slidinsideways

getting ready to tackle the timing belt, water pump, and thermostat with a friend. this will be my first major DIY. i searched the tech section and the best i could find was a guide for the 1.8. i have the 2.8 so im wondering if the 1.8 guide will be sufficient enough to get us through. Thanks Ahead! Larry

Peter Badore

The 2.8l V6 needs a timing bar to do a good job which is not required on the 1.8l turbo. The 2.8l 12v uses a different bar from the 2.8l 30V V6 and there are other differences as well. You should look for a diy in other forums.

eightrac

You don't need a timing bar, or a crank lock. Mark the old belt and each cam pulley, along with the crank pulley too. Then remove the belt, count the teeth between the marks and mark the new belt accordingly with a paint pen (white or orange show the best). It's easy. Make sure you mark which mark goes to what pulley.

I always make sure #1 is at TDC according to the harmonic balancer, the make sure that the large holes in the cam alignment "ears" are pointing towards eachother.

mtroxel

You really do need the bar, especially on the 12v V6 where you set the timing belt tension yourself. The way to get the timing dead on is to loosen the cam sprockets, then set the timing belt tension before you tighten down the cam sprockets. Otherwise, the first time you turn the key the tension will re-distribute itself all through the belt, which means the sprockets will move a bit in relation to each other. You can do it with marks, but it's not as accurate.

4Driver4

This works...if "close enough" is good enough for you. The difference between "close enough" and "right" is made by the tools. If you are not freeing the cam sprockets from the cam shafts and setting the timing, you are leaving power and fuel economy on the table.

Also, how do you change the cam seals and cam adjuster seals without removing the sprockets?

Audi Tek

LOL...

Don't use a bar. I like buying cheap Audi's with smashed valves. It happens ALL THE TIME.

You can replace the cam tensioner seals with removing sprockets but not the cam shaft seals.

Audi Tek

Without

Peter Badore

Yes it is possible to do the timing belt change without the bar by marking the belt but Audi's 2.8l V6 engine will suffer a lot of damage if the job is botched. My friend's shop and I have at least 15 blown up Audi 2.8l engines
including a couple that broke valve heads which then busted pistons and cylinder walls. These were total loss engine failures. Also as mentioned the timing bar is needed to manually tension the timing belt on 12V V6 engines.

Audi0s

Youll get a fault also if youre "close enough". Cam position sensor bank whatever. Also dont you have trouble with the cam spinning back bc of valve tension? I saw this at work recently on a water pump job, once the bar was removed the pass side cam would snap backwards about 10 degrees or so.

slidinsideways

welp it took a little longer than expected haha ok actually alot longer. but my buddy and i took our sweet time. we didnt use the bar just put the necassary marks. did the water pump and thermostat while i was in there. Ive put almost a thousand miles on it since and i tore s*** up in two snow storms. Shes running good as ever. This was my first diy minus an oil change so as long as you have common sense i would recommend this job to any aspiring diy'er.