Slick's Tiptronic Timing Components Job

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

Well, it’s finally here. After waiting for a couple of years and cringing in fear every time I started up the car and got the 2-3 second chain rattle, I’m finally doing this job. I’m also dealing with a plugged exhaust of some sort. Probably not pre-cats since I’ve already done the piggies job. Probably not the cat-back, since it didn’t have any more power on a test drive with the cat-back detached.

This job is not being performed by me alone. I’m providing the muscle(what little there is of it), but so many kind and giving people have helped me prepare and get to this point. Special mention to justincredible, who is doing his best to help me understand the Tiptronic part of the job. Also, a huge thank you to badger, who not only has the exact same car as me, but he’s a helluva stand up guy. He came to my rescue today when I got stumped with one of the cooler lines for the Tiptronic. I also want to acknowledge Joey Cuccaro for providing a very detailed engine pull DIY. I don’t know what Joey’s status is these days in the community, but I am grateful to him for making that DIY.

So, on with the show…

Here’s a shot of my humble little unfinished garage. It’s small, but it works. Unfortunately, I bought the house before I decided to become a DIY’er. Once my wife and son get out of college I can think about building my dream garage. Until then, I’m stuck with this. Anyway, 2-ton engine hoist on the left, custom engine stand on the right, using two height adjustable saw horses with 1000 lb capacity, each.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72144446/20150613_165624.jpg

Everything went well until I discovered these two extra cooling lines that lead from the Tiptronic transmission to the radiator. Since Joey’s DIY is for a manual transmission, there was nothing to go on. I popped off the top line with little fuss, but on the bottom line, only the smaller 19mm nut on the line broke free and spun. But, while rotating it and holding the other nut with a 22mm wrench, the line started to twist. So instead of continuing to twist it, I sent an email to badger, who found a pic somewhere showing that the 22mm nut should rotate, too. Equipped with this knowledge(thanks, badger!) I applied some PB Blaster and proceeded to remove the cat-back.
I then came back and was able to break the 22mm nut free and remove the line, and thus the radiator.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72144446/20150614_145547.jpg

Here’s where I left off for the day. Cat-back is off, both axle bolts are loosened(thank you 36" long galvanized pipe and breaker bar!), and the radiator is off. I’m pretty happy with the progress today. I work slower than the average DIY’er, but I’m ok with that.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72144446/Timing%20components%20job/20150614_164314.jpg

#2

Great work so far! I swear even our garages are the same, tiny & old, and windows in the same places haha! I think mine might be about a foot wider though. Gotta love it. I had a floor poured last fall just to do this job this spring.

We should make sure to capture those trans cooler lines somehow in good detail. They aren’t mentioned in hardly any DIY write-ups and are definitely something to consider, especially since you will be losing some trans fluid. Makes removing that front clip a bit more in-depth of a job than it is on a manual.

#3

It sure does add to the fun. I was reading the DIY and then looking at my radiator, and I’m like “wait a minute, there are still two lines that aren’t mentioned sitting here still attached”. Then I thought “Aha, Tiptronic!”. Those two lines weren’t much a a challenge, once I knew that the larger 22mm nut should move. It just took a bit of experimenting to get the right direction. One thing I’ve learned in my DIY career is that it’s better to stop and ask instead of just keep wrenching on something without understanding what you’re up against. :slight_smile:

#4

Excellent work man! Pretty good progress. I’m hoping to start my pull later this week, maybe Tuesday as long as JHM gets their S*&* together and finally ships what I ordered a week and a half ago haha. Seeing all these DIY timing jobs is really boosting my confidence.

Best of luck to you!

#5

What’s up with JHM lately? I heard a few others who have had problems getting their parts shipped out. I may have to source the parts from Genuine Audi Parts. They’ve been very reliable for me.

#6

[quote=“Slick,post:5,topic:7507”]
I think they’re just behind on machining their updated cam adjuster sprockets. At least that’s what they told me. I’m really hoping they ship my order out on Monday

#7

Hey man thanks for the shout out. I’m going to keep my eyes on the thread. If you get stuck again post any questions in here. We got you.

I heard the same thing about them not shipping in the past until they have the complete timing kit ready for shipping. The few extra days will make you happier as its just less confusing to have everything there at once.

#8

For those of you guys waiting on our JHM Mechanical Adjuster Sprockets, I do apologize for the delay. As of late there was a HUGE demand in this product, and we are doing everything we can to get these high value sprockets machined out quickly without compromising quality.

Thanks for the support guys!

#9

No problem Jake. Thanks for being transparent about it and open to communication. And thanks for getting the other part of my order shipped out! Now I have no more excuses to procrastinate about the engine pull… Gotta go borrow Martin’s engine crane

Anyways, Slick, I hope you’re making good progress on the job! I guess no posts means no hang ups or issues so that’s good I hope :slight_smile:

#10

The weather put me back a bit today, as it rained most of the morning, but by noon I was able to tackle all of the electrical harnesses. I got everything undone and surprisingly, those four connectors by the relays were only a mild PITA, once I figured out the best procedure to unclip them. As usual with Audi, not enough space to get your hands and fingers where you need to.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72144446/Timing%20components%20job/20150615_162156.jpg

While I was waiting for the rain to stop, I decided that I could tackle the Tiptronic shift knob and box. So, I found a video on YouTube on how to remove the handle and the surrounding trim. Great, went pretty well, and I had the transmission in neutral to remove the knob, just like the video said. I had to have the key in the ignition, of course, to move the lever into Neutral.

