Car was tapping from the top end quite badly, after checking the oil pressure and finding it 50psi down on what it should be! I decided it was time to do something about it.

I was going to remove the sub-frame and the sump to fit a new oil pump but after looking at what it involved i decided against that and went full out. Bought a new oil pump and a new clutch kit for it as that was not far off needing a new one.

Taking the front of the car is so simple, if anybody is worried about doing it don't be it's literally about 10 bolts in all and you have the front end off. While i was at it i flushed the cooling system completely, cleaned the mud clogged inter-cooler out and cleaned and checked all the wiring loom. The turbo is showing little sign of wear at all, and considering it's done 120k miles I'm impressed.

Clutch was a breeze on the Audi, only thing I'd say to anybody is remember where all the bell housing bolts go as they're all different lengths, i didn't and spent a large chunk of time pissing about.

The oil pump filter gauze had blocked completely with large chunks of carbon, the sump was also full of them and the oil filter to. I'm putting this down to the swap i made from semi synthetic oil to fully synthetic, the problems with tapping started shortly after.

After replacing all the clips and cleaning all the electrical contacts i refitted the engine will surprisingly little hassle, the removable front end design really does help here. While i was at it i replaced all the aux belts and checked over the cam-belt (changed 4k ago, looks as new).

The Audi system of color coding all the plugs and making them all unique fit sure does help out big time, you can actually get away with no labeling any of them.

If you're removing the engine for any reason I'd always make sure you remember to get an exhaust gasket, the one between the cat and the turbo, it's much easier to undo that than mess about with the down pipe.

Back together now and running like a new car, it's smoother and feels much better to drive, I'd like to say it's faster to but that might just be me wishing it was. I'd definitely check your inter-cooler out if you've driven in mud or heavy dust as mine was virtually blocked, stopping airflow through it.

Couple of pics during and after for you...

 

Doing it yourself is so much more fun. Good job!

 

Nice job man, i'm sure you're glad to have it all out of the way now.