Timing belt problems on 99 A4Q

[Chris Semple]

Then it sounds like the timing has jumped and valves have bent(30v v6). The
cam sprockets aren't keyed to the cams in a conventional sense, they're
press fit onto a taper and are designed to freewheel when setting up the
tbelt. It may be worth your while to acquire the tools to reset the timing
belt and see what's up, but it's not sounding good. Did the front end damage
extend to near the tbelt covers? Did the insurance appraisal address any
engine damage? Did you buy this car direct from the auction pool or from a
broker/reseller? I've actually seen people *buy* sprockets to put a damaged
car back to "looking right" to run through auctions, hoping that a buyer
won't catch the issue. Most of the A4/A6 nose is plastic, and a lot of them
get totalled out due to a little tap on the front that just happens to get
to the aluminum sprocket. I got Dad's '98 A4q that way when it was so
new(7k) that even AofA couldn't provide a replacement engine for several
months and the ins co opted to total it out so they could settle with their
customer.

On a semi-related note, if anyone needs anything moved/towed/adjusted from
here to CA, let me know. I'm running out to CA/AZ, leaving Weds to pick up a
purchase, but running empty westbound.

Cheers,
Chris Semple
Concord NH
'92 S4
  '81 Vw pickup
     '93 E350 Club
        '02 Classic 21ft




> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com]On
> Behalf Of EGOR46 at aol.com

> I recently bought a 99 A4 2.8 Quattro  automatic at an insurance auto
> auction.  It had collision damage in the front, but nothing
> severe.  When I
> attempted to start it, it seems to have compression on only
> one cylinder and
> won't start.  Prior to the attempt, I turned the engine by hand two
> revolutions and got no resistance.   From this I concluded
> that either the
> timing belt is incorrectly installed or that the belt is
> installed correctly
> and has wiped out some valves.  Now my quandry.  I have the
> Bently CD ROM for
> the car and followed the instructions for installing the timing belt.
> Bently's instructions say to line up the mark on the crank
> pully/harmonic
> balancer with the mark on the block (actually plastic back
> half of belt
> cover).  This occurs at approximately 1-2 o'clock.  Then
> verify that the
> larger oblong holes in the cam sprockets point to the inside and are
> horizontal (in line with each other) .  Bently says at this
> orientation, the
> #1 cylinder should be TDC.  But on my engine this is not TDC.
>  The piston is
> halfway down  (or up) in its travel in the cylinder.  To get
> the piston to
> TDC the mark on the crank pully must point at about 5 o'clock
> and it lines up
> with nothing.,, and the holes in the cam sprockets are
> nowhere near where
> they should be.  Any helpful advice out there?    Many thanks
>  Denny G.