is it possibly to do the rods without taking the motor out, this is on a 2000 a4 1.8t.

 

Yes, all you have to do is remove the head and oil pan. many have done this. But however, if you do it this way, you have to reuse your stock piston and rings. Best mark the pistons before you pull them

 

you dont simply just remove the oil pan.

 

who said that?

 

Well the oil pan on a 1.8T is a bit of a PITA because the subframe is in your way so you have to drop it down without dropping the motor with it. We usually use an engine support tool which hangs the motor by the fender wells. What your gonna have to do is use a jack on the bell housing of the transmission to hold it in place, then un-bolt the subframe and let it hang by the suspension. Now you should be able to get at all the bolts on the pan, but two of them are hidding in holes on the bell housing, use a flash light to see them, your gonna need a long 1/4 extension and a T25 socket i believe to pull them out. Make sure not to drop the bolts into the bell housing!!!!! Once you get all the bolts loose you might have to give the pan a wack with a rubber mallet to loosen up the gasket material so the pan comes free. When the pan droppes down its not gonna just slide out, you may need a friend to help pull down on the subframe so you can sneak out the pan, i usually un-bolt the a/c compressor and let that hang by the lines as well because it makes it that much easier to pull the pan out.
When you put the pan back on you HAVE to use the factory gasket material if you don't want it to leak. You get the tube, cut the top off evenly, then lay a 1/4 inch bead around the pan like i have in the pic. (NOTE: your only gonna have 5 minutes to put the pan up before the stuff drys up, so make sure you have a friend and some bolts handy)

From auditech a while back. Doesnt seem that easy, but beats what 20 hours of work for pulling a motor right?

 

The person that pulled myTT enginedidnt remove the front bumper or anything, he dropped the engine out the bottom. Probably saved him many hours that way. BTW, i was just saying it was possible, didnt try to go throught all the details.