I am new to the Audi forums- As you can see from my sig, I do not personally own an Audi, but I've been a shadetree mechanic for almost 30 years and am helping out a buddy.
The timing belt on his 2.8L 12V 90CS shredded the other day. The Duratec engine in my Cougar is most definitely an interference motor- Meaning if one or both of my chains snapped, that'd be all she wrote for the motor. A search here came up with J_ripper saying that all of the Audi V6s were interference motors. However, I am getting conflicting information from Google as far as whether or not the 2.8L is interference. Some sites say yes, some sites don't say at all. Nothing associated with the timing belt was seized that I could see- tensioner, idler, and water pump spun fine, so we went ahead with the swap.
We got the replacement kit from Blaufergnugen, I installed it last night after fabricating a cam sprocket brace so that the cams were positioned properly. The timing belt was tensioned properly (90 degrees bendable at the midpoint between the cam and new water pump). All new idlers/tensioners. I spun the engine by hand about 6-8 times, and the marks that I'd made for myself lined up perfectly after spinning.
We fired the motor, and it was dead obvious that something was horribly wrong. I took a compression check, and it wasn't happy:
Huston, we have a problem. Ideas? If it's an interference motor, then it's obvious what happened. I can't help thinking I mis-timed the thing, but if that was the case, why are cylinders 1 & 2 fine???
Posts: 1561
Joined: 8/24/2005 From: Brooklyn, NY Status: offline
Yes, our engenes are interfeering. the rapair would be taking the heads off, replacing valves, and doing valve job. u can do upgrades as well, like lower compresion for supercharging. or port and polish, stuff like that.
Hi. I am volkswagen certified. You can use an air pressure test. I will not give all the details or instructions, but basically, blow air through the motor with it off, and listen for where it is leaking. Basically, take out the spark plugs, then stick just the tip of an air nozzle--for air testing--into the spark plug whole. Make sure it seals. Then, if you hear air coming from the intake, then that means the intake valve is open/leaking. If you hear it coming out of the exhaust system somewhere, then that means the exhaust valve is open/leaking. If you hear it from both, then they are both open/leaking. They should NOT both be open.
Another way. You should be able to turn the engine by hand with a wrench. If the pistons hit, you most likely will feal hard resistance to for the engine to move.
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2.8L V6 90CS - Interference? - 
