mkongsiri

underneath, drivers side. it's way up in there. Look at the photos of the shop manual that was posted earlier.

Clevercrow

Ok Guys, in need of some more help. Quick recap- having to do driver side tensioner. Had cams locked and with ease, wasn't sure if timing had jumped so went to lock passinger side cams also but found that both (bolt holes for locking tool on cams) were turned in at about 45deg towards intake. So with your advice I loosened cams on driver side in order to turn the crankshaft to where passinger cam holes were facing up and I then could lock them. My question is before turning the crankshaft I took the plug out and was easily able to screw in the crankshaft locking pin. So if the engine is TDC then shouldn't the passinger camshaft holes be straight up and down just like the other side? Should I take the pin out and turn crank till cams can be locked(cams on driver side don't have chain connected) will the crank locking pin still go in? Thanks for any help.

4Driver4

According to Bentley, you should be able to pin the crank and then install the cam locks. If you can't, timing if off.

I had a car with a similar issue. I fixed it by replacing all tensioners and guides.

...and a few valves.

mkongsiri

Well according to the factory manual then yes, with the locking pin in, the engine should be at TDC. Remeber though, this is a 4 stroke engine, so the eninge will be at TDC every 2 complete rotations. Its compression stroke at TDC (all valves closed) then next rotation is exhaust stroke (all exhaust valves open). You can confirm this by popping the spark plug and use a long screwdriver to make sure that #1 piston is in fact at it's highest position. You should then be able to turn the cams so that all 4 can be locked in place with the cam locks. The cams should have been lined up but you have no way of being certain the chain didnt skip after turn the engine so many time by hand or by try to turn it counter clockwise. My opinion is if the locking holes are way off, you maybe on the exhaust stroke. Check the position of the exhaust valves for Cylinder 1 with the pin in currently.

A6Riddler

Hello - Sorry i'd gone for a while

Still not able to start the A6 although it's not been worked on for almost 2 weeks.

I'm thinking that my issue is the timing as the engine doesn't appear to spin quick enough on crank to start up. Battery changed and new battery still does the same, the reported faults only come back after the battery drains too low.

So to re-cap - If I insert the locking PIN into the crank, which I guess it will only do once the crank and hole's are aligned ? the engine will be locked, so from here I can then adjust the cam's so they match up and can be locked by the tools thus putting the engine back into time ?

Fit all chains again and we should be good to go ?

Q. Does it matter if the engine is at intake or exhaust lock when re-aligning the CAM's again ?

Thanks..

mkongsiri

There's 2 things that stick out to me:

1. You said previously you were averaging 150psi for every cylinder on a compression test. If valve timing was off, you would not be getting anything near that.

2. When testing spark, you said the plugs were not firing when grounding plugs and turning engine over.

No start is from either no fuel, spark, or compression. You need to resolve why you are getting no spark if you still aren't getting any. That's going to kill you timing set or not. So to answer your question, yes if both sides of cam locking holes are facing up and locking pin is in, you are timed correctly. Compression of 150 also verifies timing is good. I did notice you saying the engine is still turning over slowly. This could be an issue with the ground strap. High resistance will cause a drop in available amperage (Ohm's law, Amp=Volts/Resistance). Check both ends of the ground strap on your battery and clean it with a file/steel wool/whatever and reconnect. You can also try a jumper cable on the negative terminal to the chassis.

mkongsiri

Yes it does, the cam holes will be on the bottom vs the top on exhaust stroke.

A6Riddler

Hi - Sorry not too sure how to explain whats happened.

I tested the compression on all 6 cylinders and they all read +150, changed the plugs and battery but still won't fire up. I now get sparks and fuel on turn over but nothing else.

The reason I thinks it's down to the timing is it worked before I took it apart - I'm going to re-check everything before sending it off for scrap or as a non-runner on Ebay, as initially i didn't lock the crank with the PIN.

So I guess (and I only have basic knowledge of engines ) working on the principle I've screwed up if i can lock the crank in place and set/check the CAM's off the it must be back in timing.

What i'm not too sure about is the locking PIN - thoughts tell me it will go through the case into a aligned hole once every 360 degs ? is this the case ?

Are there any marks to see when the locking pin will be in line or do you slowly turn the Crank till it fits ?

Once it's locked I need to check or re align the CAM's and all should be happy ?

Not started to look for the PIN hole yet or take the CAM covers off again but will make a start this weekend

Thanks..

mkongsiri

Well if you're getting 150 psi, I don't think you're anywhere near scraping the car. But I do understand the frustration!

The procedure from the factory manual is to get the cam holes lined up then to put the locking pin in. This is under the assumption that the engine is still in correct time. I dont recall but when you first took cam covers off, were the cam holes aligned on both sides? Someone else posted that the Bentley manual states there are marks on the Crankshaft pulley but I didnt see any on mine and I dont have the bentley manual, only the Factory Elsawin system.

If the car was running prior to removal, and the cam locking holes were in line upon initial removal, I think its very unlikely that both cams are off by one complete rotation unless they were turned when the chains were removed. The cams rotate 360 degreess for every 720 degrees the engine rotates. Or 1 revolution per every 2 revolutions of the engine.

So the locking pin will go in every 360 degrees of the engine, but it's not at TDC on ignition stroke unless the cam holes are also facing up. Can you clear DTC codes, try starting and repost codes?

Clevercrow

So far have all 4 cams loosened and cam locks installed. Now need to turn the engine to TDC and put crank pin in. Trying to figure out which piston should be up that way I know it is correct TDC. Thankyou for any help