Pete@ECSTuning

For something this big you'll do yourself a big favor by removing the condenser all together, but you will have to charge/recycle it. At this age sitting stagnant, are you sure their is any gas left?

AudiMick

Once you disconnect the lines at the evaporator it's going to be empty anyway.

A.H.

I just wanted to leave the lines attached so I could avoid opening the system. I think I can unbolt the compressor, take off the support panel and keep the compressor/evaporator lines together. There is still coolant in the system. This is the car that I'm putting the rebuilt engine in and it would be nice if I could avoid releasing coolant, getting dirt in the AC system, having to evacuate and refill.

The totaled car is all ready to go, I just need to buy a hoist and pull the motor. That is why I was asking about how to go about pulling it but I think I am just going to remove the support panel entirely and unbolt the transaxle from the engine. I'm only familiar with removing engines from rear wheel drive trucks and was just a bit confused on how to go about removing the engine from a front wheel drive car but now it is clear to me.

AudiMick

The HVAC is inside the cabin, the pipes for both the R134A and heater go through the firewall. You can't remove it while still attached without using a cutting torch, which I assume is out of the question.

waspie

all the lines come apart and are attached at various points with simple brackets, there should be NO need to torch any lines.


if you can get the compressor to clear away from the engine and support it properly there's no reason why you couldn't avoid opening the system, done all the time on all sorts of cars...just bungee it out of the way somewhere

AudiMick

???

1.Transplanting a drivetrain with AC attached from a donor car?

2. Transplanting the drivetrain only, and reusing the AC system in the recipient vehicle?

The poster is not very clear.

A.H.

I've finally pulled the engine from my totaled Audi. The "good" engine, that is.

I've noticed one of the plastic valve covers was shattered to bits. A bolt was bent but the threads on the head don't seem to be damaged. The only thing I noticed was a small protrusion (see attached photo) of the head caused by the impact of whatever destroyed the valve cover and bent the bolt. My biggest concern is the rust on the camshaft, specifically the tappets (I am struggling with terminology so please bear with me) - see photo. The rust is only because the camshaft was exposed - the other one is fine. It looks pretty bad - that shaft will need to be replaced. I will need to take a closer look at the valves but they will probably need replacing as well.

Fortunately, I do have a spare pair of camshafts in the other engine. I would buy new ones but they are pretty pricey.

Should I get the protrusion (where the valve cover gasket would go) resurfaced? It is pretty small, I'm not even sure if you can see it in the photos. I do have a friend that is going to come look at it tomorrow after I get the transaxle off and put it on the engine stand.

A.H.

Oh, waspie - you got the idea with hanging the compressor out of the way. Late response

turbo510

So the accident broke the valve cover? Wow. Anyway, that sealing surface should be fine after smoothing with a flat file.

A.H.

Ya, it broke both of the engine mounts.

The rust on the camshaft is just surface rust, I'm going to try cleaning it off.