Friday, April 5, 2013
Audi A4 B5 A4 1 8Tq Clutch Replacement
DISCLAIMER: This information is presented merely as a guide. Due to changes from year-to-year and options-to-options it may not be totally accurate. I can not be held responsible for anything that happens as a result of using this guide.
This is not something that should be attempted by someone who has never worked on a car, or has little experience with them.
If you use this guide, I only ask two things:
1. Accept the disclaimer,
2. Provide Feedback - comments/tips/problems/differences.
There, now that thats out of the way, lets begin.
Tools needed
- Jack
- Jackstands
- Transmission jack - I borrowed mine from my uncle, its from Sears, and has an angle adjuster and strap to keep the trans on the jack.
- Impact wrench
- 6mm allen socket
- 7mm allen socket
- 8mm allen socket
- 6mm allen wrench
- 8mm allen wrench
- 10mm socket (3/8" drive)
- 13mm socket (3/8" drive)
- 15mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
- 15mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
- 15mm wrench
- 15mm "shorty" wrench
- 16mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
- 16mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
- 16mm wrench
- 16mm "shorty" wrench
- 17mm shallow socket (3/8" drive)
- 17mm deep socket (3/8" drive)
- 17mm impact socket (1/2" drive)
- 17mm wrench
- 17mm "shorty" wrench
- 18mm wrench
- 22mm wrench
- 3/8" drive ratchet
- 12" extension w/swivel end
- 6" extension
- 3" extension
- screwdriver
- phillips screwdriver
- Torque wrench
- Plug for coolant hose (I used a 3/8" bolt)
- 6 point T40 Torx bit
- 12 point T40 Torx bit - special tool???
- Loc-Tite
- Patience
- Common Sense
- fan (gotta keep cool, right?)
If youre planning on changing the trans fluid, there are some special tools required. On my car it required a 17mm allen wrench (fill plug) and "3357 triple square socket" (drain plug) I bought the 3357 from http://www.zelenda.com and made the allen from a 17mm bolt welded to an old 1/2" drive socket.
I, of course, had these sitting in my toolbox, in the back of my car, 180 miles away :( So I made a new fill plug remover by welding a nut to bolt, and using a wrench on the nut, which turned the bolt, which turned the fill plug. I then picked the trans up and drained it through the fill plug. I used Redline MTL (75w90) fluid, it takes 2.9 quarts.
If you do change the fluid, do it after youre done. Wouldnt want to take the chance of spilling fluid in the area you will be working in/on for the next several hours.
Parts
- Flywheel
- Clutch
- Pressure plate
- Flywheel bolts (shorter than stock bolts)
- Pressure plate bolts (same as stock bolts)
- Throwout bearing
- Clutch alignment tool - not necessary, but helpful
- Driveaxle or driveshaft bolts - in case you muck up the ones you have.
- New lock-nuts for the turbo - Bentley manual says to replace them, I didnt
- New drive axle and driveshaft seals - Bentley manual says to replace them, I didnt
Instructions - Removal
I am following the Bentley manual for the most part. There are some steps I skipped, some that need to be added, and others that can be done differently. Im posting the steps and providing more info with them. If you are attempting this, you should have this manual already. It contains many other things, especially the required torque values for the bolts.
1. Disconnect ground cable from battery - 10mm
2. Remove driveshaft - ignore this step, its not necessary
3. Remove airbox - see pic
- Disconnect MAF connector
- Disconnect Power Output Stage connectors (see pic - 1)
- Disconnect Solenoid Valve for Wastegate Bypass Regulator Valve connector (see pic - 2)
- Disconnect EVAP canister purge regulator valve connector (see pic - 3)
- Disconnect hoses
- Pull airbox out
My car has a custom cone air setup, which is why the POS is mounted on aluminum and bolted to the fender.
4. Remove coolant tank and set aside
- remove three screws from top (phillips)
- Lift up and disconnect sensor from bottom (careful)
- remove top coolant line and plug.
- Leaving the bottom hose (big hose) connected, rotate the tank around about 135 degrees and lay it down
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| Coolant tank sitting position and O2 sensor connectors. |
5. Disconnect second O2 sensor connector from under the coolant tank (leftmost connector - see pic) and free the wiring from any ties.
6. Remove O2 sensors. The manual does not say to do this, but I did it. Trying to remove the cat is difficult enough without having to worry about breaking the O2 sensors too. Takes a 22mm wrench and a little elbow grease. Youll probably have to track down the connector for the primary O2 sensor, or you might possibly twist the wires enough to break them (mine didnt break, but the jacket/insulator on one wire opened up.)
