old96A4

I'm in the middle of doing my timing belt , can't seem to find the crank locking plug. hard to find, most talk about it on the 2.7T, same place on the 3.0??

jseklund

I don't know about the 3.0 - but on the 2.7T it is a pain to find!

If it's in the same spot on the 3.0 as the 2.7T - here's the best way I can describe it.

You may have to remove any hoses that are under there to see it clearly. On the 2.7T it's almost impossible to find with the intercooler hose from the turbo still connected...maybe easier on the 3.0...not sure.

You will want to look from the front driver's side corner of the car, back towards the passenger's door, while lying on your back between the wheel and the driver's side of the engine. You will be looking up, toward the side of the engine block. You will see a round plug with a bolt to the side of it. The 10 mm bolt comes out and the plug will pop out. Then you can slide the pin in...

Next time I do my timing belt I'm going to snap a photo of this so that people can see where it is. I don't think there's a single good photo of its location on this forum, or at least I couldn't find one.

old96A4

I'll try ti locate it. what about setting the valve timing when you put the new belt on. I've read the descriptions, none real explian it well.
So I'm taking the slack out of the belt with the passenger exhaust pully by tighting clock wise, then I do the same thing with the drivers side to get the belt tight between the pulleys. I guess that's what I'm looking for tight between the pullys. I'm just afraid to loosen the valve pullys and mess with what I have but I guess I have to to tighten the new belt. JUst looking for a better explantion..

OGBULLYLOCDAWG

Don't know about the 3.0, but on my 2.8, looking from the front of the car, if you look a little behind & upwards from where the oil filter's located, just shine a light in that area and it's clearly visible.

Here's the photo that I found originally that helped me located the plug without any searching:

(Courtesy of DaveInSaltLake)

That's the oil pan drain plug in the foreground, find that, look up and hopefully it's right there on the 3.0.

Make sure the o-ring comes out with the plug, or the pin won't go screw in.

jseklund

OGBully - great photo. I don't know how you found that, or where you were 4 months ago when I was looking for this myself!!!

That's about the same area on the 2.7T ...I bet it's similar on the 3.0.

I haven't done the timing on a 3.0 and don't wanna muddy the waters with innaccurate info...not on timing. You want to make sure the belt between the two pulleys is tight, that may mean that one of the pulleys will need to be turned slightly to get the belt to fit in the teeth on the sprocket, and then turned back slighlty to tighten it. I mean slightly! When the belt is on and tight, you should be able to get the tool (assuming the setup is the same as the 2.7T) onto the cam sprocket wings.

OGBULLYLOCDAWG

Many late nights of searching just about every single thread from the forum archives, google and bunch of other sources for everything related to changing the timing belt, water pump and thermostat.

old96A4 - In regards to the timing belt procedure for the 3.0, seems a bit more complex compared to the 2.8/2.7T, so any ideas/tips I can give you would come from my experience working on the 2.8... and that's just too risky.

Hopefully one of the Tech Guru's can chime in for you soon.

What are you using in regards to directions? Bentley, Tech Article, DIY etc?

old96A4

I'm using a write up from the fourm and I one that comes with the kit from Blau parts.. I called Blau to get some idea, I just got an e-mail with the crank lock from a 2.7T. Must be not many do the timing belt service for the 3.0. the write steps aren't perfect either. I just don;t want to screw anything up. The fourm write up did the service without the crank lock. this is totally different than the 2.8 enginee. I've done that twice and I can tell you it's not the same. you have to loosen the cam pulleys whihc makes me real nervious. Then I have to ajust the valve timing but I think they mean take up the slack in the belt between the pulleys. The tighten everything down again. Better make sure it's tight.

OGBULLYLOCDAWG

Hopefully that's accurate.

Put together a quick PDF with partial directions (2003 A6[4B2] AVK motor) from the cam locking tool insertion part, hope it helps paired up with the other directions & DIYs.

mpw

Just to be clear (again, no knowledge of the 3.0), but the point of the cam locking bar and the crank lock is that you set the timing exactly. You pop the sprockets on the cams and they rotate freely. No need to move the cams at all. It's actually much easier than trying to get the belt on just ever so.

old96A4

Finsihed the timing belt service , I hope nothing leaks, haven;t really driven the car yet. but so far so good, about a 20 hour job..