B6 s4 155k miles

[greenarmyman]

I have the car listed in subject line...of course timing chain failure. It is salvageable. Quote is $7000 to have the work done. I am willing to take the project on myself, even though I've never done anything like that before..the question is, is it worth it? Interior and body are in great condition, I love the car, but it will still coat quite a bit to get it fixed. Looking for any advice.

[Jargon]

It is salvageable.
I am willing to take the project on myself
I love the car
is it worth it?

You answered your own question, in my opinion. If you love the car, you just have to decide if you love it in the amount of $7000. And then realize that you could probably buy another S4 for about $10k, which would eventually have timing chain failure too.

What will it cost to do it yourself? Like $3k or $4k, assuming you'll have to buy a bunch of tools. Might take you a few weeks, but if you have another option for transportation, you don't have much to lose other than time. You will learn in the process.

If I had an B7 S4 Avant 6MT (which is what I'm looking for now) I would want to keep it as long as possible and as long as I could afford to maintain it, so I wouldn't hesitate to spend a few grand to get another six years out of it.

I would drop the $4k on parts and do it myself if I were in your shoes, provided the rest of the car is sound. I think $7k is a lot to invest in a 15 year old car that doesn't have much value anymore anyway, and it's only going to get more expensive to maintain as other stuff breaks too. Just know that you will likely not get your money back, so I'd minimize the amount I invest in it.

[nschultz]

I bought mine in January, and had almost 8500 in to it without shop fees. They quotes 5700 for the guides to be done, and I brought it home and did it myself. there is quite a bit that you need to consider when doing this type of job....

If you love the car, thats great, but is it worth it for you personally to do this maintenance yourself?

Do you own the care outright or do you have a loan out on it?

Would it be better to just fix the car for $4000, or buy something else reliable for say $10k. Honestly, Im sure there are some ok cars to be had for the $5k mark, but these days almost everything you get around that price point is a crap shoot. When I was looking for a car and bought my S4, I paid 5300 for it, with what I thought were excellent service records, and it was whisper quiet, til it wasn't. Point is even another car can break and require repair.

Are you mechanically inclined enough to do this job yourself? Honestly, the pictures that you see online make it look way worse than it is. Yes it is time consuming and if you don't do it right, other problems can occur. there are other things like clutch replacement, etc that you should probably do while its out.

Make sure you really weigh your options as it is a big decision.

[wtrjock]

I was quoted $4k from a non OEM shop to do the work in 16 shop hours. Maybe they could have done it. A lift would really help. I did the guides on my 2007 b7 s4 dtm last year. Took me a while, but I didn't have much help and took my time. Make sure you get the Bentley Manual, and Vagcom helps. If you piece the parts out you can save hundreds against the JHM kits. I bought some OE parts from Febi to save some money. With that many miles you will probably need the timing chain gears and chains as well. JHM sales the gears that you can replace.

I spent about $3k in parts when I was all done.

There is a great timing guide thread already. I used that as a reference for my project.

[mad70sx]

I was quoted $4k from a non OEM shop to do the work in 16 shop hours.

That's actually a pretty damn good price for a timing chain/guide repair, imo. Most quotes I've seen are in the 6000-8000 dollar range. (I paid around 7 G's for my repairs) Parts alone are typically around 4 grand. What were they going to do for 4 grand? Just guides alone or chains, mech cam adjusters, etc, as well?

[wtrjock]

Only guides and chains, JHM Intermediate Kit, 16hrs labor @ $100/hr. The adjusters and cam followers make the job really expensive. I used the JHM cam sprockets which save 50% on OE and didn't replace the adjusters. I have seen a couple weite ups about replacing the adjusters with the engine in the car, so I figured I would risk it. My engine was only at 81k. At 155k, the adjusters might need replacement and they are around $600 each.

[mad70sx]

Ya, I did the JHM mech adjuster kit also. Well worth it.