7. Remove nuts from cat-to-turbo connection. Three 17mm nuts. The shorty wrench will come in handy for the bottom nut.
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| The nuts and O2 sensor have been removed |
8. Remove trans-to-engine bolts that you can get to from above. I think there were three accessible from above (left, middle, and right) 16mm.
9. Remove engine pan/cover from underneath - 10 screws: 3 front, 3 back, 2 in each wheel well.
10. Remove bracket for engine pan/cover - 2 bolts (13mm I think)
11. Jack car up and put on jack stands. Im not really sure of a good place to put the jackstands, I now have two slight dents in the floorboard of my car.
 |
| Car up in the air. Possibly bad spot for jack stands. |
12. Remove heatshield from passenger side drive axle. Three 6mm allen bolts, two accessible with an allen socket (left and right) and the top bolt requires an allen wrench.
13. With the car supported on jack stands, place slight pressure on the trans with a jack.
14. Unbolt passenger side mount/support (leave mount connected to support) - two 13mm bolts, and three 8mm, again, two accessible with an allen socket (left and right) and the top bolt requires an allen wrench. Also remove the spring mount from the downpipe. You can let the jack pressure off the trans now, it will be fine without.
15. Loosen clamping sleeve on downpipe-to-exhaust connection. Youre supposed to be able to slide the clamping sleeves forward, but I couldnt get it to budge, and ended up pulling the downpipe out of it instead.
16. Remove the cat/downpipe by pulling it out from under the car. I made the mistake of trying to get it out from the top. I did finally get it with a lot of swearing and fidgeting. Oh well.
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| Catalytic converter and downpipe |
17. Remove RPM sensor from transmission. My car did not have this. If it did, it would be located on the drivers side of the transmission, above the flywheel (about the two oclock position if looking at the front of the trans).
18. Now the fun part (1st of many) Disconnect the driveaxles. The shafts are bolted in with six 12 point torx-head bolts. I was able to use a regular 6point T-40 torx bit to remove them, but I highly recommend trying to get the 12 point bit to reduce the chance of rounding one of these things off.
19. Disconnect Speed sensor and reverse light connectors on drivers side of the trans. Make sure no other connectors are attached.
20. Remove starter, two 16mm bolts and one 6mm allen bolt. The wires can stay connected. This can be done one of two ways: The long and painful way, or the short and painful way.
- Long way: Remove bumper, remove A/C belt, remove A/C pump, remove starter.
- Short way: Attempt to get at 6mm allen bolt with an allen wrench by maneuvering your hand and arm through the A/C lines. When finally out (wait until you have to put it back in) remove the two starter bolts, slide the starter forward and attempt to lay it aside somehow.
21. Disconnect shift rod, one 10mm bolt
22. Disconnect shift pivot rod - one 8mm (may have been 6mm, not sure) allen bolt. Space is tight requiring the use of an allen wrench. When its out to the point that the allen wrench hits the trans tunnel, remove the allen wrench and try turning the bolt or washer on the backside with your fingers.
23. Remove the heat shield for the driveshaft. My car did not have this.
24. Remove the driveshaft from the trans - six T-40 Torx bits, let it hang on the heat shield.
25. Remove the four engine-to-trans bolts on the bottom (all 16mm), and there should be just two left holding it together afterwards.
26. Place transmission jack under the trans and put pressure on it.
27. Remove drivers side trans mount-to-support bolt (8mm allen bolt), leave the support bolted to the trans.
28. Remove the last two engine-to-trans bolts.
29. slide trans and trans jack back just enough for the bell housing to clear the pressure plate.
30. Lower trans just enough to get access to the clutch slave cylinder. While lowering the trans, DO NOT LET THE INPUT SHAFT HIT THE PRESSURE PLATE "FINGERS" The clutch cylinder is held in with a 6mm allen bolt, and will take a little bit of wiggling to get it out. Careful, its made of plastic. Do NOT remove the line, and do NOT press the clutch pedal.
31. Make sure all drive axles are clear of the trans and lower it. You might have to pull the trans off the jack to slide/drag it out from under the car, or you can just leave it under the car, and slide it out of the way.
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| Empty trans tunnel. |
 |
| Parts removed |
1 - Passenger side trans mount and related bolts
2 - Exhaust clamp bolts
3 - Passenger side drive axle shield and related bolts
4 - Starter Bolts
5 - Engine-to-Trans bolts
6 - Turbo-to-downpipe nuts
7 - Exhaust hanger spring
8 - Driveshaft bolts
9 - Clutch slave cylinder bolt
10 - Driver side trans support-to-mount bolt
11 - Drive axle bolts
12 - Coolant tank screws
13 - Just a rag, ignore it :)
Removing the clutch/flywheel
1. Remove the six 6mm allen head bolts from the pressure plate and remove it and the clutch plate. A screwdriver might be needed to gently pry it off. Careful, the pressure plate is the only thing holding the clutch plate in, and it WILL fall if youre not paying attention.
