Audi TT 225 - banger project

[Tractor Dave]

Nice work. Go have a beer. You deserve one.
looks very similar set up to the tdi A2 cambelt change and having to remove the right engine mount

[bluequattro]

Lots of dust in the engine bay. Has it been in a bodyshop? Looks like filler dust
I've had a look at a couple of TTs and may end up with one. Both I saw were convertibles with water leak issues-one guy said on the phone-'oh, back window leaks a bit'- I went to look at the car and could get my hand through the gap between window and roof, car was full of water and half electrics didn't work as a result!
I bought a mk5 golf tdi 4motion instead-handles as well as a TT but gets 50+mpg all the time. Might still get a TT if I find a good one
Good luck with the project

[B5NUT]

It's not filler dust, it's just brown dirt. There is no sign from any of the panels that the car has been repaired or damaged.

[B5NUT]

Next job on the list is the timing belt. Was not looking forward to this as I remember doing one on an A3, but this was an even bigger pain in the **** than the A3.

So after spending the first hour or two stripping down the right hand side of the engine bay and draining the coolant and the pas fluid out of the reservoir only. I was then able to removed the timing cover to get my first look at the belt. The timing cover has also been smashed off at some point at some point of the cars life as it's difficult to remove. So another part on the list which I had to buy.

The only fault on the engine was this fault code.
1 Fault Found:
17748 - Camshaft Position Sensor (G40) / Engine Speed Sensor (G28)
P1340 - 35-00 - Incor. Correlation
Readiness: 0100 0000

Now I figured what mechanic would allow a car out with the engine light on and the belt not timed correctly, so it must be one of the sensors. Wrong! It appears whoever fitted or refitted the belt could not be bothered to time the engine correctly and was happy for the customer to drive around with the EML on It also could have been done by another owner but again who would drive the car around know the timing was out!

So with the top pully aligned this is where the crank was and no timing was mark was visible on the fly wheel. (And yes that belt has seen better days).
1-pully.jpg

Another "that'll do" job.
2-crank.jpg

The biggest pain about this job is to remove the bracket that bolts to the engine. Top marks goes to the people at the ministry of crap design, you really out did yourself on this one! With the water pump removed the bracket could be finally removed out of the way, and yet another bodge was found.
3-pump.jpg

Have to say I don't understand the mentality of this, why would you not replace the pump or the O-ring, they are stocked by the likes of TPS and other motor factors. even the O-ring is available to buy and they only cost a couple of quid!

I was going to go down the line of buying the timing belt parts from TPS, but gates do a complete kit which includes the tensioner, pully, belt and water pump for £130. The tensioner alone for Audi was over that.

Also looks like the tensioner is OEM, but the Audi logo & part are number machined off.
4-ten.jpg

The gates pump comes with the metal impeller, but the pump will be change with every cambelt, as the bearings don't last forever.
5-pump.jpg

Belt on and that was another pain
6-belt.jpg

So the only way I found of getting the belt on was to get the belt on a everything except the crank. As at this point there is not enough play on the belt to just slide it on So with the top pully aligned and the belt nice and tight between the top pully, water pump and crank you then slide the first few teeth of the belt on the crank (that will be the most you can get on) then with a 19mm spanner on the crank bolt turn the engine clockwise and the belt will go on the lower crank. I had to use this method three times as the first two times I was a tooth out. On the third attempt I moved the upper pully 1 tooth forward of the timing mark, and finally got it all aligned. With that tensioner pin was pulled and the engine was rotated several times by hand to make sure it was fully aligned and the valves & pistons weren't have a little bit of foreplay with each other!

At this point everything was refitted except aux belt as I needed to flush the power steering fluid.

After 20 years it looked like this. Should be a nice green colour.
7-pas.jpg
So with the return on the PAS reservoir bunged up with a bit of old hose and a bolt, and the return line leading into another pipe that goes off to a contain to get the old oil.
8-bolt.jpg

The PAS bottle is filled up and and the pump is operated by a drill It's best if you have two people at this point as the pump drains the PAS reservoir in seconds, so having someone top it up while you operate the drill is the best method.
9-drill.jpg

As I've attached a clear hose you can see the oil change from a nasty brown to the green colour.
10-green.jpg

At this point you can stop and drain the reservoir a bit so the oil in there does not come out of the return connector. Refit the hose and the clamp. Refill the reservoir and then using the drill again run the pump with the drill until the level is correct.

