knucklebuster283

I'll try to make this as short as I can. My grandson bought a 96 A4 2.8l 12 valve Quanttro. Nice looking great shape, hardly any rust. The po he bought it from told him the only issue with the car, was it stop getting up to temp., would run cold. figured needed a new thermastat . So g/son not researching just started removing everything off front of motor, everything. I know timing is off now, so to get it all lined back up ,I have the cams properly lined up, but when I line up the timing mark on the harmonic balancer the piston is only half way up the stroke. have turned the crank about a 100 times, and the piston will only be at half way to TDC. If I put the piston at TDC the timing mark on the balancer is at about the 3:00 position from where it should be. At a loss here not know where or why it's lining up like this. The belt gear is on the only way it can go on, as it's "keyed" and so is the harmonic balancer????????????? Thanks for any replys. I know my spelling ain't the best LOL.

knucklebuster283

Ok no replys. So let me ask ,does the crank locking pin fit into a recess or a hole in the crankshaft to keep the crank in place?

knucklebuster283

Am I in the right forum? Or is this too stupid a question. Would like to get this fixed so my wife can have her car back, as grandson is using it till his is running.

clancy

Yes, correct forum. Not many active DIY here anymore. Most have moved to another vehicle. Mostly only new owners of 20 year old cars who have limited to offer, mostly looking for help. I suggest you spend time searching old posts. Most questions and issues have been asked and answered over the years. It just takes time searching for answers. They are here.

Otherwise, try the C5 forum. Same motor and more active members who can likely answer your question.

98A4TQ

Hi knucklebuster283; great handle btw. When I joined I read thru as many old posts as I could. Usually scanned each new page and found a topic there. You can also do a search; I think your question was addressed by one or more of the DYI posters who wrote about the timing belt replacement etc.