2. Bust out the impact wrench to loosen the six 17mm flywheel bolts. You probably dont need the impact, but you will spend a very long time trying to get the bolts loose without one.
Installing the clutch/flywheel
1. Look at the flywheel and youll notice the bolt holes are irregular. The flywheel only goes on one way. when you have all 6 bolts in, torque them down. I held a screwdriver between a flywheel tooth and the block while tightening. The manual calls for 44 ft lbs + 90 degrees. The shorter bolts for the new flywheel probably dont require the 90 degree turn. Check with APR to be sure.
2. Put the clutch disk and pressure plate on, the clutch disk has to go in a certain way (the taller middle side goes towards the pressure plate) Start putting the bolts in, but dont tighten yet. You need to center the clutch disk in the pressure plate. I eyeballed it since I didnt have the alignment tool. Torque the bolts in stages in a triangular fashion when its centered.
Time it took me to get this far, about 7 hours.
Take a break, the hardest part is about to begin.....
1. With the transmission on the transjack (if it has an angle adjuster, make sure its on the correct side), slowly lift it into place, making sure that nothing is in its way. You will need to match the angle of the engine with the angle of the jack. You will have to slide the trans in a little, jack it up, slide it in, jack it up, etc until the trans is aligned withe the engine. It may help to have a greater angle on the trans, and when its lined up, equal the angles out. DO NOT LET THE INPUT SHAFT HIT THE PRESSURE PLATE FINGERS. If one of them bends, bad things happen.
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| Jack on transjack - notice the the dents from the jackstands. |
2. Put the clutch slave cylinder back on. Trust me on this one, do it now, before the trans is connected.
3. Now the fun part, inserting the trans. Mine slid right in, but if it doesnt, remember patience is the key. Put the trans in gear and try rotating the driveshaft end. this rotates the input shaft, and may help align it. If all else fails, pull the trans out (careful if the slave cylinder is bolted on), and check to make sure the clutch is still centered.
4. The trans probably wont slide all the way in. Get it in enough to get a bolt started on either side (start with the bolts that go through the guide pins.
5. Basically, everything else is the opposite of removal, just a little more difficult.
Reassembly time, about 8 hours.
Things to avoid (aka what I did wrong)
1. Remove the cat/downpipe from the bottom. It will come out from the top with a lot of struggling, yanking, and cursing, or it will drop right out the bottom with slight maneuvering.
2. when putting the transmission in, I got the shifter pivot arm caught between the trans and the hull, and bent it straight. I found this out after I had everything in, and realized I couldnt shift into 1st, 3rd, or 5th. The shift rod wouldnt come back far enough because it hit the shifter pivot arm. A jack and a 2ft long 2x4 promptly bent the arm back into shape :)
3. I tried to put the clutch slave cylinder on after the trans was installed. I could not get it to compress enough to install. I had to crack open the bleed screw and then push it in (I had a hose and container hooked up to catch the fluid), and then bled the clutch system afterwards (not a big deal though)
4. My APR flywheel/clutch was used and didnt have any bolts with it. I had to cut 5/8" off the end of the flywheel bolts in order to use them.
Notes/Comments/Suggestions:
Plan on a weekend for this job. Start Friday night, and if all goes well, you should be done Saturday night, or Sunday morning.
I started Thursday night about 10pm, worked until the trans was out at 4am. I started again Friday night about 9pm, worked until 4am and finished up a couple little things Saturday afternoon.
I should also say that my clutch and center Torsion were replaced about 10 months ago (25K miles) so I didnt have any stubborn bolts.
You might want to start by trying to bust the driveaxle and driveshaft bolts loose first. These will probably be the toughest bolts to get out. If you cant get them out, theres no sense in continuing, and it would suck to have to put everything back together
1. hit it with a hammer a couple times
2. If it rounds off inside, try pounding an allen bit into it.
3. You could try grinding a slot in it, and using a screwdriver.
4. Try Vise Grips
5. Youll notice that there is a connector between pairs of bolts. If its the right bolt of the pair, you can use this connector as a lever (assuming the left bolt is out of course)
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Audi A4 B5 Front Control Arm Replacement
A Complete control arm set with NEW BOLTS and TREs (Tie Rod Ends)!
Yay, get ready for some work!
So your control arms are shot and your ride sounds like a 1930s Ford that squeaks all over. No problem, if the squeaking are your control arms then here is your write-up to replace them.
