krazzz

I had a heck of a time with the crank lock too. Finally I gave up on it an just marked it's position with a paint marker. It didn't budge so it wasn't an issue.

dvs_dave

Also how many years did you get out of it? Plenty of talk on the euro forums out there around 75k/5 years whichever is sooner. Mine is an 04 so well over 5 years, but only just coming up to 75k.

mishar

I wouldn't recommend doing it that way (though I was very tempted ). If you are following proper procedure there are chances to move the crankshaft. I also replaced crankshaft seal, so unscrewing and tightening central bolt would be almost impossible without blocking the crankshaft.

mishar

Mine was late 2004 (MY2005) so now she is 9+. I think that the belt would be the only one affected by time and it was fine. Can't see any difference between the new one and it.

Some guys are expressing their love for their cars by over-maintaining them.

mishar

Necessary tools:

1 - Camshaft adjustment -T40005
2 - Crankshaft holder -3242
3 - Tightener pulley wrench -T40009



Hoist would be better but two floor jacks are good enough. Good support points. Just in case.



To remove the front bumper cover start with front half of the front wheel liners and belly pan, than unscrew seven bolts (arrows).



Three 10 mm nuts from the wheel well on each side. A bit hidden on the left side. Disconnect headlight washer hose on the right side and two harnesses on the left side.



Bumper off.



Five bolts on each side. Torx wrench can be used, but Triple Square wrench is the right tool.



Hood cables disconnected.



Condenser pulled aside.



My best friend. Saved me a bunch of time.



To disconnect hoses from the radiator move the clips and gently pull hoses off.



Disconnect six harnesses, one from each headlight, one from each fan and one yellow airbag sensor on each side. Free cables. I just cut cable-ties and replaced them later. Take some pictures (I didn't). It will help you to put the wires back where they belong.



Pull (arrow) to relax the serpentine belt and remove it. Check all rollers. It is good time to replace any with bad bearings.



Remove the torque support. Turn the crankshaft (clockwise) to bring camshafts to the position. Larger hole to the inside (arrow).



To place crankshaft holder 3242 remove the plug (arrow). Note that the hole is on an angle facing about 20˚ down. Taking picture of that would be only possible with the engine out of the car.



It is accessible (barely) through the wheel well. You need very long extension with joint and Alan wrench. It is the only point I needed help. One person should attach the wrench to the plug and the other unscrew it. To attach crankshaft holder you have to move oil cooler pipes. One 13 mm bolt accessible the same way.



Timing belt, tensioner, rollers, thermostat and water pump off. Replace all of them. Even if some bearings are still good (quiet) they can't last forever. Use quality (OEM) parts.



Now the main part:

1. Install camshaft adjustment tool T40005
2. Loose the camshaft bolts (don't take them off)
3. Loose the tensioner (arrow 3)
4. Take camshaft adjustment tool T40005 off
5. Pop the camshaft gears with puller. They should be free to turn around.
6. Install the timing belt. Strictly no force of any kind.
7. Re install camshaft adjustment tool T40005
8. Place 5 mm Alan key (arrow 1) with tensioner blocking pin in place (arrow 2)
9. Turn the eccentric roller (arrow 3) using tightener pulley wrench T40009 counterclockwise applying 6 Nm torque and tight bolt that holds it in the position.
10. Tight the camshaft bolts.
11. Remove the Alan key (arrow 1) and the pin (arrow 2).
12. Remove camshaft adjustment tool T40005, crankshaft holder 3242 and place the plug and pipe holder.
13. Turn the crankshaft clockwise for two full rotations.
14. Check the gap where the 5 mm Alan key was inserted. It should be 5 mm.

Now put it back together in the reverse order.

Corrections and additions welcomed and appreciated.

dvs_dave

Good write up and pics. Although it's firmly cemented it in my mind that this is definitely a job for my local Indy!

Mister Bally

Brings back memories of the two times I've done it on mine. You forgot to mention how easy it isn't to compress the hydraulic tensioner for the timing belt. This has to be done to insert pin at arrow 2 in the photo above.

For those that wonder about Timing belt life. I have posted my experience with an aftermarket timing and serpentine belt (water pump too) which was not good. You can search for the thread using my name. However, my original belt had 125.000 miles and still looked great. I planned to go to 150,000 miles before replacing it (and I was chastised on this forum for living dangerously). However, the coolant thermostat failed in the closed position in the summer so the belt had to come off to get to the thermostat so I just changed everything at that point.

mishar

Yes, that tensioner has hydraulic dampener that makes quite difficult to retract it, but it came with the pin inserted and I have vise in my garage too.

Regarding longevity, I believe that timing belt can outlast rest of the car, but bearings in those rollers and the water pump should replaced as recommended, 75K miles.

Pawel S

This is great DIY writeup Mishar, thanks!
I am planning to do my timing belt next spring, I don't quite understand why camshaft sprockets require to be pulled off with gear puller. I am afraid that once I take the retainer bar off the camshaft sprockets, the camshafts will move. My wife has 03 A4 V6 3.0 and audi manual asks to lock camshafts and loosen sprocket bolts so that they spin freely but removal of sprockets was not required.

mishar

You have to pull sprockets only if you want to replace seals. Other than that they just have to be free.