I changed my timing belt a few weeks ago at 53,000 miles. I noticed a rattling sound at idle up to about 1,500 rpm that was coming from the vacinity of the timing belt. I feared the worst and stop driving it immediatly. I was planning on changing the belt at 60,000 anyway so I figured I would get started on it a little early. I ordered the timing belt kit from dieselgeek.com. I highly recomend it. It includes everything you need to replace the timing belt including a water pump and tensioners. The whole thing took about 7.5 hours to do. Most of it can be done with one person, but more hands were needed when I was putting the timing belt back on. Audiworld.com has some great write-ups on how to change the belt, so I won't go into a lot of detail here. I will add some comments to the write-up I used to make it a little easier. I used the instructions found here http://www.amp82.co.uk/tt/timingbelt/

Some comments:

Step 4.3 - If you have to use any sort of tool on this you're turning it the wrong way. Fingers should work fine.

Step 5 - I didn't find it necessary to remove the power steering reservoir. I only removed the bolt which held it in place. Removing it would make things a lot easier, but not necessary.

I didn't remove the charcoal canister, again it would have made things easier.

I removed the other end of the hose on the bottom of the canister as well- Doing this will make you life much easier.

"...quite tricky to remove" When removing the timing cover - DO NOT FORCE IT!!! I slid it back toward the fire wall while slowly rotating it counter clock wise 90 deg. Then I unplugged the oxygen sensor. Doing this made the removal simple as could be.

Step 6 - "Spanner" = 15mm open end wrench & find a steel or hardened alloy bolt to lock it in position: otherwise it will bend on you


Step 8 - On the crank pulley mark either on a tooth or a gully of the gear this will to help avoid confusion later on. Also don't be afraid to make multiple marks.

Step 9 - You will need to remove the bolt which holds the power steering reservoir to the top of the console as well.

A slim socket wrench or off-set wrench will helpful for the engine support bolt closest to the back of the car - it is the hardest one of the bunch to remove. (16mm)

Remember the engine support cannot be removed.

Step 10 - I didn't use a bolt. Here another set of hands is handy. I could reach up and release the tension by hand, while somone else pulled off the timing belt. My tensioner was fairly loose, so I could release the tension by hand. After I installed the new tensioner I could not release tension by hand. So you may need to use a bolt, as it says in the instructions.

Step 12 - I found it easier to leave the water pump off until the engine support is back in place. Than bolt on the water pump.

Step 13- This was fairly difficult and easier with two people. I started by putting the belt on the crankshaft first and then the cam pully. I wrapped it around the water pump as far as I could and then started slowly turning the crank shaft and pushing the belt on the water pump making sure the belt didn't slip a tooth and the cam and crank pullys were stilled in time with each other.


It has been a few weeks since I did it and I may have forgot some things. All in all it wasn't a hard job, just a little time consuming. If you are not mechanically inclined I would have someone who is do it for you.

The old belt, water pump impeller looked good and the tensioners were not rough at all. The tensioner had lost some of its tension and let the belt flop, hence the noise I was hearing. If you have any questions let me know.

 

sweet writeup, I was going to do the same when i did my belt, but i waited too long and figured no writeup was better than an incomplete one.

 

Would you know if that guide is the same as the 180HP 1.8T Quattro? Thanks. I did purchase the Bentley Manuals on CD just in case.

Jewbin

 

what did u use as a suuport for the engine sump? did you place a big block of wood under the oil pan?(sump) i/ve heard of people doing that but i thought it might hurt the oil pan?

 

piece of soft wood is ok unless your loaded then there are many types of engine holders out there from jacks to upper holders which latch onto the engine its all down to cost

 

I used a block of wood, and tried to prop near the edge of the pan. You wouldn't want all the weight right in the middle of the pan, you never know if it might deform/crack.

 

Sorry for the long wait in the reply, I have been out of the country. Yeah I propped it up with a block of wood. I placed it near the corner of the pan. I was a little nervous to do that, but if you are careful it won't bend anything.

 

I am not sure if the guide is the same for the 180. I also have a Bently manual, but I am not very impressed with it, so I didn't even look at it for this job. Sorry I can't help.

 

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductD...tnumber=280032

would this work?? i can get one for about 40 bucks

 

That engine stand is for completely removing the engine from the car. For a timing belt, you only need to support the engine in the absence of the passenger's side motor mount. When I did mine, I used a 2x4 and put a few newspapers on top of my jack for some extra padding, and supported the pan closer to the edges as opposed to putting pressure right in the middle. It worked just fine for me, no damage at all to the oil pan.