Next to sort some rusty brackets. before the everything is put back together.

[Tractor Dave]

Nice idea flushing the fluid that way

[Monkeymagic]

You get used to taking the engine mounts off when you are doing them all the time. The MK2 TT is even worse as the AC pipes are in the way.
someone appears to have used red ATF in that Pas at some point ..

[vonbeck]

keep up the good work matey

[B5NUT]

It could be that red had been used, but it just looked like every other Audi PAS system I've drained over the years Just looked very brown and dirty.

Over the weekend the engine bay was put back together so it could be started!

New dipstick tube fitted, got two of these as wanted a spare just in case. However the puppy found them and chewed one them them to bits.

1-tube.jpg

Got a replacement cam cover sorted
2-camcover.jpg

Everything refitted on the right side
3-refitted.jpg


First of the two intercoolers were fitted.
4-intercooler.jpg

Then it all came to a stop and the crusty rust was found. Now I'm not going to fix every bit of rust on the car but this is just not acceptable.
5-rust.jpg
6-rust.jpg

The area around that plate was also covered so that got ground back as well.

7-rust.jpg


All repainted in a similar grey primer epoxy to what I found on the car
8-paint.jpg

Rest of the arch will be done when the suspension is off the car.
9-paint.jpg

Horn brackets were also taken care of. As they weren't giving me the horn!
10-brackets.jpg

Also repainted was the upper trim bracket as it was also quite rusty
12-paint.jpg

Finally oil and coolant was put in the engine ready for the first start
11-oil.jpg

This point it's where my backside starts to twitch! I've not done many cambelt changes over the years. Think this is belt number 6. So that first turn of the key there is always a bit of bum clenching, and I look at the engine bay for about 10 minutes trying to remember if every nut and bolt was tightened and did I do enough manual turns of the engine. Anyway it fired up first turn and with no issues. Had the car out for a quick test drive and no engine management light or fault codes

The broken wire repair also fixed the A/C system which was nice

Also getting the battery back on allowed my to open the boot so I get to the VIN sticker, as I wanted the paint code of the car
14-vin.jpg

Finally for this less than exciting post, is and "Edd China" top tip! When welding make sure there are no sponges around. My god do they burn well The flames coming off them was unreal
15-sponge.jpg

[Monkeymagic]

With regards to cambelts, my top tip is put a dab of paint on each bolt once torqued. I use a bright green VW paint, it stops the doubts and "sumpplugitus" as I refer to it.

[B5NUT]

I should do something like that but I'm sure I will forget to do it. I just try and remember what I did when I do the job, and every nut I try and get the torque wrench on it and do it to the correct value. Think I'm just being over cautious.

So I think I've been given a get out of jail free card on this car! I found a large patch of oil on the back of the undertray. I was hoping it was just oil form the cam cover, but on closer inspection I though it was the output shaft to the prop. Now that bolt is on tight, 475NM tight, and there was no way in hell I fancied doing that job under the car while on axel stands.

1-******.jpg
However It appears it's coming from much higher up. The turbo. now there are no bolts on the turbo done to 475NM, however it looks a complete sod to get to. I'm thinking it's the seals for either the oil feed pipe or the drain pipe. Either way I'm replacing them both
2-whatthe.jpg

Anyone changed these seals before?

[Monkeymagic]

Just dab each bolt as soon as torqued.

I have removed turbos from the BAM engine usually because the manifolds are cracked, common on them due to heat cycles.
I can't offer any tips, as I can't remember now but I suspect a long 1/4 drive extension is going to be helpful

[Tractor Dave]

I also do the engineer paint dab. The special pens are best. Did you notice on my thread last night?

[B5NUT]

All the green lines?

[Tractor Dave]

All the green lines?

Yes. Mainly green dots but on nuts like the strut top, I make a line so I can see if it's loosened off at all.

[Monkeymagic]

Sane here Dave, I use it as a failsafe so I don't keep checking and a datum mark to see if anything has worked loose. Or more to the point been messed with.