I had posted on this months ago and have finally had the time to see if I could get it running. I had suspected a bad thermo late last summer as it overheated several times so I took it off the road. pulled it all apart and tried the "slip out and not off" timing belt method to gain access to the water pump housing and of course the cams moved. decided to use the straight edge method i read here to re-align the cams and the engine at TDC and it fired right up but ran like crap. got it to autozone and the only code was p1857. *onward and present.
rented the cam locking bar and crank pin from jhmotors (best deal i found;
$40 rental and $160 deposit with no time limit - came in two days for $13 shipping fee )
pulled it all apart again (isn't the second time great? about two hours if that) and discoverd that once i put the engine at tdc and applied the cam bar I was about and inch high on the right cam. slightly pulled the bar down and to the right to align and it forced the engine to rotate about 3/4 inch advanced. pulled it all off and backed the crank splines back one tooth. i now have rotated it over and over to check alignment and every time I do - engine at TDC - I have to nudge the cam locking bar about 1/4" down to fit into the holes. doing this does not advance the engine. do u think I have it?
Thanks for all replies!!!! oh and I discoverd a broken mounting plate that fits above the power steering pump and was causing the pully to ride up almost knocking off the serpitine belt. anybody have luck getting aluminum welded?

 

You aren't doing something right. Hard to tell from your description, though. You should pull the cam gears off their cams, reset them but not enough for them to grip the cams, set the crank to TDC, install the locking bar, install the TB then run down the cam gear bolts. But, on the other hand, 1/4" across the length of the cam bar is not very much and can probably be explained away as normal TB tension. You could try pulling the TB really hard across the cam sprockets and applying a little extra tension at the tensioner before running down the cam sprocket bolts if you want to get it just right.

Good luck,

And you get even faster the third time.....

Bob

 

Thanks Bob, can u tell me just how the tensioner is supposed to work? u have the bolt that goes through it to the block and the pin behind it that pushes the piston and the hex hole the makes it turn and applies pressure to the belt. I can use the hex hole to make the belt tighten but it just goes back even if I torgue the bolt to the block. Is it suppose to work like that? I mean is that rotation in the tensioner for when u start the car and it uses that slack for it to jerk (rotate within the tensioner) and not snap the belt? or am I supposed to be able to torgue and tighten the tensionor?
in all I have read i just can't seem to find that answer.
Thanks again!

 

You should really be replacing that belt and the rollers and tensioners as well. I would check a local junkyard for the replacement bracket that is broken rather than welding it. Or try www.shokan.com. If the bracket happens to be part of one of the rollers (but doesn't sound like it is) it may come new as an assembly.

Once the belt gets stretched don't trust it. If it was way off time you will need to check your compression when you get it all back together. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you though!

 

HEY JACKMUP, I did replace a lot of things since i was in there anyway as I could not tell what had been done already. belt, tensioner, rollers, waterpump, thermo, valve gaskets. Splugs and some vac lines. I did have the car go into limp mode for a few minutes here and there before the oveheating issue but it always fired right back up after turning it off and on a few times. i thought maybe the MAF sensor was gone but was going to try that next once i confirmed that i had done the TB job correctly by having the right tools. I have a feeling that i was off a tooth as i have read here that the car will barley run if it is not perfectly timed. it would start but would sputter, jerk and I had blu-ish smoke upon ignition after putting it all back together without the correct tools. unlike other euro cars I own there seems to be no "getting close" with the A6. oh and i did find a fabricator who is welding the PS pump mounting bracket back to it's origional shape. i thought going to the boneyard would be a nightmare considering the placment of the bracket......will keep u posted once i get the bracket back and put together.
Thanks!