project. Started promptly at noon and finished around 3:30. I replaced the timing belt with the kit from ECS Tuning (great kit by the way!) and the rear coolant flange which was an uber PITA. It literally broke in 1/2 when pulled off the block. Either way we got her all buttoned back up and she's running good.

BTW, I'm @ 70K miles right now and my timing belt did have very small superficial cracks in it. I didn't like the looks of that. Either way, she's got a new one that will last another 70k miles. Just thought I would share some pics.

















BTW, I'm missing the rings on my engine cover. Where can I find another set without buying the entire cover?

[prey]

^^ nice, ebay for rings. haha

[onceover]

i lost my engine cover rings too!

[prey]

i lost my engine cover rings too!

ebay link (this should fit)

[Papachristou]

congrats you saved yourself $500+ in labor.. Hmm 3.5 hours work divided by $500 minimum you saved = $142.86 per hour!

[absolutegtr]

That inincredible that you did it in 3.5 hrs.....nice

[aaronz]

Looks like they have dickies on (the pants) and they are wearing rubber gloves. I also don't see any beer in any of the photos, this leads me to believe they are either Mechanics, or very mechanical inclined. I got my hopes up for 5 seconds that I might be able to pull this off that easly, but then I remembered all the other projects that were only supposed to take 1 hour and ended up taking 3!

Nice job!

A complete write up might be a blessing? :)

[akaEsCo01]

A complete write up might be a blessing? :)

Here's your writeup, Yoogene's Timing Belt DIY

This will take at least 6 hours for someone not so mechanically inclined

[Papachristou]

Looks like they have dickies on (the pants) and they are wearing rubber gloves. I also don't see any beer in any of the photos, this leads me to believe they are either Mechanics, or very mechanical inclined.

Hmm good observation! all my DIY have bud light involved in them!


dont worry about the job 4-5 hours tops! the hardest part for me was getting the front bumper off.. the USP has some plastic clips with the fenders and i couldnt figure it out and all the writeups are done on regular A4s

[Elliott]

the hardest part for me was getting the front bumper off.. the USP has some plastic clips with the fenders and i couldnt figure it out

That was the hardest part for me too. Everything on the car attaches to the front bumper cover!

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^did u have to take ur Radiator off?? any tips??

[Elliott]

^^did u have to take ur Radiator off?? any tips??

Nope. The radiator/condensor was left attached. I just unbolted the front frame (that holds the rad/fan/condensor, etc) and slid everything forward about 6-8". There was plenty of room to work.

[dougyfresh]

What wire is that on the front? looks like you disconnected the wiring from the bumper? Easier method is to leave it on and just unplug the plug by the driver fender.

If you remove the headlights you can get to the three fender bolts for the bumper. Easier than taking the wheels and wheelwells off.

What is that orange stuff?

Way to use the service position! I've gotten so used to removing the front end I just pull everything off the car. But, with the stock power steering cooler you can't really (easily) remove the core support from the car.

[JBM]

Jesus 500 bucks. I got ripped off then. I paid something like 1200 ahh fuck me...

[n7plus1]

What is that orange stuff?

x2?

[HeHateMe]

Jesus 500 bucks. I got ripped off then. I paid something like 1200 ahh fuck me...

Where did you get it done, an indy shop or dealer?

[ridelikeme]

common guys un-tuck and just do it, the timing belt job relatively easy as long as you are fairly mech-inclined. my buddy and I did it in just under 4 hours with him acting as beer opener.

[JBM]

Where did you get it done, an indy shop or dealer?

got it done at Pro-Imports. I was fucking suprised when my mother (I was at school) was like oh its 1100.

[Papachristou]

jesus 500 Bucks. I Got Ripped Off Then. I Paid Something Like 1200 Ahh Fuck Me...

Lmao

[Elliott]

What wire is that on the front? looks like you disconnected the wiring from the bumper? Easier method is to leave it on and just unplug the plug by the driver fender.

If you remove the headlights you can get to the three fender bolts for the bumper. Easier than taking the wheels and wheelwells off.

What is that orange stuff?

Way to use the service position! I've gotten so used to removing the front end I just pull everything off the car. But, with the stock power steering cooler you can't really (easily) remove the core support from the car.

Thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind.

The orange stuff is RTV, just to form a good seal on the water pump.

[dougyfresh]

Thanks for the advice. I will keep that in mind.

The orange stuff is RTV, just to form a good seal on the water pump.

Gotcha. Guess you could do that. I've never used RTV except for the four locations on the valve cover and the oil pan.


You guys did a good job!

[sloweryucf]

Nope. The radiator/condensor was left attached. I just unbolted the front frame (that holds the rad/fan/condensor, etc) and slid everything forward about 6-8". There was plenty of room to work.

Oh man that seems like it would save some serious disassembly/reassembly time.

[lookaught]

Oh man that seems like it would save some serious disassembly/reassembly time.

Not really. You still have to unbolt everything except for maybe the rad hoses and IC piping. I considered this approach for about 10 seconds then realized that for me, it was better to just take off the condenser and swing it all to the side to have easy access.

I also did not use gasket maker on the water pump. It didnt have any on the original that I took out, so I didnt see the need to put any on. No leaks so far after 2,000 miles. I did, however, use blue locktite on everything for my own peace of mind even though it is not required per the Bentley.

EDIT: I also needed to use a gear puller on the harmonic dampner, so the rack would have had to come off anyway. That thing was really, really, really stuck on there.

[Affinitive]

1200 for a timing belt job on a AMB engine is actually about right if you consider parts and labor. I generally charge about 1400 - 1450 including the idler pulley for the serpentine belt and also doing the Thermastat and temp sensor as well. It usually starts off when the car cames in for "Cooling System Performance" faults and needing the sensor and T-stat and then I see the timing belt with obnoxious cracks in it anywhere between 50 - 70K on the ticker. For some reaosn 03 and 04 1.8T's seem to be especially bad with the timing belts. ???? The idler pulley for the serp belt also seem to be a major weak point and failing by the time the timing belt gets done and a real pain to change later on consider the type of bolt they use to secure it, so I just do it with the whole job.

Anyways, long blabbering story short. 1200 realisticly is a good deal, especially if they paid extra attention to the finer details.

Just my 2 cents as a shop owner and fahrfegnuegen specialist.

C