Andre The Giant

Yesterday I started the work on my baby to replace the TB, WP and porken tensioner. KUDOS to one of Rennlist members for his great assistance I received to guide me and get me started on this first timer's experience.

Bertrand D'Aoust was so nice to assist me in getting started so I can now continue to eventually complete this job. I am very grateful for his help. And also thank you to Roger for being patient with me, for all my questions.

The beast is on 4 jacks and I am now at removing the left and right timing covers next.

PS* Roger my list of items to purchase has just grown a bit, I will advise tonight.

mike77

Good luck. I'll be doing my first one soon after about a year or so of putting the job off.

jeff spahn

It's really not a bad job after the first time and you get past all the frozen bolts.

dr bob

Just finished mine. I've done this one before and several for others in the meanwhile. Some turn into an adventure in discovering what the previous folks had added to their spares pile, emphasizing the need to keep careful track of all the parts and pieces. This one ended up taking three days including all the cleaning. Disassembly day was less than 4 hours. Cleaning took another four hours. Assembly took 14 total hours, some due to a mis-steps that cost a few hours.

For my first one, I ran the video camera during disassembly, narrating as I took things apart. Great reference tool when you scratch your head later wondering how something fit together. For every project, I start placing removed parts at one end of a long workbench. Parts are layed out in the order they are removed. Bolts are placed in the holes they came from. Once it's al disassembled, the front of the engine gets cleaned. All the parts on the worktable are cleaned, with worn parts replaced with new. Then reassemble, working from one end of the table to the other. When there are no parts left on the table, you are done.

Other work hints: Put a towel over the intake all the way to the crossbar for protection. I put a another tool worktable next to the front of the car. A couple plastic dishpans sit on the table. As tools are used, they always go into a dishpan, NEVER sit on a fender, the intake towel, or the top of the radiator. Parts ALWAYS go immediately to the parts table, NEVER sit on a fender, the intake towel, or the top of the radiator. I put another towel on top of the radiator to protect the arms from the sharp edge, and to protect the sharp edge from my arms. A square of corrugated (cardboard) is cut to fit the back of the radiator and taped on for protection from tool impact.

If you haven't aleady done so, get the car to a comfortable working height, safely supported on jackstands. Your back will thank you. Mine doesn't, it just curses me less.

The alternator and power steering console assembly is HEAVY, I pulled the alternator from the console before removal, and hung it from the lower conrol arm with mechanics wire before pulling the console itself. If you have the car in stands already and don't need to change the height during the rest of the project, you could use a bucket or something similar to set the alternator on. I had the car on the lift so I could clean underneath it, so the alternator had to be suspended. Gives you a clear floor.

I had five torque wrenches set up for reassembly. Tiny one for 6mm bolts (10mm heads...) at 6lbs/ft, , one for 8mm (13mm heads) at 16 lbs/ft, one for 10mm bolts (17mm heads) at 30 lbs/ft, one at 48 lbs/ft for the cam nose bolts, and the big 3/4-drive one at 216 lbs/ft for the crank nose bolt. Only three torque wrenches left in the toolbox, good thing this wasn't a big job(!)


Be patient. Take notes, pictures, as you disassemble. Somw foks use ziplok bags to keep fasteners together with remove pieces, and mark the bags.

mike77

I'm planning to put a few bits of cardboard down the front of my radiator to protect it from impact of any tools I'm carelessly using. I bashed my old one when I was replacing the power steering pump and some PS pipes etc. New radiators are expensive.

Andre The Giant

Yes Mike, hope it goes as well as mine is going now. Just finished removing the left and right side timing covers just 5 minutes ago. I have to purchase a 27mm socket for the next step. I am using Dwayne's right up, very detailed, as a guide, but that is for an S4 87 and up. Some things are different, but in all even I can do it.
Like I said DRBob I had the help from someone who knows this procedure to start me off, so that was a BIG plus. Also tips on cleaning and tagging/bagging everything and last but not least lots of pictures. Oh yeah one more thing don't forget the pictures. LOL That will save your life more than once. these are the same comments I received from Bertrand, which you have suggested. Obviously this is advice from someone with experience.

Imagine this my timing belt has 23,000 kms but twelve years old, I will post some pics tonight, I am amazed of it's condition.

Mrmerlin

mike 77 its a lot better to remove the radiator,
it should be flushed and the fins cleaned.

Mongo

One thing that hung me up was the console also. The weight itself prevented me from hanging it on anything. I decided to separate the power steering pump and alternator from it to lighten it up.

Once you remove the console, be prepared to want to clean this area to bright shiny metal never to be seen again until your next service.

JBGold07

Good luck with it!!
I am also part way through mine on the S3, I snapped the power steering adjuster bolt last night. Been good going apart from that.
All the best

Andre The Giant

Here are the pics for the timing belt which i took yesterday. Not bad for a 12 year old timing belt and it rides completely on the cam gears. I am changing the belt anyway, even if only 23,000 kms.

davek9

That's exactly where I like to see the belt run, looks good, get all the gears coated w/ a dry lube coating like they use on other belt systems.

Dave