Mike_L

Okay, took a look. Unfortunately, the tank is going to have to be drained. Theres no way to get it out of the way with that hose on the bottom, so unless you can somehow cap the top openings, and flip it over so you can remove the lower hose with it upside down, I don't see any way to do it.

jr'sAudiA6

Well I was able to maneuver the tank up and forward enough to gain access to the 2 torx screws and coil packs. It did require some manipulation of the tank to get my tools into the spark plug well to get them in and out but I was successful. Did not require removing any hoses from the coolant tank. It is a bit of a PIA but not as bad as transverse mounted engines by a long shot.
Incidentally I replaced my plugs with Denso 5303 IK16 Single Iridium Spark Plug. These have a gap of .044. It would appear the NGK stock plugs have a gap of .032. Based on as much info as could find these Denso plugs are a colder plug from the stock NGK plugs. A short test drive did not show any adverse effects but I will be tracking the car this weekend. So I shall see if I encounter anything unusual.

DaveA6

Jr/Anyone who's done this:
Did you happen to disconnect the coolant level sensor from the harness when you moved the overflow tank? What's/where's the magic push or pull thingy that releases the connector?

tenspeed

I changed my 3.0L plugs and removed the sensor connector. The connector fits in a socket. The bottom side of the socket has a protrusion that the connector hooks onto. I think you move the tab up which moves the back side down and clears the protrusion.

I also removed the entire coolant reservoir. Stick a small tube in it and drain the coolant into a bucket while you work on the passenger side plugs. If the tube is small enough, you can slide it down the hose at the bottom. When the reservoir is empty and you have the sensor unplugged, remove the three hoses by sliding the clips out and remove one torq screw.

Pictures are in this thread.
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a7-...hange-2917832/

a44mark

I wrote this up a while back: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...t-diy-2885248/

I did disconnect the sensor connector from the bottom of the reservoir, but I did not drain it. The connector was a little hard to remove, but mostly because it gets a lot of moisture and dirt. A bit of wiggling while the tab is pressed and it'll come free. I also unclipped part of the coil pack harness to make it easier to move around.

-Mark