BLT4SPD

Well, I can confirm that a 40v thermostat CAN be done with out complete removal of the timing belt.

I didn't "need" the bar that locks the cams together, but it helped at the end of the job. That is about it for "Special" tools though (make sure you have the best/strongest T-30 Torx bit you can get your hands on though). I left the electric fan in place, but pulled the belt driven fan. Compressed the hyd. tensioner and used a wood shim to keep it compressed (didn't pull the front mount, so no access to put a pin in it). Sorry no pictures, but if you were in there, you would see exactly where I put the shim/wedge. Then, just slid the belt off the passenger side pulley. Once that is done, you have all the room in the world to get the T-Stat. Drive-to-drive, it took me about 3 hours, but now that I know what to do, I think I could do it much quicker.

I'd like to thank "All-Audi-Home" for the post (link below) where he said he had done it without complete removal of the belt. Although, I did pull the belt off the pulley, it inspired me to just dive right in and do it. I was dreading the job because of the timing belt factor, but it really turn out to be easy.....although, I am still a little disgruntled that is SOOOO easy and SOOOO accessible on the 32v and they felt the need to BURY it on the 40v. I suppose I'll get over it, but it sure does seem over-engineered.

Car was overheating and all is well now. Boiled the old thermostat just for the heck of it and sure enough, it never opened. Anyone care to tell me why this is such a common problem on the 40v, but not on any other Audi's? Heck, I had a 200k mile 4000 Quattro that still had the original thermostat in it!

REALLY glad I wasn't working on an A6 4.2 or even worse an RS6. It has got to be hell working up front on one of those......or you would just pull the nose off. Yuck!<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/a8/msgs/150354.phtml">All-Audi-Home's Post</a></li></ul>

PaulW

That's a real shame

BLT4SPD

....only to get the "Change Batteries" message. I wasn't going to wait for them to charge to wrap up the project.

I assure you though, it was VERY straight forward. On the T-Belt tensioner, there is a place to insert an 8mm allen. So, I used my 8mm allen socket on a fairly large breaker bar to compress it and then just slipped a wood shim (from Home Depot, Lowes, Etc..) between the lever for the tensioner and the front mount. One could also use a chisel from your tool box, as there is nothing behind it, so nothing would get hurt.....just a wedge of some sort.

TwinCitiesS8

Paul, I just think we expect you to take your entire car apart and document every detail.... :-)

PaulW

But it's really too bad that we don't have this procedure. My thermostat actually runs COOL when it's cold out. When it's below 30F or so, it doesn't ride on the tick it is suppose to be on, but the one to the left of it. When above 30F, it's right where it's suppose to be.

pkrasusky

...it appears mine was addressed @ ~ 54k or something like that. My needle neverevereverever budges from the exact indicator it should reside, weather 0 degrees F ambient or 102 in stop &amp; go traffic after beating the bag out of it. Gottalove that. Damn fine effective cooling system in there. Even my UrS6 guage would creep in the aformentioned instance (bag beating).

My gut is the OE ones were crap and the ones having to be prematurely replaced remedied it. Heard of many having been replaced waaaaaaay early.

HTH.

PaulW

The Carfax report stated it the water pump was replaced at 32K miles or so....we know it was the thermostat and the water pump was replaced at the same time. Dealer repair under warranty.

pkrasusky

My WP was replaced in conjunction too.