tartar

I don't really want to be redundant here, but I just really want to know what the "exact" chain link count is supposed to be between the driver's side cams on a 2000 Audi A6 2.8L engine. Is it supposed to be 16 like the passenger's side as shown below?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/targuevara/7080007031/" title="_MG_3833 by Tar Guevara, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7267/7080007031_8a26e2dda3.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="_MG_3833"></a>

Or is it 15 links as I've also read in other threads? Don't mean to offend anyone. Just really need to know. Thanks!

4Driver4

Bentley is wrong. They are not the same. Plenty of info if you look. One example that included one of the widely circulated pictures on this forum:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2822284

tartar

Thanks for the link! I didn't think that it was 16 either, but I had to hear it from other more experienced members such as yourself.

Prospeeder

Heres the factory picture

divil

I find the way people count them very confusing. For instance, I count 15 links in the above photo, not 16. To me, that looks exactly how my driver's side looks. My passenger side looked like that but with the intake cam rotated 1 roller further, to make exactly 16.

But then if you look at the diagram in the last post, it gets more confusing - there are 15 if you count the rollers directly 'between' the marks (inclusive), but for some reason the line they've drawn on the left connecting the notch to the roller comes up at an angle, even though notches are both at 12 o' clock. So they include an extra roller

To make matters worse, some people say it's 16 and 15 1/2, others say it's 16 and 15, and still others say it's 15 /12 and 15. I suppose it all depends on how you look at it - the cylinder heads are at quite a steep angle and it's hard to look at them from directly 'above'. But it looked like exactly 16 and exactly 15 to me when I had my car apart recently.

I would say a rule of thumb is: make the passenger side as close to 16 as you can, and the driver's side as close to 15 as you can. If you're truly off the mark, it'll be by more than 1/2 a roller and you'll know.

69gaugeman

You will know as there are arrows on the head and windows on the chain sprocket. They must line up when everything is in position. One tooth out shows up very easily.

divil

If you mean the arrows on the cam caps, they will not necessarily line up with the notches on the sprockets, even when the timing is perfect (ask me how I know )

I think this is because of how the chain tensioner advances the intake timing but I don't fully understand it myself.

It's crucial that you count the links between the marks on the sprockets; if you have the right number, you are good to go.
As I noted, when I put mine back together, the intake cam was advanced by a few degrees so the 2 sprocket marks were not both at 12 o' clock on the passenger side.

69gaugeman

Hmmm. I have never seen them not line up. Of the 12 or so I have done. I suppose it is possible, but like I said I have not seen it.

tartar

I ended up with exactly 15 chain links in between the camshaft sprockets and they consistently lined up after many rotations of the crank shaft by hand.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/targuevara/7220842828/http://www.flickr.com/photos/targuevara/7220842828/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/targuevara/, on Flickr

I kept on trying, but I couldn't get the chain links to line up properly with the camshaft grooves. They kept on falling in between links - in the valleys. Regardless, there are 15 chain links between them on the driver's side and 16 chain links on the passenger's side.

divil

Right - so if they line up perfectly with the arrows on the driver's side, with 15 rollers (as mine did) then I don't see how they could possibly line up perfectly on the passenger side with 16 - unless the arrows (and hence the camshafts) are further apart from each other on that side, which they're not.

Maybe if the tensioner was adjusted differently on the passenger side that might explain it.

69gaugeman, I don't doubt you, but I am baffled as to how they could line up for you so consistently. From reading the forum archives, I never expected mine to line up the same on both sides, and they didn't disappoint!