A4 funky instrument cluster display

[John Larson]

You said: 

"I did mine on my A4 18tqa when I first got it with 71k miles on it.  I'd say it's a weekend DIY job.  Other than the crank locking tool that I think Taka mentioned (which I didn't have), you don't need any other special tools."

You can fake the crank locking tool if you have to, but you can't do the job correctly without the camshaft gear alignment tool.  You can get it close, but you can't really be sure it's right without it.  On OBD 2 cars, especially, close doesn't get it (you are apt to get a CEL if it's not right).  Coming from 911s, Jaguars, and Alfas, where camshaft timing is a religion, "right on" for me is having it exactly where it's supposed to be, although belts often aren't asked to do the job with the same level of precision as chains (except for diesels).

John