09-07-2016, 03:03 PM
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- Audi A6 C6 How to Replace Upper Timing Chain Tensioners<br>Step by step instructions for do-it-yourself repairs.
DIY - A6 3.2 Upper Timing Chain Tensioner Replacement
01-29-2016, 03:03 AM
#191
so when I pulled the passenger side timing cover I found the intake cam gear bolt had come loose which of course impacted timing... additionally all the exhaust rocker arms where no longer in place but laying along side each valve.
I had an Audi tech explain that the only way rocker arms can some off is if valve is bent (was thinking it was more related to cam being out of position). I was also told the valve springs don't have enough strength to hold the valve closed on their own ( I thought that was the job of the spring??) ... so now I am believing I need to pull the head and replace all exhaust valves ???
any advice would be appreciated....
thanks
Doug
I had an Audi tech explain that the only way rocker arms can some off is if valve is bent (was thinking it was more related to cam being out of position). I was also told the valve springs don't have enough strength to hold the valve closed on their own ( I thought that was the job of the spring??) ... so now I am believing I need to pull the head and replace all exhaust valves ???
any advice would be appreciated....
thanks
Doug
Valve springs do hold the valves closed...unless the valves are bent. Then the spring isn't strong enough to overcome the bend and close them.
Regardless, the head has to come off.
04-08-2016, 06:20 AM
#192
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I am going to be taking on this job next weekend. I am fairly confident that, after reading this entire thread, and watching the YouTube video, I should be able to do this....The only question I have is about the valve cover bolts.... The person in the video recommends replacing them (something about a rubber washer that wont seal correctly on a used bolt). The OP makes no mention of replacing the bolts. I saw somewhere mid-thread that someone else asked about replacing the bolts as well, but he got no response. I know the valve cover gaskets were replaced about 10K MI ago. Should I replace the bolts (and if so, does anyone know a part #)? Should I replace the valve cover gaskets again (even though they were done about a year ago)?
04-11-2016, 02:33 AM
#193
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With 152K miles on my 3.2 C6, I'll probably be taking this replacement sooner than later.
I'll be using my vcds cam offset readings to determine how soon.
From reading through this entire, & other related, thread(s), it seems to me that there are a few very critical points:
VAG VAS cam offset readings are the clearest indicator or the problem. The "dieseling" sound is very subjective 1st indicator, but not quantitative at all.
It's imperative that you set the engine to the proper tdc, whether by the locking pin or timing marks, to figure out if the cams are still in time or not, before putting the cam locking tools on.
On reassembly, pretensionIno the cam adjusters is critical, too. If not done correctly, you still wind up with out of time cams.
However, if you are well prepared, you can do this repair correctly in a good day, or so, following the tutorial of this thread & the YouTube video.
That's what I intend to do, as I'm starting to gather the tools & parts.
Thanks mkongsiri for such a great tutorial write up & thread!
I'll be using my vcds cam offset readings to determine how soon.
From reading through this entire, & other related, thread(s), it seems to me that there are a few very critical points:
VAG VAS cam offset readings are the clearest indicator or the problem. The "dieseling" sound is very subjective 1st indicator, but not quantitative at all.
It's imperative that you set the engine to the proper tdc, whether by the locking pin or timing marks, to figure out if the cams are still in time or not, before putting the cam locking tools on.
On reassembly, pretensionIno the cam adjusters is critical, too. If not done correctly, you still wind up with out of time cams.
However, if you are well prepared, you can do this repair correctly in a good day, or so, following the tutorial of this thread & the YouTube video.
That's what I intend to do, as I'm starting to gather the tools & parts.
Thanks mkongsiri for such a great tutorial write up & thread!
Last edited by LarryJa; 04-11-2016 at 02:35 AM.