Meanwhile, I was wondering whether there were more nuts to remove to be able to drop the shifter box, other than the two rear bolts easily seen through the insulation. So, I dropped a quick e-mail off to badger. While waiting for his reply, the rain stopped, so I proceeded to do the electrical stuff.

After having all the harnesses up on the motor, I finally checked my email and saw badger’s response that he didn’t even touch his shifter bix inside the car at all! He said that he removed the cradle thingy unbeath the car, and that it popped out and came with the transmission out of the car.

No problem, I thought. I’ll just put the car back into Park, slap everything back together and that will be that. It was only when I got back into the car that I realized that I needed power in order to be able to shift the car back into Park! :-[

So now, here’s where it sits, in Neutral, with no way to shift into Park, and my key is stuck into the ignition. Haha, stupid mistake no. 1. ::slight_smile:

And notice that the shift knob is stuck pushed into the knob. I tried pressing the knob back onto the shaft, but it doesn’t quite go all the way back in. There’s about 3 mm of space between the bottom of the knob and the shaft collar. I didn’t want to start banging on it, so I thought I wait and see what you all think I should do at this point. It’s not like I need the key or anything for now, so I could just deal with it when I reassemble everything.

If anyone has a brilliant idea, I’m all ears.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72144446/Timing%20components%20job/20150615_162222.jpg

#11

Hey guys, how do you stop the front axles from spinning with the transmission in Park? Got the brakes, rotors & shields off, now trying to break the M10 axles bolts off, but the axle keeps spinning with me.

If I had an assistant handy, I see that they could hold onto the spindle with a wrench, or maybe hold onto the axle bolt while I broke the bolts free.

FYI, I reinstalled the Electrical harness this morning and got the transmission back into Park, and got my keep out.

I would have thought that the axles would not rotate with the transmission in Park. ???

Help!

#12

Slick sorry I missed your post yesterday. You should have been able to fix the shifter as well if you put it into park.

As for the axel you can hit the breaks from inside the car that will clamp everything from moving or you can stick a screw driver blade down between the blades of the rotor and pin it against the caliper

#13

Unfortunately, justincredible, rotors, calipers, carriers and shields are already off.

#14

That would make it much harder. Ok this is more difficult but look through the inspection hole and use a screw driver to pin the starter ring when you have it pinned hit the bolts with an impact gun. Spray a little lube on the bolts.

#15

Real life intervened today and has stopped my wrenching for the day. I will tackle this tomorrow and I’ll probably just throw the rotors back on. The screwdriver through the rotor spline sounds like the best option. Thanks for the other option, though. Had real life not intervened today, I would have tried it.

#16

Ok, yet another question. I’ve removed the six bolts connecting the transmission with the drive shaft. The instructions say, and I quote:

“Once the bolts are out we need to break the seal from the shaft and the transmission. To do so, grab a rubber mallet. Gently tap the outer section of the gold mount. Continue to do so while spinning the drive shaft to break the seal all the way around (leave the e-brake off to allow it to spin freely). This will break the seal. Use some force if gentle taps do not work.”

Gentle tapping with a rubber mallet and a 28 oz. dead blow hammer have done nothing to break this seal, neither has some gentle tapping with a 4 lb sledge hammer.

Any other tricks? How hard can I hit the seal area without potential damage? Anything else I can try?

#17

Separates here:

http://i.imgur.com/ZNroXdT.jpg

I had to use a bit of force. Also, once the seal is busted, the shaft can be compressed slightly towards the rear (similar to CV axles) so it can drop down without scraping off all the grease. Did you buy a new gasket?

Close up of trans end after separation:

http://i.imgur.com/Prj8mOL.jpg

#18

Thanks for the pics, badger. That clearly shows where the seal needs to separate. I was also unaware that there is a gasket in there. I will order a new one just to be safe. I don’t want to beat the crap out of the flange, but it’s gotta come out, somehow.

Today was a real bust of a wrenching day due to some family issues, but hopefully tomorrow will give me solid focus again. I’ve got the rotors on, so I should be able to do the pull tomorrow, barring unforeseen circumstances or rain.

I appreciate all of the support, fellas! :slight_smile:

#19

Sounds like a rough day with whatever the family issues were. That cam really be tough.

Maybe I cam help brighten your day with a few suggestions on getting the drive shaft out.

Here are a few.

Try heat on the flange then blast it with penitration… spray. Do a mix of that and some solid hits with a hammer.

What can also help is pulling off the flange at the back axel. That one seems to be easier to come out. You can pull that one off and let it hang that will help getting the front off.

The last one works good for me in the past. Drop the back of the sub frame to allow the motor to rock back that will give you a different flange angle and seriously increase the ease on hitting the cup to get it to release off the transmission. A combination of lowering the sub frame to change the angle and distance along with spray lube and a hammer will get it off.

#20

Excellent advice, justincredible! That thought did cross my mind, but your approval gives me a good feeling that removing the rear flange and let is hang down might be the ticket.

The family issue was my mother-in-law having a somewhat serious appointment at the Mayo Clinic, which is located in my city. In fact, I’m a Mayo Clinic employee. Anyway, what was supposed to be a two hour appointment turned into an all-afternoon marathon of tests, etc.

I did get some wrenching in tonight, however, so I will hopefully be ready for the pull tomorrow. All in all, it’s been a fairly straight-forward job so far. Nothing seems to always go like clockwork for an amateur, so I’m used to delays and challenges.

Tomorrow my goal is to post some pics of my engine and transmission on the stands! :slight_smile: