How many radiator hoses - Timing Belt Removal

[bg18461]

I am changing my timing belt/water pump and have been following the DIY, but I am not sure how many hoses there are to remove for the radiator. On the driver side I see one up top and one on the bottom (bottom has the sensor with the clip I removed to drain the coolant.) I also think I see another hose on the passenger side bottom of the radiator. Do I have to remove that one as well. TIA

[pondside36]

you don't have to remove any of them.. Just move it out attached

[bg18461]

So i remove the condenser then the radiator with the hoses attached?

[pondside36]

you can undo the power steering cooler and then unbolt the condenser and lay it on the ground.. and swing the radiator and support to the drivers side still attached by the hoses.. I hope that makes sense

[AudiA4_20T]

passenger side bottom is the boost hose, that needs to come out when you swing the front end forward

[pondside36]

Forgot that one.. you're already home Clint???

[gt6974a]

I'm about to change the TB on my wife's car. The DIY says to take off the tires. Is this necessary? As I rather just pull the car up on ramps rather than jack stands.

[captainplanet]

Not necessary to take off the wheels (car ramps is un-necessary and it doesn't accomplish the task at all). You want to be able to turn the wheel to get into the wheel well to remove the Torx screw to release the bumper. I just did this last night.

[dougyfresh]

I'm about to change the TB on my wife's car. The DIY says to take off the tires. Is this necessary? As I rather just pull the car up on ramps rather than jack stands.

There is NO need to raise the car off the ground. You remove the headlights to gain access to the front bumper bolts on the fenders (3 per side). You then pull the fog light grills off to get the two allen bolts that bolt the bumper through the rebar and supports (6mm allen head). You can then pop the bumper off the lower fender with a good pull.

The core support then comes off (six torx bolts for the bumper supports, two torx up top on the fender per side and one torx in the lower fender per side). Remove the radiator hoses (upper & lower on the driver side) and remove the passenger side boost hose (lower). Swing the core support off to the driver side. This is required because the damn power steering cooler goes through the core support and you can not get it out without disconnecting it and having to refill the PS system (not worth it). I suggest a 5gallon bucket to rest the core support on and use a towel on the driver fender in case something moves so it doesn't scratch the fender. You can then get into the front of the engine.

Front of the engine (with covers removed) looks like this:


I'm able to take my core support completely off because I have an aftermarket PS cooler than came with my FMIC. It resides where the stock IC used to sit.

[pondside36]

No it is not necessary.. you don't even need to pull it up on ramps if your container to catch the coolant is low enough...

[dougyfresh]

No it is not necessary.. you don't even need to pull it up on ramps if your container to catch the coolant is low enough...

Guess my car isn't that low (2002 sport suspension) since I can get my oil collection pan under my engine without raising my car for oil changes.

[pondside36]

lol.. Clint and I just jacked up one side to drain the coolant and then let her down... same with oil changes..

[gt6974a]

Thanks, with the exception of few of these 'special' tools, the Audi's looks fairly easy to work on. The only bad part is they're small, not alot of room, and I'm not too familiar with them. I've done quite a few simple mods on my Mustang so I feel this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I don't feel like dropping $1341 that the Dealer wants.

[bg18461]

Thanks guys, I successfully finished my tbelt,wpump,and snub mount, extra $900 still in my pocket!

[DBA4_1.8t]

What was the biggest obstacle? I might have to do mine soon.

[bg18461]

To be honest, just not being sure of what you're doing as its your first time. It was not that difficult looking back. The most difficult part is getting to the timing belt, once I was in there it was pretty much clockwork. The DIY did not cover the small things like removing the hose to the intercooler or the radiator reservoir, etc... These little things could shake your confidence if it’s your first time. Also, torque specs. I did not have a bentley manual and I had to scour the internet to find the torque specs for all the bolts.

[captainplanet]

You have the torque speca for the bolts? If not to difficult, please share your findings.

[pondside36]

Goodintight.. :)

[DBA4_1.8t]

I didn't see a goodntight measurement on my torque wrench, is it metric? Anyways, the specs on the bolts would be great. Did you take any pics of the process?

[pondside36]

No seriously, I know there are specs but the water pump bolts and tensioner bolts are about 1/4 20s (metric though) so not much and you can only get the crank pully so tight before you end up stripping one out so. Now if you were talking about the head I would say yeah definatly go with the specs... just my .02 cents.. if you do torque the little guys you'll most likely need the smallest metric torque wrench.

[grigalid]

Ok so I am in the middle of taking on this job. I am about to swing the core support over, but am confused as to which side is best. One side has the trans cooling lines going into the rad. Not sure I want to have to try to top that off without a VAG??The other side has the P/S lines as mentioned above.

Can I remove the trans lines without worrying about loosing too much fluid?

2005 A4 1.8T Avant B6

Cheers.