S3 Chains

[danger S3]

hey peeps,

im curious about the chains on my AMK S3.

basically the one for the cams goes overone cam, then over the tensioner then over the other cam then it goes down, where does it goto?

and then the one on the oil pump, where does that go?

im thinking about replacing them cause after 115k miles they will have stretched a bit, especially the one on the oil pump as i will be replacing the oil pump soon

i saw from the image on ETKA that the oil pump one has a tensioner but it just shows it going up, it doesnt show what it goes too

cheers,

Ali

 

[<tuffty/>]

Cam chain just goes round the cam sprockets and the tensioner..

Oil pump chain goes around a sprocket on the crankshaft and round the oil pump sprocket... there is a little spring loaded tensioner...

Both are fairly involved jobs to do... the cam chain requiring at least the inlet cam to be removed and the tensioner (maybe the exhaust cam too but can't remember if there is enough room to remove the chain with it in situe..) you would be wise to replace both the cam cover gaskets (16 ish quid for the pair) and the tensioner metal gasket/half moon seal too (about a fiver)

Oil pump chain is more involved requiring dropping the sump, removing the oil pump and removing both the front crack seal/cover and crank pulley... the crank pulley bolt is a fecking **** to do... not had one that I haven't had to apply heat too to get it loose... then as you are doing it with the head on you risk the crank turning and hitting valves etc.... lots to go wrong for very little gain...

Personally I wouldn't bother doing either... yes they stretch a bit over time but the oil pump tensioner is more than up to the job of compensating and the cam chains don't stretch loads but if I was to do either I would leave the oil pump (unless I had the engine out and on a bench doing a rebuild) and just do the cam one along with new gaskets etc as they ALWAYS leak... get some decent sealant too... pukker VAG sump stuff or the branded equiv from ebay

<tuffty/>

 

[danger S3]

excellent, cheers Tuffty

great pics
I had the sump off last year or the year before to clean the pickup which was blocked, did a wee right up on here http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/102890-s3-sump-removal-refit-pics.html

wish i had changed the oil pump then but at least i get to check it again to make sure its stayed kinda clean.

i think I'll take your advice and leave them alone, already changed the chain tensioner gasket and can cover gasket as i was loosing about 1L of oil every 500 miles from there.

Thanks

 

[<tuffty/>]

Cheers... I've added it to the stickies... maybe one day someone will actually read them

<tuffty/>