98 A4 - While I've got the front taken off...
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 134
From: Texas
98 A4 - While I've got the front taken off...
I posted this in the general tech forum and haven't gotten any replies, so I thought I might post here and see if anyone has any further comments before I order $600 worth of parts.
Also,
I've read both good and bad here on these forums about ordering the kits from Blauparts. They seem to have more complete and comprehensive parts kits than ECS and others. I prefer to buy it all from one place. Is Blauparts still a reasonably decent vendor? BTW, I've decided to spend the extra $26 and get the timing belt kit with the blue Gates "racing belt" since I've read good reports about this belt and that the generic timing belt that comes in regular kit might be mediocre quality.
Also,
I've read both good and bad here on these forums about ordering the kits from Blauparts. They seem to have more complete and comprehensive parts kits than ECS and others. I prefer to buy it all from one place. Is Blauparts still a reasonably decent vendor? BTW, I've decided to spend the extra $26 and get the timing belt kit with the blue Gates "racing belt" since I've read good reports about this belt and that the generic timing belt that comes in regular kit might be mediocre quality.
75K miles maint, am I missing anything here?
Last month I got my very first Audi, a cherry 1998 A4 Quattro with 30v 2.8L V6 and 5-speed. I'm the second owner and it's only got 74.5K miles on it. The original owner is a friend of mine who bought it new and babied it these past 14 years.
The air conditioner clutch coil is bad, plus it's due for the timing belt to be replaced at 75K according to the owners manual. It's also got some minor oil seeps from the valve covers and the serpentine belt is worn out and the serpentine tensioner/idler is noisy.
Since the whole front of the car has to come off to replace these items, I was wanting to replace as many items as possible that require this level of disassembly, so here's my list:
New A/C compressor & drier cannister (found brand new Denso compressor on Amazon for $288, clutch rebuild kits were impossible to find) Already got this on hand.
I intend to order the ($356) enhanced timing belt kit with "racing belt" from Blauparts (with new TB tensioner and all the pulleys, serpentine belt, water pump, thermostat, antifreeze, etc), the enhanced valve cover gasket & seals kit ($125) that contains new plastic shoes for the cam chain tensioners (but not the $650 kit that also includes new cam chain tensioners themselves since my budget is getting tight), new serpentine belt tensioner/idler pulley, and new plastic crankshaft locking port plug ($17).
Is there anything else that really ought to be seriously considered while the whole front is off the vehicle and the top of the engine opened up? I'd really like to cover the big items now so as to avoid having to pull the front off the car again too soon.
I'll be doing all the work myself, I've read a ton of good DIY and how-to's on this forum site, and other sites, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting myself into here. I'm pretty well-versed at mechanical stuff since I've worked on various cars all my life and have built and flown experimental airplanes across the country
Last month I got my very first Audi, a cherry 1998 A4 Quattro with 30v 2.8L V6 and 5-speed. I'm the second owner and it's only got 74.5K miles on it. The original owner is a friend of mine who bought it new and babied it these past 14 years.
The air conditioner clutch coil is bad, plus it's due for the timing belt to be replaced at 75K according to the owners manual. It's also got some minor oil seeps from the valve covers and the serpentine belt is worn out and the serpentine tensioner/idler is noisy.
Since the whole front of the car has to come off to replace these items, I was wanting to replace as many items as possible that require this level of disassembly, so here's my list:
New A/C compressor & drier cannister (found brand new Denso compressor on Amazon for $288, clutch rebuild kits were impossible to find) Already got this on hand.
I intend to order the ($356) enhanced timing belt kit with "racing belt" from Blauparts (with new TB tensioner and all the pulleys, serpentine belt, water pump, thermostat, antifreeze, etc), the enhanced valve cover gasket & seals kit ($125) that contains new plastic shoes for the cam chain tensioners (but not the $650 kit that also includes new cam chain tensioners themselves since my budget is getting tight), new serpentine belt tensioner/idler pulley, and new plastic crankshaft locking port plug ($17).
Is there anything else that really ought to be seriously considered while the whole front is off the vehicle and the top of the engine opened up? I'd really like to cover the big items now so as to avoid having to pull the front off the car again too soon.
I'll be doing all the work myself, I've read a ton of good DIY and how-to's on this forum site, and other sites, so I have a pretty good idea of what I'm getting myself into here. I'm pretty well-versed at mechanical stuff since I've worked on various cars all my life and have built and flown experimental airplanes across the country
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 390
The nice thing about blauparts is the tool rental option and the good instructions. The only tools that I really needed from the rental set were the viscous fan "chopstix" tool and the cam bar, because one of my cam bolts was seized, but these definitely saved me time and headaches. The cam bar gives you peace of mind.
The cam seal puller tool and crankshaft seal puller, in my case, were not necessary because I removed the valve covers and removed the cams so as to work on the cam chain tensioners and replace all the seals. I didn't touch the crank seal because it wasn't leaking.
If I was going to do the procedure again, I'd save a little money and buy some items from FCP Groton and some items from blauparts.