It is a good idea to replace the TREs as well when you this as an alignment is a very good idea after ANY suspension related work. With new TREs and CAs you wouldnt have to go back to the shop to get an alignment down the road when you replace either one.
Here is Chris Haighs write-up on how to replace the TRE. Go by his write-up on how to remove and replace the TREs and use mine for the control arms. Most Control Arm sets will cost around 500$, you get what you pay for so watch out for those 200$ sets on eBay. After all its the suspension that keeps your tuned and personalized car on the road.
Your Control arms need replacement anyways if the boot looks like this which is torn up and fluffy.
Here are some other ways to check which arm is clunking.
1) Jack car up on side thats clunking.
2) Do not remove wheel. Make sure steering rack is locked (ie key out of ignition, and turn steering wheel to lock it)
3) Grab the wheel by the 9 and 3 positions and wiggle it back and forth as it would turn by the steering. See if there is any play - there should be basically none. If you do have play, look at your control arms and feel around to see if anything is clunking or moving excessively.
Click here for a video of this test.
Click here for a video of a test for lower control arms.
In case you need to get the "knuckle assembly" aka wheel bearing housing out for a wheel bearing repair this should guide you to the removal of that as well.
Enough for the stuff here is what you need:
Breaker bar + extension if needed
17mm hex or smaller bigger depending on your year for the axle bolt
Ball joint removal tool
Set of wrenches
Maybe some air tools
Pb blaster or any other bolt rust breaker spray
Torque wrench
Basically a good garage should have all of the above and maybe even more
Here we go:
I am writing this guide several months after I had done the actual work. There might be some steps missing or not pictured as some of the stuff is a basic unbolt and bolt back on.
1. In order for the whole knuckle assembly to come out you need to loosen up the axle bolt that is attached to the CV boot. Its either 17mm hex (allen) or 24mm head bolt. Check that one out before you start and get the right size tool. That thing is in there TIGHT so an extension might be a very good idea as shown here:
2. Get your vehicle on JACKSTANDS not a floor jack, to many people had been injured and or killed without the use of stands. Invest 20$ in a set of them, they are cheap and safer than the hydraulic jack an article by Andy on where to jack up your car can be found here
3. Remove the wheels on both sides to expose the complete front suspension assembly.
4. Follow the previously mentioned TRE article to remove the TRE http://www.audiworld.com/tech/wheel29.shtml
I had some problems with the passenger side and ended up taking mine to the shop to get it removed. Here is what I ran into when doing my TRE
5. The front should look like this now with the TRE removed:
6. Since you will take out the complete front suspension you will should remove the brake disc and caliper as well.
In case you want to pain the caliper this is the perfect time for that as well. There are write-ups on how to remove the front brakes but here is a quick refresher.
Caliper is held onto the bracket with 2 hex bolts
Caliper is held onto the knuckle with 2 17mm IIRC bolts which are tight on there.
Brake disc is loosely held onto the knuckle with the caliper bracket, once that is loose you should be able to remove the disc. In case the disc is stuck due to rust tap it slightly with a hammer and a screwdriver like a chisel, it should come of that way.
Inspect your brake hoses for any cracking or damage, if you find some REPLACE THEM IN PAIRS! Otherwise hang the caliper now somewhere with a zip tie or have an old flowerpot of box to rest it on the ground. Dont let the caliper hang by the brake hose alone.
This is a good idea.
7. The next item on the list is the so called pinch bolt holding the upper control arms to the knuckle.
A close up
This bolt has been an issue with a lot of people to remove. If your car had been exposed to salty winter roads you will most likely have some issues removing it. I had no issues removing it but spray it with Pb blaster and follow Carsons idea as well:
/quote: Hitting the area around the pinch bolt with a hammer to loosen it up helps (read the directions on the can of PB, useful info)
You can also try turning the pinch bolt with a wrench after you get the nut off the end of it, it will either break the bolt loose or twist the head off the bolt, if it starts to twist stop what youre doing immediately. From experience, most of the time when I have to remove the pinch bolt from a steel wheel bearing housing I gotta haul out my HD Snap-On air hammer./end quote
8. After the pinch bolt is loose remove the upper control arms from the knuckle, they are just "pushed" in. With road salt and dirt in them they could be very had to remove so a tool like this might be helpful:
These are ball joint separators and range from 11$ to 100$ in price, you get what you pay for in quality. Your local car place might have them for rent as well.
