You work fast.
You work fast.
In reply to Slippery :
I am very impatient. It's probably why I can't seem to take on any long term projects, they just piss me off.
EDIT: Also to be clear I didn't have to pull the transmission to confirm the flywheel needed, so nothing has been done on the car for a couple days. I did a little more reading and found out when I had the issue before it was because FCP Euro had their part numbers mixed up.
Man what a weekend.
Got the a/c repaired on the Jeep Friday night, and Saturday had to help move some family that were displaced by the tornado that came through a couple months ago into a more permanent place. That afternoon I got the tools cleaned up and started tinkering on the a/c a bit. I can hear a click at the solenoid when activated with 12v but the clutch doesn't move at all. If I activate it with OBD Eleven it's silent, and the fans don't kick on when the a/c button is pressed. Getting in the area to test the solenoid started to get frustrating so I called it quits for the night.
Sunday morning I just planned to at least accomplish getting the timing/water pump done, and anything after that would be gravy. The a/c can wait until it's at least road worthy.
Before heading out to get started I sipped my morning coffee going over the procedure for the 15th time with youtube videos. Everything went exactly as planned and I was all wrapped up by lunch time. I probably should have taken the opportunity to tinker with the a/c compressor with all of the belt system removed but wanted to stay focused.
It's probably not necessary but I marked the old belt before remove in a few spots to help me align the new one. Of course after transferring to the new I didn't pay attention to the direction which had me fumbling a bit. Once I realized they were flipped it went in like gravy.
Out with the old.
In with the new. I managed to get the INA timing belt kit for $95, a legit Hepu metal impeller water pump and a cheap Bando belt for an additional $49. In total around $50-100 less than most pieced together kits with good components.
With that all wrapped up I did a quick test start. Runs like it should so I topped off coolant and cleaned up my mess.
After lunch I decided to just start the process of getting the transmission out. Parts should be here today and I am considering taking tomorrow off to put it all back together.
Fender liners, intake, battery, electric fans, some intercooler piping, and axles were all pulled out fairly quickly so I started removing bellhousing bolts. Before you know it I was removing the transmission. The axle flange on the passenger side refused to budge on the little 6mm allen screw holding it in place so I kinda hulked it out of the bay with reckless abandon. With the trans out and on the floor I was able to get it broke free with some penatrent and heat. Having this flange removed should make re-installation considerably easier.
I recall having massive issues getting these splines to align to the flywheel on my last A3, so I'm prepared to struggle again on this one. I think I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make it easier this time though.
And here's what the dual mass flywheel does with little effort.
Well this berkeleying sucks!!
The pilot bearing race is trying to weld itself to the frickin crank. Just about everything I've done has remained fruitless. I cut a deep groove in it hoping it would chisel out but nope. It just keeps pretending I'm using a welder instead of a blunt object. At this point I decided to take a break before I set the car on fire. It's really hard to see in the pics, but I just can't get "under" the material whatsoever. The dremel carbide bits went blunt with zero cut made. I've never experienced anything like it before. What should have been a few minutes has turned into a fricking nightmare.
It's out! Bought a new carbide bit for the dremel and it made short work of adding another groove. Maybe my other bits weren't carbide?
Can you put a weld bead on it to break the seal? Sometimes a weld bead and then a quick quench will help pop one out
Some words of caution on the timing belt - be VERY weary of the "mark and pray" method. The timing of the cam and the injection pump is critical.
I'm not 100% sure of the process on the PD engines, but I can't imagine VAG made the system any less complex than the earlier ALH engine and even the earlier, more primitive engine had to have the injection pump timing checked and set using VAG-COM or equivalent. The general rule was the lock the cam, crank and injection pump, then remove/loosen the cam pulley from the cam. Then you set the belt tension with the new tensioner with the cam pulley "floating". After it the tensioner is tightened, then torque the cam pulley bolts to the cam and then remove all of the locking pins. This should keep the timing close enough for the engine to run and then you can check the injection timing with VAG-COM.
In reply to buzzboy :
That was one of the items on my list to try if the new carbide bit didn't work out. I'm happy to report as seen above it's no longer an issue!
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Definitely did not use a mark and pray method. More of a mark and verify method. I used all of the proper locking tools on the crank and both upper pulleys withe the method you described. Sort of. The CR engines aren't fussy about the fuel pump injection timing, just needs to be pinned when tightening and close enough will work fine. Nothing required in VAGCOM for this job. The last one I did the same, and honestly it's probably more effort than needed with the marking. I just couldn't help myself.
So after that debacle tackled I cleaned up the bearing surface, installed the new bearing, and then installed the new flywheel.
I also spent some time cleaning up the splines and output shaft, then greased them in prep for install.
I considered that a good enough amount of work for the day. Not enough time to wrestle the trans back in place without rushing it and just causing more drama for myself.
One thing worth mentioning is the input shaft bearing was "crunchy" before I started pulling it. This should have been a sign it was going to fight me and maybe I should have been more intentional with my methods. I believe the bearing was cooked due to the flywheel needing replaced, and not soon enough. I also found some wear marks on the flywheel splines which can be clearly seen in the pic below. The output shaft on the trans isn't sloppy at all, but I think much longer of this and it could have been catastrophic.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
I have always done the "transfer marks" method on TDIs under the operating theory that as long as nobody messed around with the pump to try to compensate for a worn belt, putting a new belt on should return it to the as-new timing.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
this is where common rail diesels differ from mechanically injected. on something that has an injection pump, the timing of the cam/crank/injection pump is cruical. not so much when you are just trying to make rail pressure and the ECU is timing the injector firing for you
I wish the 3.0 TDI's had timing belts instead of chains. While the belts need to be replaced more often, they're a whole lot easier and cheaper to do vs the chains
captainawesome said:In reply to Slippery :
I am very impatient. It's probably why I can't seem to take on any long term projects, they just piss me off.
