AudiNew2me

Need suggestions: I just replaced the timing belt and water pump and plugs on my 99 A4/2.8. The car was running fine before I started. I marked the original belt, crank gear and cam gears after establishing TDC and transferred those marks to the new belt to make certain everything was going back to it original position and made certain that the cams and crank did not move. I pulled the sensor off the right front cylinder to look for a possible oil leek. Other than that the battery was disconnected for about 24 hr. Now it will not start, it turns over fine, good spark, but all I get is an occasional sputter, plugs were wet with fuel when I pulled them. Suggestions?

4Rings::G2 boosted::

Possibility 1: The timing is off. Get a cam bar and a crank lock pin and make sure the belt is on correctly.

Possibility 2: It's flooded. Pull all the plugs and let them dry, put back in and try again.

Possibility 3: Ignition issue. Are you sure you have good spark? Did you reconnect the wiring loom and the ground cable to the coilpack above the p/s pump?

Beyond that, go fish.

4Driver4

I can't believe with all the posts about using the tools that anyone still tries to do a timing belt job with out them.

I hope you did the related seals, rollers and tensioners.

4Rings::G2 boosted::

The cam bar is nice to have but it's not a necessity for someone who knows what they're doing. Still, I wouldn't recommend this method to anyone who doesn't have several TB jobs under their belt already.

4Driver4

Without the tools, the best you can hope for is that the job is as good as it was when you started. You can never know if the timing is right.

Marking and measuring works fine when the sprockets are keyed to the shafts, but when timing is infinitely adjustable the tools must be used to ensure that the timing is right. There is a reason why these cars have no marks. This is not your old 5 shooter.

4Rings::G2 boosted::

There is no reason to do that in a regular tb job.

4Driver4

You are changing the rollers and waterpump. Belts are not identical. You have no idea if the timing is in spec to begin with. For the amount of work invovled to do it right, it really makes no sense to skip this important step.

Besides, cam seals, cam adjuster seals and crank seal really should be done at the same time.

4Rings::G2 boosted::

Sure, if you question the origial timing or need to change the cam seals, by all means use the cam lock tool.

4Driver4

Even noticed how much play there is in the water pump mounts?
Do you trust the person before you that much to take their timing on blind faith?

Or do you take five extra minutes to ensure the the engine is timed correctly?

Not to mention how foolish it is to do all that work and skip the seals.

4Rings::G2 boosted::

All the belts have the same number of teeth. That's all that matter