I used regular Motip / Dupli Color touch up paint since I couldn't find any high temp paint pens. Was sort of expecting it to run but it has held up fine. Painting is a tedious job though, keep a soft rag and acetone or similar within arms reach because before you know it you're painting outside of the letters.

 

Your target is the bottom of the relevant tooth well. So, at 45 degrees BTDC put a mark at the bottom of the cam gear tooth well 3 teeth before the the TDC tic. String the belt, snug up the tensioner to approximate belt tension. With the Porkensioner, you pull the pin. It can be a pain to get the plunger to retract back and get the pin back in, if needed, but I'm sure somebody has an easy way. Anyway, you want initially to take the slack out of the new belt so you can evaluate if you have the belt on the right gear tooth. IF YOU ARE OFF 1/2 TOOTH OR LESS, YOU CANNOT DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. If off MORE than 1/2 tooth, you loosen the tensioner and "walk" the belt over the gear teeth until it is 1/2 tooth or less off the mark. There are a number of ways to "walk" the belt over a tooth. You'll find one that works for you. Of course, having a helper makes this much easier. Anyway, this can all be done at 45 degrees BTDC. Once you have that, you can rotate to TDC for a final check. It helps to rotate the crank through several revolutions to evenly distribute the tension evenly and then do a final check. After this is done, you can proceed with the cam gear timing check and adjustment using the Porken 32Vr. If you need any assistance with that, I should have my Porken tool back in within a week or so.

 

with the crank @ 45 BTDC both banks of cams can be turned 360 degrees. The cam gears are marked for alignment with the crank at TDC so to align at 45 BTDC turn the the cams so the gear is 3 valleys retarded from the TDC mark. Do this for the DS side while the belt is held taught on the crank and OP gears then repeat for the PS cam gear.

 

Thanks guys. I know I'm putting the chicken before the egg on this before even getting the timing belt off. Another Rennlister is coming by to lock the engine and remove the belt along with assisting me with the valve covers this week. Primarily, I'm doing my best to learn the assembly, timing, and tensioning procedure for the belt. Thanks for the offer to help Bill. I have my fingers crossed. The other Rennlister (PRC928) and I should get everything sorted out.

 

On a side note, I am fed up with painting the strut brace over the engine and seeing it chip again. I'm wrapping that bastard with 3M Di-Noc now.

 

Diving into the valve covers tonight. Pics to follow. I'm curious to know what chain tensioner pads look like with 167,000 miles on them.

 

Mine looked OK (maybe 1/4th worn) when I did the cover gaskets at about that mileage. I wonder what they look like now at 253K miles.

 

If that's the case, then these pads are truly a wear free item depending on how the car is driven.

 

This will be interesting.

I saved the pads from two of my S4's - with 118 and 120k miles on them each.

The 118k mile ones are significantly more worn, and you can see where the hinge part of the links has chipped chunks out of the ends off the nylon as the grooves wore deeper. I'm guessing the difference between them is due to oil type.

My other S4 has the original ones in at 157k miles - I have all the bits (oil journal pins, tensioner pads, check valve seals and springs, cam chains etc.) to fit to it and am hoping to pull it to pieces in the next month.

 

Just as an FYI again, only the piston side which is under tension, will be replaced. I chose not to replace the bottom one, which is stationary for a whopping $100+

 

Well here's the good news: all cam cover bolts did not strip and/or break. The cam covers can be removed now since all bolts are loose. I have to buy some ball ended hex keys to take care of the difficult ones though since I don't feel like spending 30 minutes just to remove one bolt in the tightest place. No biggy.

The Bad: The cam covers are still not off the car. There's more silicone on these suckers than in Pamela Lee in 1992. I lost the hall sensor too. Upon disconnecting it, the connector crumbled and half the connector is still stuck in the wiring harness of the car. I can pick that out but I figure it's time to just replace the hall sensor... replacement.... *GULP*

 

Really bad news. I took another crack at it on my lunch break and discovered the hex key top bolt holding the hall sensor is stripped. Someone was in that area before me, thats for sure. I think I have to pull the cam gear off and remove the backing plate.


Picture added showing the top bolt that is stripped in the inside. I have tried hammering the allen head socket in there and turning carefully. It almost just wants to spin around. So, screw this. I will take the plate off.

EDIT: Rennlist is not letting me upload pictures now. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

 

Not a difficult task, don't sweat it.

 

There is probably enough space to get to the bolt with the cam cover removed and the engine bracket removed.

 

All valve cover bolts on driver side cover are out. The cam cover cannot be lifted because the engine support bracket next to the brake booster and master cylinder is in the way. I cannot break the bolts loose. I will try soaking them in PB.