Timing belt change

[gmac78]

Evening all.

Today i stripped the front end in order to carry out a timing belt change.

The CONTITECH timing belt at just over fours years use and 30k miles was found in near perfect condition with no visible cracks anywhere. In between the teeth off the belt was almost as good condition as the new genuine Audi DAYCO belt that will be going on tomorrow. I'm sure this belt would last another couple of years no bother but as always just not worth the risk!!!

The water pump which also had fours use use and 30k miles on it was in perfect condition with no play in the bearings, this was the same for the eccentric tensioner and hydraulic tensioner roller. However, the actual hydraulic tensioner itself was solid and unable to compress to get a pin/drill bit in. I applied a fair amount of pressure but gave up in the end in as didn't want to shear it's connecting bolt!!! When i removed it the hydraulic piston extended, but when it was in place it would not compress. I think this is the original hydraulic tensioner with 101k miles on it.

When i set about locking the crank and cams i noticed when the crank was locked in position the camshaft locking bar was slightly out and would not locate. In order for the camshaft bar to fit i rotated the crank ever so slightly until it stopped against it's locking pin. As you can see from the pic the the timing was slightly out. Do you think i'll notice any difference in running once it's all back together with timing spot on??

Any comments much appreciated.

Cheers
Gordon

[Nobby]

Was the cover in properly? They are just held on with clips iirc

[gmac78]

Yeh i thought thats initially so played with the cover one way and another and it didn't seem to move either way so thinking the timing might be slightly out.

[Nobby]

Cover does look a little wonky still though. Closer at the right side and a gap at the left.

Here's what mine looked like

[Nobby]

If you want to find true TDC (without the locking pin and markings) then you could use a dial gauge and protractor method. It's not hard if you've got all the gear. It's a it late now though as you needed to do it with the cambelt still on ideally otherwise you might bend valves.

[gmac78]

I had a closer look at that pic and your right it does seem to sit to one side more than the other, it didn't seem to move today but i'll have a closer inspection tomorrow with the fresh light of day.

The crank pin i'm using is not an official VAG one so perhaps it's not quite identical in dimensions to a genuine one. Was is it a genuine one you were using? Could you rock the crank ever so slightly when the pin was inserted?

[Nobby]

Only a very tiny but. Not noticeable at the crank pulley but could see it on a dial gauge. Do you want me to measure my crank locking pin?

[gmac78]

Yeh if you've got it to hand i'd appreciate that and i'll check it against my one tomorrow. I screwed my in until hand tight but perhaps i can get a wee nip on it with a ratchet which might locate it further into the crank. I can't remember now if the actual pin that locates in the crank web is tapered or parallel?

[Nobby]

Here you go. It's a perfect 10mm all the way down the tip. It can't be super tight as there are no scratches along the tip either.

[gmac78]

Spot on mate i'll double check that against my one today. Thanks.

[Shoppinit]

Chris, you appear to have deleted the photos on your tutorial:

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=105787

[mavada]

Chris, you appear to have deleted the photos on your tutorial:

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=105787

[Shoppinit]

Good job, Mav!

Footers, can you suppository it please?

[Nobby]

I've still got the photos I just rejigged my photo bucket albums a little