Question 1: When a 2.8 has a timing belt failure is there any chance that the valves survived? I can reinstall the belt and conduct a leakdown check to verify but am I just wasting time?

Question 2: According to Alldata, the labor time to replace both heads is more than that to R&R the engine.....doesn't seem likely, could this be true?

Question 3: Need a good inexpensive source for rebuilt heads.....anyone?

I am an automotive tech so I am capable of any work required to get this car running again.....I just don't have much experience with Audi. (my wife likes the A6 so I bought one with a bad t-belt)

 

Odds are that at least some of the valves are trashed in addition to the possibility of damage to the piston heads. The only way to know for sure is to tear it down and do an inspection.

IMO doing the leakdown test is just going to be a waste time as there is bound to be some damage (though it could help you narrow it down).

Depending on the extent of the damage it may be advisable to just do a full swap. Potentially cheaper and easier.

Let us know how it works out. good luck.

 

It may depend on the model and year, probably, but I highly doubt it from a personal hands-on experience.
I have taken before one head out, and am now in the process of pulling out the engine (1995 2.8 non-quattro).
There's so much more additional stuff to disconnect-reconnect besides taking the valve covers off and removing 8 + 8 head bolts: AC compressor, alternator, starter (don't get me started on what a drag is and how long it takes to remove that pesky thing on these cars...).
For the heads job you only need to disconnect the down pipes from the exhaust heads...
For R&R the engine you need to take the downpipes+ cats off completely, plus the cross member, etc, etc.
I can come up with a huge laundry list of additional stuff that needs to be done and takes time when talking about swapping engines.
They must be smoking weed when they put together these mechanical manuals... Even Bentley has great lapses in information, but AllData...

 

I had the same engine and had a t-belt tensioner fail. The car coasted to a stop. After the dealer told me the valves were damaged I decided to do the R&R myself. When I pulled the heads there were no damaged valves. Had I just put on a new t-belt and tensioner (the failed item) could have fixed it for a lot less $'s. As it was I had already purchased all of the parts so I had the heads machined, new valve seals installed and I believe I also purchased a full set of valves. (this was 10 years ago). The car ran great after the R&R. I sold the car shortly thereafter with 128k miles. Ran into the new owner a few years ago and the car was still running with 220k miles.

 

Thanks for the replies! Looks like a good forum here. Anyway I went ahead and conducted leakdown and found cyl 5,6 failed. Minimum will require pulling left bank. Looks easier to do than pulling engine, but I can get engine for 550. So by the time you add machine work, parts including head bolts its almost a push on price. I might be ahead in labor though? Btw the engine has 109k and runs good... Car has 139k

 

Oh and we frequently refer to alldata as "nodata"

 

In your cost model, you should add in the costs for replacing the timing belt on the used engine before it goes in.

You could replace the bad engine with the used one then part out the bad engine to make back some of the costs.

Good luck,

Bob