9. Now its time to loosen that tight axle bolt up some more. When I did the work on Kevins car I forgot to loosen them up with the car on the ground. I ended up breaking the bolt loose in the air and bended the breaker bar pretty good. So dont forget to loosen that bolt up before you lift the car into the air! Here are our results:
10. With the bolt loose. Tap it slightly with a hammer to "push" the whole CV joint out of the knuckle. I turned the bolt a like 2 turns, tapped it with hammer back to the bearing and turned again and so on... be gentle as the wheel bearing sits in the knuckle assembly. Depending on the mileage that you have on the car its a good idea to replace both bearings as well since those are known to fail at some point and time.
You should be here now:
The knuckle is still connected to the car by the lower control arms while everything up top is loose and removed.
11. The upper control arms are attached to the strut mounting plate and we were unable to remove the bolts because of tightness, we ended up removing the plate. Its attached with 3 bolts as shown here:
Remove those bolts and the top will become loose. In order to take the strut tower out you will have to remove the lower bolt that is attached to the control arm. Also be very careful to not over torque those when you reinstall the whole thing.
The upper control arms showing some damage on the boots when we wedge something in there to remove them.
Remove the old arms either on the car or on the mounting plate.
12. Here is a picture of the lower control arm assembly connected to the knuckle. Now comes the removal of the ABS sensor (already loose in the 1st picture) if you want to. The abs sensor does NOT have to be removed but its a good idea of cleaning it while you in here All that is needed is to disconnect the sensor cable.
In the top picture it shows the ABS sensor already removed. The abs sensor is just "pushed" into the whole where it sits the rest of its live and gets exposed to rust so it might be a bit hard to remove, but ours just pulled right out.
The connector for the sensor is stashed behind the fender well as seen here:
There is a rubber plug that you need to pull out, when doing so you will expose the connector, disconnect it and tuck it somewhere into the top of the control arms as shown.
13.The only thing that is holding the knuckle now to the car are all the lower bolts from the control arms and the reversed C sway bar link and the strut/suspension.
The rear control arm goes in from the top while the front control arm is pushed into the knuckle from the bottom. The reversed C is the sway bar link and connects to the control arm. Those are basic unbolt and removal steps now.
That is how the arms will look with the knuckle removed
You might need to use the joint tool again as the lower arms might be even tighter than the uppers. I had no issues with either, but this tool with be a life saver!
Unbolt those and take the knuckle assembly out
14. If you went the way that we did you car will look like this now:
15. In case you cant get one of the bolts out and you are stuck like this:
You will need to loosen up the green circled plate holding the sub frame on the side. No need to totally remove me but loosening it up will give you enough clearance to remove the bolt.
We loosened our bolt barely an inch and it worked
Remove lower front and lower rear control arms you complete the removal of all the control arms
that is it! Reinstallation in the reverse order!
Couple of notes in the end:
While doing this you can do several things:
Repaint Calipers
Change out brake hoses to stainless steel ones
Change out brake pads and rotor
Upgrade the front brakes to A8 rotors and TT carriers
Spray paint the whole fender well BLACK again while everything is removed for a cleaner look
Flush your brake fluid out
Oil change
Engine mount replacement
DV replacement
Just to mention a few things!
Torque Specs for reassembly:
Kevin always get on me for not using a torque wrench so here are the specs taken from Bentley Manual
Upper front; 50 Nm + 1/4 turn into mounting bracket
Upper rear; 50Nm + 1/4 turn into mounting bracket
Upper pinch bolt; 40 Nm (not TRE pinch bolt)
Lower front; 80 Nm + 1/4 turn into subframe
Lower rear; 90 Nm +1/4 turn into subframe
Lower control arms into steering knuckle; 100 Nm
Mounting bracket (shock tower assembly)
Upper bolts from inside the engine bay; 75 Nm
Lower nut and bolt into control arm; 90 Nm
Sway bar end link;
Lower connection to the sway bar; 100 Nm
Upper connection into the control arm; 40 Nm + 1/4 turn
Rear Sub Frame; Large Bolt 110 Nm + 1/4 turn small bolts; 23 Nm
A few tips for the reassembly. Dont torque down your new control arms "dry" that means without being attached to the knuckle assembly when reinstalling. Doing so will make it hard to move them around as needed.
USE antiseize on the following parts: Pinch bolt, TRE threads and the bolt holding the TRE into the knuckle.
CPP has a set of full metal suspension parts that are likely to last a whole lot longer than anything else. Their website with all the information except prices is here
Kris Hansen added grease fittings to his arms in terms of long term life. He has those included in his Upper Control arm write-up found on his website
Passatworld (VW Passat and the Audi A4 are basically the same mechanically) has a small Control Arm Faq that is Listed on the website
There is an active recall on the front lower control arm that will be replaced for free if certain conditions are met found Under this post