05-19-2016, 12:09 PM
#196
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Upper chain tensioners and/or Transmission removal to do the whole job
I have read this entire thread, several times. Lots of great info on replacing the upper Chain tensioners. I made the journey and have run into a snag with my 2005 A6 3.2l. I have pre-tensioned the cam adjusters in correct sequence, made sure the tensioners have been pre-loaded with oil, etc, but when I do the 720 check down clockwise by hand, it seems the driver side bank chains skip a tooth or two on the idler sprocket and the engine falls out of time in the drive side bank. When it does, I can't get much past 360 degrees before a piston marries a valve (the exhaust cycle). I relieve the adjuster on the driver side , preposition the camshafts using the alignment tool and Turn the engine until im able to locked the crankshaft with the pin and the other camshafts in the passenger bank with the other alignment tool. i have repeated the process several times. Has anyone successfully completed the job with out changing the chains when they run into this situation and what did you do? If not, has anyone got information on successfully pulling the transmission so I can replace all the chains and tensioners? I want to buy the Bently guide, but it seems that it works best with a computer with microsoft XP. I have Windows 10.
Please help.
Please help.
05-21-2016, 04:44 PM
#197
I have read this entire thread, several times. Lots of great info on replacing the upper Chain tensioners. I made the journey and have run into a snag with my 2005 A6 3.2l. I have pre-tensioned the cam adjusters in correct sequence, made sure the tensioners have been pre-loaded with oil, etc, but when I do the 720 check down clockwise by hand, it seems the driver side bank chains skip a tooth or two on the idler sprocket and the engine falls out of time in the drive side bank. When it does, I can't get much past 360 degrees before a piston marries a valve (the exhaust cycle). I relieve the adjuster on the driver side , preposition the camshafts using the alignment tool and Turn the engine until im able to locked the crankshaft with the pin and the other camshafts in the passenger bank with the other alignment tool. i have repeated the process several times. Has anyone successfully completed the job with out changing the chains when they run into this situation and what did you do? If not, has anyone got information on successfully pulling the transmission so I can replace all the chains and tensioners? I want to buy the Bently guide, but it seems that it works best with a computer with microsoft XP. I have Windows 10.
Please help.
Please help.
I've pulled the trans and replaced all the tensioners and guides. No need to replace chains or sprockets unless damaged.
06-03-2016, 02:09 PM
#198
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Thread Starter
Agreed, if everything is locked in place and torqued, it should not be able to lose timing. Make sure the lower part of the chain is not snagged or kinked on the bottom of the sprocket.
06-17-2016, 03:18 AM
#199
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I'm going to "stir the pot" on this common 3,2sfi issue.
I've got 7degrees of correction on one bank, & less than 3 on the other. I'm monitoring the growth of correction, for each, as I put miles on the car. I'm at 157,000 miles now on my '06 C6.
What I'm considering, as the correction goes past 8degrees, is just changing the one upper tensioner, if the other remains under 4degrees.
Rational: replace just the worn/broken one. Why replace a tensioner that's at less than half the working spec (8degrees)?
I could, probably, replace the one for about $100 in tools & $200-250 in parts, over a weekend.
If the second one ever needed to be done, in the future, I could do it for $200-250, & in much less time than the 1st.
Doesn't seem like too big a risk.
Like I said, I'm stirring the pot...
I've got 7degrees of correction on one bank, & less than 3 on the other. I'm monitoring the growth of correction, for each, as I put miles on the car. I'm at 157,000 miles now on my '06 C6.
What I'm considering, as the correction goes past 8degrees, is just changing the one upper tensioner, if the other remains under 4degrees.
Rational: replace just the worn/broken one. Why replace a tensioner that's at less than half the working spec (8degrees)?
I could, probably, replace the one for about $100 in tools & $200-250 in parts, over a weekend.
If the second one ever needed to be done, in the future, I could do it for $200-250, & in much less time than the 1st.
Doesn't seem like too big a risk.
Like I said, I'm stirring the pot...
07-31-2016, 11:10 AM
#200
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Chain skipping
Hello all,
I bought my first Audi, -07 A6 avant quattro 3.2 fsi. Of course the upper chain skipped almost immediately. The car has done about 180 000km at the moment. After skipping tooth the engine still started, but ran poorly.
