[V8] Timing Belt Change...wish me luck.

[Tony and Lillie]

Yes, you can do it without the front end removed. Take off the fan shroud from the right side fan before pulling that fan. Pull the left side fan complete. To find the TDC, just turn the crank till the mark lines up on the front pulley. there is a notch in the pulley, and a small pointer on the cam cover, right above it. This is viewed from above. Then, you have to verify you are on the right stroke. You can do this by pulling the distributor caps and verifying the correct one is pointing at #1. If not, you are 180 out. The cylinders are labeled right next to the spark plug holes in the center of the valve cover. I'm guessin gyou are concentrating on the belt and rollers, not everything else. I can't imagine doing the crank seal or oil pump bearing with the front end on. But, you can tell us all about it at Carlisle :)

That's about all I can think of right off the top. Oh, it's pretty similar to the V6, just different tools for locking the cams, and it's a bit more complicated. Nothing crazy, though. I did mine (first V8Q) in two evenings, and that includes the front end removal. Thankfully, nothing broke for me as it did on Scott Simons ;-)

Let me know if you have any additional questions. And, there are a couple of others that have done the job since, probably a bit more fresh in their minds. So, if I'm forgetting anything, please chime in.

Tony Hoffman


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Lanier Pratt 
  To: Tony and Lillie 
  Cc: V8 Audi Fans 
  Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 8:43 PM
  Subject: Timing Belt Change...wish me luck.


  Ok Tony.  I just printed out your timing belt instructions.  I don't have the time to remove the front of the car so I'll do it within the small confindes left.  Is there anything special I should note before jumping right in?  I have only changed one timing belt and that was on my '95 90CSQ with the V6.  Do I really need to find top dead center and if so how is that accomplished?  When I changed my other one I simply pulled the old one off with the cams locked and put the new one back on exactly as the old one came off and had no issue with the timing.  Maybe I just lucked out.


  The other issue I have is the guys from Blaufergnugen sent me the blue coolant and I've always run with the red pentosin.  Does this pose some issues?  I guess I'll have to do a full drain on the system as I can't imagine it's a good idea to mix the two colors.


  Any help would be appreciated or if there are instructions out there that don't require removing the front end of the car that would be great too.  I would guess that the instructions less the removal of the front should be the same.








  Lanier Pratt
  '92 V8Q 4.2L
  '90 V8Q 3.6L