[s-cars] Suggested Modification to the Timing Belt R&R DIY

[Fred Munro]

Hi Dave;

Congrats on the retirement! Now you'll have lots of time to get the Audi in
pristine condition! Actually, that's a myth. I find you have less time after
you retire - I retired late last year and don't know how I found the time to
go to work. I think what actually happens is you slip into "retirement mode"
- you work at a more leisurely pace and everything takes twice as long to
do!

Enough musing on the joys of retirement. It is a bit of a pain to get the 10
mm bolts in, but I found that leaving the crank bolt loose and pulling the
pulley forward gave me enough room to get them in. The Bentley mentions
fitting the belt, balancer/sprocket, and guard simultaneously, which is
probably why I initially did it that way. Under my personal philosophy of
not taking apart more than I absolutely have to (an offshoot of the "If it
isn't broke don't fix it" school), I've never had the harmonic balancer and
the sprocket apart, so I haven't tried what you are proposing. I can't think
of a reason why it shouldn't work, and since you already have the balancer
off the sprocket I'd give it a shot. Take photos!

Congrats again on the retirement!

Fred Munro
'97 S6

-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of David Forgie
Sent: August 11, 2010 10:11 PM
To: s-car-list
Subject: [s-cars] Suggested Modification to the Timing Belt R&R DIY

Previously, I had no garage when the timing belt needed R&R so I had it
done.  This time 
a) I have a garage and b) I have the time (retired June 1).  I have been
following Fred Munro's DIY
 (available as a pdf at S-cars.org).  I have also installed an RS2 exhaust
cam, changed the turbo
 coolant hose (under the water manifold) and changed the crank sprocket.

The question is about the lower (metal) timing belt cover.  Fred suggests
that you install the crank
 sprocket (and damper), the timing belt and the lower cover as one unit.
This can be accomplished 
by slining the crank sprocket (and damper) on the timing belt, with the
lower cover sandwiched in
 there.  The problem is installing the 10 mm (head) bolts on the lower cover
is *quite* difficult this
 way AND you cannot see the bottom of the cranksprocket and the timing belt
to know for sure that
 the belt and the sprocket are still meshed properly.

My question/suggestion is what would be wrong about separating the damper
from the crank
sprocket (which I already had done BTW), and installing the belt, the cover
and the cranksprocket
 first (easier access to the cover bolts, good visual on the timing belt on
the crank sprocket) and
 THEN installing the damper on the crank sprocket (it is "keyed" by a small
dimple (but you could
 mark the position before hand)?  Seems like it would have been easier. 

Hope all is good with everyone.

Dave F.
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