I read this thread throughout a couple of times plus some other threads before starting the repair. After gathering information I felt pretty confident with my average mechanic skills and bought the special tool set and a new pair of upper tensioners.
First I stripped down the old tensioners and put the engine back in time. I used the crankshaft locking pin to lock crankshaft in place and locked both camshafts on both sides with the locking tools from the special tool set. After getting the engine back on time I assembled it with new tensioners. I pre tensioned the chain lightly before tightening the camshaft adjusters. Then it was time to manually rotate the engine, I wanted to do 7 full rotations before trying to start it.
Well, at first time I got 1/2 rotations and the chain skipped. Then I did everything again from the start and I got about the same 1/2 rotations before chain skipped again. After getting pretty frustrated I read about getting oil to the tensioners piston. I depressed the check valve and compressed the piston fully and let it back to extend. Then I plugged the hole in the back of the tensioner and poured clean oil in to it (almost full). I put piston back in the housing and slowly compressed it and put the retaining pin back in place and took the plug out. I repeated this to the other tensioner also. When compressing the new piston with pressing the check valve, I noticed that it was totally dry and did not have any oil in it. Could this be the cause of all this failure? Should there be some "factory oil" in it?
After getting oil in the pistons I re assembled the engine with still pre tensioning the camshaft adjusters. I took locking pin out and unlocked the camshafts. Now it was time to rotate the engine again. I got almost 4 full rotations before drivers side chain skipped and jammed the motor. Again I stripped down the tensioners and re-compressed them with new oil. Re assembled everything and got 3 full rotations before drivers side skipped again.
At the moment I am in dead end and I don't know what I am doing wrong. Could my piston sealings be bad of all this recompressing? And why wasn't there any factory oil in the pistons to start with? If I buy new pair of tensioners, should I suck some new oil in them before installing?
Thank you for your replies,
Mika
I bought my first Audi, -07 A6 avant quattro 3.2 fsi. Of course the upper chain skipped almost immediately. The car has done about 180 000km at the moment. After skipping tooth the engine still started, but ran poorly.
I read this thread throughout a couple of times plus some other threads before starting the repair. After gathering information I felt pretty confident with my average mechanic skills and bought the special tool set and a new pair of upper tensioners.
First I stripped down the old tensioners and put the engine back in time. I used the crankshaft locking pin to lock crankshaft in place and locked both camshafts on both sides with the locking tools from the special tool set. After getting the engine back on time I assembled it with new tensioners. I pre tensioned the chain lightly before tightening the camshaft adjusters. Then it was time to manually rotate the engine, I wanted to do 7 full rotations before trying to start it.
Well, at first time I got 1/2 rotations and the chain skipped. Then I did everything again from the start and I got about the same 1/2 rotations before chain skipped again. After getting pretty frustrated I read about getting oil to the tensioners piston. I depressed the check valve and compressed the piston fully and let it back to extend. Then I plugged the hole in the back of the tensioner and poured clean oil in to it (almost full). I put piston back in the housing and slowly compressed it and put the retaining pin back in place and took the plug out. I repeated this to the other tensioner also. When compressing the new piston with pressing the check valve, I noticed that it was totally dry and did not have any oil in it. Could this be the cause of all this failure? Should there be some "factory oil" in it?
After getting oil in the pistons I re assembled the engine with still pre tensioning the camshaft adjusters. I took locking pin out and unlocked the camshafts. Now it was time to rotate the engine again. I got almost 4 full rotations before drivers side chain skipped and jammed the motor. Again I stripped down the tensioners and re-compressed them with new oil. Re assembled everything and got 3 full rotations before drivers side skipped again.
At the moment I am in dead end and I don't know what I am doing wrong. Could my piston sealings be bad of all this recompressing? And why wasn't there any factory oil in the pistons to start with? If I buy new pair of tensioners, should I suck some new oil in them before installing?
Thank you for your replies,
Mika