TB and valve cover gasket change questions.
 

2004 A6 2.7t s-line. Long story short, I can't find the crank locking pin and I want to know what the 2 other (not the upper and the lower) pipes attached to the radiator are. Am I completely screwed if I don't find the crank locking pin (especially considering that I will be removing the valve covers to change that gasket)?

I'm in the middle of doing a timing belt and valve cover gasket change. I've had a slight oil leak, and when I changed coil packs recently, there was oil on the ends of the coil packs...

To do thee jobs, I purchased the kits from blauparts, and rented the toolkit. At this point, the accessory belt and the timing belt covers are off. The AC compressor is off of the radiator and propped up to the side. The upper and lower radiator hoses are off, and the carrier is extended. However, there are still 2 smaller hoses attached to the radiator. What are these hoses, and can they easily be removed? Ideally, I would like to pull the radiator off if I could, because that should give me more room to work.

I did skip one step along the way, because I could never find the coolant drain for the engine block (for that matter, I couldn't find a drain on the radiator, and just drained it from the lower hose). To get around that, I figured I would just spent extra time flushing water through (there was definitely a coolant mix before, because the old coolant is disgusting and brown).

My biggest hold up right now is locating the crank locking pin. I've marked the old timing belt (which looks fine) and have rotated everything to TDC. However, I haven't been able to locate that locking pin. I did see something that I thought might have been the pin, but I don't see how in the hell I could possible get to it, since it seems to be behind the frame, and it seems pretty far back underneath of the car.

I've read references to pulling off the fender on the driver's side, or removing a turbo pipe that's in the way of the lock. The last thing I did before calling it a night last night was to drain the oil and remove the filter (doing an oil change during this fun anyway). I'm hoping this gives me a little extra visibility above the oil pan.

Anyways, I appreciate all of the help. Thanks.

Find the pin, free the sprockets to set timing, stop marking things, change the cam related seals, do it right.

Why are the pipes at the rad important. No need to touch them. Service position.

STFA for the hole to insert the pin. Not that hard to find.

I've got new seals and everything, and I definitely want to do this right, which is why I'm hunting for the locking pin. I would rather not rely on marks, etc. I just can't find the pin.

As for the pipes on the rad, the only reason that I ask about them is that if I can remove them then I can remove the radiator, which should save my bad back some abuse.

As for STFA, I've been doing that and getting inconsistent information. It's either above the oil pan or way in the back behind, removable by hand or requiring a 2 foot extension.

Thanks for the help.

If you are replacing the seals (2 Cam adjuster, 4 cam, 2 cam plugs), it is not possible to rely on any marks.


Don't. Service position. If you disconnect those lines, you'll get the fill and check the auto trans too. You do not want to go there.

Driver's side of the block, halfway back, above the lower and upper oil pans. Peek between the sway bar and subframe and look toward the rear of the car.

The kit came with those replacement seals. Honestly, I want to do this right.


OK, that's exactly what I wanted to know. I've seen a bunch of pictures with the radiator completely off, or evenm swung over to a side, but none of those mentioned removing anything other than the upper and lower rad hoses, so I was just curious. The service position is definitely more than enough. Especially with the pins that came with the toolkit.

OK, I think this is the information that I was looking for. I'm going to take a look in a few minutes and will let you know.

Thanks for your help with this. I'm only somewhat mechanically inclined, and have done this job before, but never on a car this complicated, so I definitely appreciate any help that I get.

The main difference between this car an most others is the importance of setting the timing when you get the belt back on. You'll see why the pin and bar are critical.

I can't wait to get this pin on, and I'm sure that I will see why it's important. It's held me up for a while, but I want to make sure I do this right.

I think I found it, but it isn't what I expected. I was expecting a 10 mm bolt, however this looks to be a hex bolt, 8mm I would guess. Does this look right? I've uploaded an image of what I'm looking at.

Thanks again.

here's the image.

Also, if that's what I'm looking for, there's a pipe that looks Luke if I remove it, I will have much better access. It looks like removing that pipe in the back (towards the rear) will be a pin, but possible. Removing the mounting bracket looks like a pain too because of a torx bolt behind the ac lines, but again, possible.... That sound about right?

I can't tell from the picture. Sorry.