I have about 3 inches between the timing assembly and the rad fans.
It looks like the rad assembly will come out with not too much grief.
I think I’ll just get the complete proper kit. Getting fed up with making custom parts or modifying Jetta or golf ones to “work” haha
With my luck the roller and belt might be different a tad too.
Patrick
I know these things because I've spent a lot of time with my head in parts catalogs and just reading, not that it's done me much good, it's all just hobby here, but I have been a big follower of the 'B' chassis cars for many years, starting with the B1/B2 Audi / VW and continuing on with the Audi B3 and separate VW B3 and B4. I know some things about the B5 VW (very close to your engine setup) but not a lot.
At any rate, there is scant information in the parts catalog relating to the early 90's Audi diesel powered cars, in fact I can't even find a possible engine code, but since these engines are basically just the AHU / 1Z turned 90 degrees, many of the things you might need can be acquired from the Mk3 Jetta TDI or the B4 Passat TDI despite the fact that the engine sits differently.
Having said that I think you need to explore further to make sure that your VW AHU/1Z tensioner will not work. I would not be surprised to find a slot in the front of the engine (and metal cover) that would allow the use of that tensioner. But if it does not you should order them up from abroad, at least 2-3 so you have them if necessary.
Aside from the difference in tensioner I will say that the timing belts and upper belt roller will likely be identical with the US Jetta / Passat. In this I have to agree with Todd. The core engine itself is no different than the AHU/1Z so the belt will be the same 137 tooth belt. I have no reason to believe that the roller won't be the same either. There would be only one situation where that's not the case and that would be if you have a timing belt driven water pump, which I doubt you do. A photo will prove that one way or the other.
And the reason I can say that the parts are likely the same with some certainty is because there is an example I can look at that will shed some light on parts you may need to buy. That car, although not really imported into the US, is the 1998 Passat TDI. There were four of these brought to the US as demo cars and then VW pulled the plug on importing the model. The parts catalog still shows everything for these 98 tdi cars even though we never got them.
The 1998 Passat shares the same longitudinal engine layout with the Audi and was equipped with the AHU, AFN, AHH and AVG TDI engines (maybe others too), so we know that most likely they're identical to what Audi was installing in their cars (that were being sold in Europe). They are several years newer but the engine tech is likely the same.
When I compare part numbers between the 1998 Passat tdi and the 1997 Jetta tdi or 1997 Passat tdi I see the same items being used, the same tensioner, roller and timing belt. So aside from the fact that your car used the Audi-only tensioner I would expect that most everything else will work. In fact if you could find a part number on your timing belt or the tensioner roller somewhere I'm sure it would the same as the cars we get here in the US.
Somewhere there is instructions on posting photos in the forum, off hand I don't recall where that is. If you have an image hosting account somewhere you can just link to those photos in this thread.
Since your car is closer to the 1998 Passat TDI you might find some information of value in the B5 forum. One of those four 98 Passat TDI's is owned by a member of that forum, JFettig (IIRC) and there are numerous photos of the engine in that car that should look pretty familiar. I will say though he has a very off water pump on his car, but I don't know what is engine code is. He's also modified that car heavily but there's a quite long thread in that forum that discusses his car.
As for the space limitations on the front of the engine you should be fine with just removing the coolant fans in order to change the timing belt. It doesn't take much space and I don't think the front engine mount is in the way so it should be pretty easy chore!
Hope this helps and sorry for being long-winded. Oh yes, timing belt at 60k, tensioner and roller usually at the same time but I have skipped a belt change sometimes too. The tensioner / roller makers have said there's no reason to change one out unless you believe that they're starting to fail. A new one is not a guarantee that it won't fail. Also be sure that the tensioner is of good quality. I think everyone here uses a Litens brand tensioner which is what the factory installed. And I'm going to agree with Todd about the tensioner, I would bet there's a hole behind the metal timing belt inner shield that the finger from the VW tensioner will fit into. I will snap a photo showing where it is likely to be, you can pull back the shield and see for yourself.
Steve
