Bought 02 A6 w/ 3.0 a few weeks ago. Car runs great and has lil under 59k miles at moment. I really want to do the TB b/c I know the 105k is bull****, but time is tight at the moment. My wife has to go out of town two weekends from now and it's about 800 miles roundtrip. It would be almost impossible for me to do this by then (I'm out of town for 4 days myself). Is there anything I can inspect to ease my concern?

Finally, if I can get a TB kit & tools from Blauparts in that Monday, it would give me M-Th nights to work on it after work. Anyone have personal experience w/ this kit? Is it truly EVERYTHING I need? Are the instructions good enough to do the job WITHOUT a Bentley? Do the tools just about make it "idiot-proof"? (not ideal phrase - just want to make sure that they make the job easier and help eliminate costly mistakes such as timing getting off, etc.) I hate the idea of rushing through my first ever TB job, but am nervous that something will happen on this trip and strand my pregnant wife (not to mention cost us $1000's)

 

My Audi is at 70,423 without a TB change. I plan on doing one in September when I have the time. Hopefully it will stay intact until then.

 

What year is it though? A lot of my worry stems from the fact that my car is 7yrs old

 

you are correct in your thoughts. If it is of any help i didnt do the tb on my last a6 until 100k and 7 years old. Granted that was taking a costly chance I think your ok for a little longer.

 

personally i didnt change mine untill 104 and some change. mines is a 01 2.8 and im not sure if it would vary by the difference in motors but mine lasted. as far as doing it yourself i had to change the alternator recently and you got to go through the same thing to get to the alternator. it tokk almost 6 hours for me to get the front off to get to the altenator. its not impossible to do but it is a all weekend thing cause of rest and i live in florida so i needed to get out of the heat for a little.

 

75k to 85k miles is a good number.

 

The kit comes with everything except the thermostat and the cam adjuster bolt caps (they give o-rings that don't work) You can get new caps at Audi 4.00 each you need 4 because the plastic warps.

You will need long mm allen drivers with ball heads, Sears or harbor frieght, Or Snap-on, Mac or Matco will have them on the truck.

Most important thing is shove a pin in the holes before you remove the tensioner to the serpentine belt. I didn't and it is more then difficult to recompress it. Do not make that mistake. Make sure you rent the tools you have 10 days to get them back into their possesion before they start charging you more.

Depending on your ability and the condition of the crank seal You may wish to leave it alone if it's not leaking. It is difficult just to locate the plug that the crank tool locks into. It is behing the aux. Pump on the bottom front drivers side of the motor and it will suck up alot of your time.

Also while your under there inspect your motor mounts if they look like they have dried blood on the bottom of them they are bad ( fluid has leaked out ) Motor won't let loose or anything but it causes vibration on idle.

I would also order all new or at least have some Vacuum lines around because you will be pushing one that runs behing the drivers side cam tensioner cover and it's a hard line one and may break on you. Auto store carries hard hose and fittings and www.ecstuning.com has the nice OEM braided soft line.

I wrote this up for another member;

Order the thermostat, also go to Audi and order a crank seal, cam seals and the cam bolt caps and a crankshaft bolt it is Torque to yield-1 time use. Blauparts will give you O-rings that may or may not work and a crank seal that you can have the kids paint and use it as an ornament. You are better off replacing all four caps so they don't leak oil 4.00 each cap Try this link.
http://www.primepartssuperstore.com/...layCatalogid=0

or http://www.primepartssuperstore.com/

The one other part you will need is the front engine mount it is a shity piece of foam crap that slides into place. you can buy a better one at www.ecstuning.com engine snub mount es#4665, 35.00. The Oem one cost 16.91 part no wo133-1737394 get it! or you'll be going back in there.

Also go get yourself a 5mm and a 8mm long and short allen socket driver with a ball head you may want two 8mm the friggin plug for the crank locking tool is a PITA and you might brake one. You need to move the Aux powersteering pump on the bottom right as you look at the engine it is a round black allen. Either Sears, Mac, Snap-on, or Harbor frieght for those.

You will also need the timing tools can't do it with them rent them from blauparts or buy them on ebay.

and finally - you owe me for this one "the instuctions with photos"
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/1077578.phtml

The only other tip I can give you is for the tensioner before you remove it look closely under it there is a thin piece of spring steel protruding through the bottom with holes in it. Push an awl or anything through the hole to lock it in place. I didn't and I had one hell of a fight to get that mother to stick it's tail back through the hole so I could lock it in place. If you get the tool kit use one of the VAG tools Audi stole from an easter egg coloring kit that come with it. Pin with a loop.

 

03 A6 below had TB work at 94550. Daughter's 03 A4 3.0 at 75k and I don't intend to change the TB until 85k. If a TB is going to fail unexpectedly, it can happen at low miles or it can run into the 100+k mileage. I would not rush the job just because of age/mileage. Plan it so you can do it without hurrying and the car stays in town for a while afterwards in case there are any problems.

 

Mine was changed at 100,000. Everything looked good but the water pump. It looked like it was about to go. I did a 1600 mile trip 2 months before the change. I'd do it soon but like ppgoal says I wouldn't rush it.

 

Jackmup -
Thanks for the tips and link!!

I already planned on renting the tool kit from Blauparts and getting the thermostat (and "free" serpentine belt).

I actually already have the snub mount bushing b/c when I did my first oil change I realized mine is literally falling apart - chunks fell off when I touched it.

I will go ahead and order the caps & seals that you recommend. As for any other tools, I have a set of allen wrenches - metric & SAE, but not ball head - are those absolutely necessary (tough angles to work with)? I guess I'll also have to pick up a few allen sockets. Other than that, I have basics - open & racheting wrenches, plenty of sockets & extensions, etc. My torque wrench is 3/8" drive and I don't think will go light enough for some of the bolts, but I guess I will take the write-ups advice of "hand tight" when indicated. Do Blauparts instructions specify torque values too? (I just briefly skimmed over write-up, so I apologize if all values are specified in it)