Heheh I doubt I'll be up there but with a drive down, a lot of that stuff could be knocked out in a weekend...

 

Devil....I just may take you up on that offer.

...one more question, with this timing belt replacement....is it about the condition of the belt itself or is it the tensioner breaking down?

I found this article and they just went in and replaced the tensioner....seems like a much more simple task.

http://audi-diy.blogspot.com/2007/11...er-pulley.html

 

It's not. To replace the tensioner, you need to remove belt tension (in essence, you're one loud sneeze away from the belt being off anyhow). If you're going in, you change the parts. It's foolish to half-*** this job. The tensioner fails more often than the belt, but any of those parts can fail and cost you the engine. For less than $300 in parts, replacement of all the timing components is the only way to go.

 

thanks....that's what i figured, just asking questions...like knowing.

It only makes sence to get in there and replace everything including water pump and thermostat I'd imagine.

 

Very true. The kits from ECS include all the relevant parts.

 

and blauparts.com... just throwing it out there...

 

Definitely worth doing the job if you are unsure. I picked up the kit and did it myself, read thru the DIY, and read as much as i could on the forums, and everything went super smooth. and yah.. while you're in there, change the waterpump and thermostat, its totally worth the piece of mind. and. honestly for one of the other posters that was worried about being off by a degree or 2, pull the plugs and hand crank the cam and see if all is well, its pretty simple. If the timing is off, it won't go around..

If you have even a bit of mechanical aptitude.. go for it.. if not, get a pro to do it

 

^^^you mean it won't go around cleanly. It'll definitely go around, but by being off more than a tooth or two, when it goes around it'll start damaging parts.

 

That doesn't sound good at all...
any pointers on keeping cam rods and crank from moving while work is done...?

 

There are tools made that do exactly that. You can buy them for under $100. Any shop manual will tell you how to use them.