Note that the water pump in my blauparts timing belt kit was an Italian "Saleri" brand unit and the timing belt is not OEM. You can't upgrade either part. I'd have preferred to use OEM parts.
In terms of other stuff you can do, it might be a good time to switch out the motor mounts, and/or snub mount. Motor mounts ooze pink liquid when they fail. The snub mount will just be worn out and floppy.
Also, do not break the cam chain tensioner tool. If you overtighten it, it will break. Getting a tensioner into place without the tool is a total pain.
Doing the complete timing belt job, cam seals, cam adjuster seals, valve cover gaskets, etc. took me nearly three days working at a moderate pace. Part of that was dealing with a seized cam bolt and the other issue was draining the coolant in the block. For an AHA motor (and possibly others), one tool you'll want to have on hand is a *long* 8mm hex wrench. The only way to fully drain coolant is to undo the plug in the block, which is located several inches up into the block. My coolant plug was seized and I had to get creative to get the damn thing out.
The cam seal puller tool and crankshaft seal puller, in my case, were not necessary because I removed the valve covers and removed the cams so as to work on the cam chain tensioners and replace all the seals. I didn't touch the crank seal because it wasn't leaking.
If I was going to do the procedure again, I'd save a little money and buy some items from FCP Groton and some items from blauparts.
Note that the water pump in my blauparts timing belt kit was an Italian "Saleri" brand unit and the timing belt is not OEM. You can't upgrade either part. I'd have preferred to use OEM parts.
In terms of other stuff you can do, it might be a good time to switch out the motor mounts, and/or snub mount. Motor mounts ooze pink liquid when they fail. The snub mount will just be worn out and floppy.
Also, do not break the cam chain tensioner tool. If you overtighten it, it will break. Getting a tensioner into place without the tool is a total pain.
Doing the complete timing belt job, cam seals, cam adjuster seals, valve cover gaskets, etc. took me nearly three days working at a moderate pace. Part of that was dealing with a seized cam bolt and the other issue was draining the coolant in the block. For an AHA motor (and possibly others), one tool you'll want to have on hand is a *long* 8mm hex wrench. The only way to fully drain coolant is to undo the plug in the block, which is located several inches up into the block. My coolant plug was seized and I had to get creative to get the damn thing out.
Last edited by redmond1501; Apr 30, 2012 at 01:23 PM.
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 11,670
From: Binghamton, NY
Agreed with the above. I bought the FCP timing kit which came with everything but the G12 coolant, for less than $200. Parts are quality and it's performing perfectly for me and for many others who use it. G12 is $26/gallon at the dealer and unless you're doing the cam seals, the locking bar is unnecessary. Definitely do the snub mount as its $7 and can't be changed without opening the front of the car.
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1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 134
From: Texas
I've just ordered the kits from Blauparts. The Saleri water pumps seem to have pretty good reviews on other forums (e.g. BMW, Mercedes). According to some forum posts I found in a search, it seems a brand of water pumps named Graf was the one that Blauparts used to supply that wasn't too good and they switched to Saleri within the last year or so...
I'll also be changing out all the crank and cam seals... I already own a nifty seal puller made by Lisle (part# 58430) that works great on rotating shaft seals in tight places.
A new snub mount comes included with the Blauparts kit
I may try my hand at fabricating my own camshaft locking bar, after all it's just a strip of metal bent and drilled in certain places
I've fabricated much more complicated metal parts than that, which were then installed on an airplane I built and then flew from Texas to Wisconsin and back, twice.
I'll also be changing out all the crank and cam seals... I already own a nifty seal puller made by Lisle (part# 58430) that works great on rotating shaft seals in tight places.
A new snub mount comes included with the Blauparts kit
I may try my hand at fabricating my own camshaft locking bar, after all it's just a strip of metal bent and drilled in certain places
I've fabricated much more complicated metal parts than that, which were then installed on an airplane I built and then flew from Texas to Wisconsin and back, twice.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 288
Thread Starter
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1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 134
From: Texas
I bought a camshaft locking bar off Amazon for a little over $50, and a crankshaft locking pin too. I'll be checking all the plumbing and wiring I have access at while everything is disassembled... already thinking of adding new spark plug wires to the mix as well. I want this engine to be good to go and trouble-free until the next major milestone inspection & service interval comes due.
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 390
If I was to do the TB again, I wouldn't even bother with the crankshaft locking pin unless I was changing out the crankshaft seal. It's tricky to get at the access plug for the pin, and that crankshaft isn't going to rotate a notch or two like the cams.
I marked the TDC mark on the crankshaft sprocket with a gold metallic pen and that was probably sufficient.
I marked the TDC mark on the crankshaft sprocket with a gold metallic pen and that was probably sufficient.
1st Gear
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 41
From: California
Amazon cam locking tool and crankshaft locking pin
Hey CheckerBird,
Are these what you ordered and did they do the job? I'm thinking of picking these up myself.
Are these what you ordered and did they do the job? I'm thinking of picking these up myself.
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