Well today I started my TB job - took awhile to get the front bumper off but after new2me told me to "put some stank on it" I got it off. This was the second time that the TB job has been done on this car - the first time was at 75k and I'm now at 145k so I figured I would it was getting close.
Only a couple of snags -
There were oil cooler lines(I think) that hooked up to the radiator on the left side, that were not mentioned in the DIY so I just unhooked them and took the radiator out.
A couple of the socket heads that were on the fan and also the drive pulley looked like they were about to strip in the head. one actually did so I had to pound a Allen socket on it. I took a little trip into town to attempt to find a few replacements. I had almost no luck what so ever in just finding a metric bolt. finally found a shop that only had a few not even enough to replace what I needed.
I got everything from the ECS kit installed and am in the process of putting everything back onto the car I stopped at the radiator frame. Should get everything done by early tomorrow and then we'll see if I screwed up [] . I'll keep ya updated

 

Hehe yeah I had the same issues with the lines that you did. Our TIP's are different than the manual in the guide. I did mine year or so ago with that guide and all went well. Goodluck!

 

The oil lines are for cooling of the Tiptronic transmission. The front bumper is a bitch. Took me 1 1/2 to figure out how to remove it. Did you use the bolts to pull thelock carrier away or did you remove it completely?

 

BTW, I used the upper cooling line to refill the transmission instead of going under the car through the wierd refill plug. No need to raise and have the engine running. Simply open drain plug of transmission. Let fluid come out. Measure the amount of fluid that came out. Refil through the line with a small pump.

 

Everything is done and in - couldn't get the oil cooler lines back into the radiator but they don't leak where they are at(just pushed in and tightened the bolt), I'll take it to my mechanic and have him intstall them and do a trany flush sometime this week. car runs great and I can't explain how nice it is not to have to worry about that damn tensioner. It feels great having saved myself $7-800 - anyone thinking about doing this job and doesn't know if they can do it, I say go for it. Very simple job, just need have all the tools and parts. Like others have said before me - the hardest part is getting that damn bumper off.

 

That bumper was the biggest thing that stumped me. I ended up looking at the APR snub install directions to get it off.

 

Nice work, removing the front end seems like a daunting task but after the first time its a breeze. Yea the bumper was the most frustrating but now I can get it off in five minutes.

Hmm...interesting.

 

I just figured. put back in the exact amount that comes out. I was hoping to get all the fluid out and actually bought 9 liter of fluid. Only got about 3.25L out.

 

Glad everything worked out for you. I dont know if you have an Ace Hardware by you but I have had to go there for my T-bucket.

 

It took me and a buddy 4 hours start to finish to complete. Yes the front bumper is a b*tch to do the first time, and I did the thermostat at the same time so I messed up the gasket on the thermostat and had a coolant leak, but other than that it went smooth.