That's why I don't work on the side anymore, or help friends... someone's always watching. You try to go as fast as possible (so you can enjoy the rest of your day off) and then stuff bites you in the rear. Not worth the hassle and definitely not worth the money... even if it's a friend or relative. The loss of time & money invested in vehicles you sold (as you said, you are losing money on vehicles), can be recuperated by charging fair labor rates / times. Vacuum filling, allowing to run to operating temp to verify thermostat & fan operation, allow cool off time to top-up coolant, scan & clear fault codes... these are things that "customers" need to appreciate and not complain about (that you're taking too long).
Great video to prepare for the job! Snapped the pulley bolt, but got lucky and was able to back out the broken piece with a pic and fingers. Huge relief!
I own a 2015 S3 and this will be my THIRD water pump (car has 163,000 miles). This is a TERRIBLE design - between the stupid union piece and the 1/2 inch space you have to work out the balance shaft belt bolt it can be a NIGHTMARE of a job ! I paid for the FIRST water pump job almost 100,000 miles ago. The second job i did on my own, and tomorrow i'll be tackling the third replacement again. You did an amazing job and your videos give others the confidence they need to DIY ! Awesome !
For the 10 mm triple square on the support bracket, I used a Torx 55, carefully and slowly removed it, and when putting it back on it did the trick too!
Thanks for another great vid! Your other "20 min" video gave me the confidence to do this job myself. saved me a lot of $- but not a lot of time. Glad I gave the engine time to get to temp and see that there were leaks. Had to get another OEM union (rather than the febi one sent in the Graf kit) b/c there was a leak there. But tbh, I might have damaged the O-ring during that difficult maneuver into the oil cooler. Also, to be safe, make sure you have new O-rings for your coolant pipes/hoses. Bummed to see others here calling the aluminum upgrade garbage...only time will tell...
Mistake or not I own a 2007 a4 and I’m always impressed watching you remove the electrical connectors like a magician lol. At this point my connectors pretty much crumble and break. Very frustrating, but I’m a pro at removing and installing connector pins. Got that going for me. !!
You mention you've only seen the belt break when someone installs/removes it. Well, I pulled my water pump today and several teeth were missing from the belt. The failure was due to the impeller seizing. I changed the water pump back in 2018 - it failed (leaked) due to the warping, then breakage you speak of on the rectangular portion of the plastic/gasket that faces the block. I actually noticed the pump I pulled today was warped in the same spot - although it wasn't the cause of the failure. I'm wondering if I should have purchased one of those metal/aluminum pumps I see available. Otherwise, thanks for another great video.