Your tenacity is inspiring, lol. I have been procrastinating on a steering rack/conrod bearing job for over a month now, but seeing how fast and efficiently you work got me going.
Got home yesterday and raised, disassembled most of the car. Hopefully I have it finished by the weekend.
End of threadjack
In reply to Slippery :
Heck yeah! Stoked to provide some inspiration.
Sometimes just doing a 30 minute thing here or there gets the crappy jobs done. I manage to convince myself once it's done I can take a break. I fall for that bullE36 M3 every time.
In reply to Slippery :
Small bites of the elephant will get it done. Like captainawesome says, 30 minutes here or there. Then again I convinced myself I could swap leaf springs on my truck in an afternoon, not realizing how fracken heavy a truck's leaf spring is.. Anyway, you have convinced me I need a Quick Jack in my life. Looks like a Christmas present for me this year 
docwyte said:I wish the 3.0 TDI's had timing belts instead of chains. While the belts need to be replaced more often, they're a whole lot easier and cheaper to do vs the chains
Agreed. I've read a lot of comments over the years about how chains are better than belts, but I disagree. Timing belts are generally designed for periodic service. Chains are generally not and usually require a lot more disassembly. Usually it's not the chains that go bad but the guides and tensioners and you often have to take most of the front of the engine apart to get to them. I'll eventually have to do a chain service on my R53 MINI ...or more likely I'll have a friend do it since he works on these cars a lot and can do a lot faster than I can.
Ok... the differences with the high pressure system makes sense. The years I spent with my TDI made me a bit gun-shy. Then my following experiences with a Cummins 12V and my current 7.3 IDI haven't helped. I would need a very specific use-case in order for me to buy a diesel vehicle again as while they definitely have benefits in certain situations, sometimes it's hard to make the juice worth the squeeze. Regardless, it's fun to watch others deal with them.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
What I don't get is that you never hear of a chain going bad on a small block Chevy, or a LS. But the chains/guides/tensioners are garbage on the modern German cars. Plus it doesn't help that many of the timing chains are mounted on the back side of the engine, so an engine pull is required to replace them
In reply to docwyte :
Different design. LS engines don't have overhead cams.
Biggest problem is people think chains are forever, they are not. Whether it be German, Japanese, or whatever.
Following along because I've been considering a TDI in the next year for a daily and to see if you get the A/C problem figured out. My friend has a 2013 Jetta TDI that seems to have the same issue.
In reply to orthoxstice :
My guess is the compressor at this point or a pressure switch. I'm considering once it's back on the road to take it to a shop. Maybe they can help me troubleshoot it quicker.
docwyte said:In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
What I don't get is that you never hear of a chain going bad on a small block Chevy, or a LS. But the chains/guides/tensioners are garbage on the modern German cars. Plus it doesn't help that many of the timing chains are mounted on the back side of the engine, so an engine pull is required to replace them
You don't remember when small block Chevy timing chains were sloppy by 100k miles.
On the later ones with crank and cam position sensors, and the nonadjustable distributor, they'd set cam timing codes! I modified a few distributors to make them adjustable to limp a nearly used up truck through emissions one last time.
Slippery said:In reply to docwyte :
Different design. LS engines don't have overhead cams.
Biggest problem is people think chains are forever, they are not. Whether it be German, Japanese, or whatever.
For the manufacturer a chain is a "lifetime" part. Meaning: by the time it fails, it's out of warranty and not their problem.
On most OHV engines, the chain is so short that wear and/or stretching isn't as much of a concern - and many don't have tensioners or guides. The chain and pulleys are installed as one unit all at the same time.
On an OHC engine with a chain, a similar amount of wear gets amplified over a much longer chain.
I definitely remember reading in old car rags about chain replacement and upgrades for all of the Big-3 muscle car engines. The chain was/is considered enough of a weak point that double-roller setups and aftermarket gear-drives are sold. The latter are typically loud AF when in use, but for some owners that's considered a desired "feature." Cue guys standing around an engine making that recognizable straight-cut gear sound... nodding and grunting in approval.
Yeah, timing chains can stretch for sure. Ask me how I know.
Also, a lot of those old V8 engines (like the Chrysler 318 above) came with gears with nylon teeth that degrade and crumble over time. Manufacturers used nylon teeth to attempt at quieting down the car, which is a fruitless effort in the rattle trap vehicles these were installed in. The combination of a stretched chain plus chipped/missing teeth gets you all sorts of things bending and hitting each other that shouldn't be.
The interesting thing about double rollers is that the rollers provide another avenue for wear.
Back inna day, Gapp & Roush did testing and found that the plain old duplex chain worked best, as long as it had a metal cam sprocket and not a plastic one. It cut down cam drive harmonics considerably compared to gear drives and it was more reliable than a roller chain.
Nowadays the hot thing is a timing belt. On pushrod engines designed for the cam drive to be inside the crankcase. So a special cover plate has to be used so the belt drive isn't exposed to oil...
Ok, lets make this a cool A3 TDI thread again.
I missed the part where the AC was non-op. Can you jump the relay for the compressor and see if the field coil is dead?
Not sure on these cars, but I was able to buy just the coil for an Acura. Way cheaper and less hassle than a compressor change if you can do it while in the car.
You'll need to log in to post.
