Suspension off before removing the engine. Its pretty much standard now that anything which hasn't been replaced in the last few years will be seized solid, and compliant as this car is being, the tie rod ends are stuck in the uprights. I didn't even try the pinch bolts. Luckily the tie rod ends came out of the tie rods, which is a rare treat, so just unscrewed the ends rather than having to cut them off.
Both corners off, ready to be broken down
One of the sleeves came out of an upright - fairly common, but I thought it was worth showing as it cropped up the other day. This steel sleeve is used to create the taper in the aluminium uprights, as the aluminium wouldn't hold it on its own. They are pressed in and usually solid, but do pop out from time to time.
Put the arm in the vice and then attach the 3-jaw puller
Then mount the puller itself in the vice, otherwise it just flops about
and the sleeve pops off with quite a bang. Its worth noting that the A6 C5 and A4 B6 both use the same sleeves as the D2, so if you lose or damage a sleeve, its much easier to find donor A4 or A6 parts from which to remove the sleeve than it is to find D2 parts
The sleeve will knock back in to its hole easily enough, and I will coat it in a thin film of Loctite 638 retainer which will stop it ever coming out again.
The junction box is undamaged! More amazingly, the little stud which holds the starter cables (on the right)
didn't snap off
I think thats the first time that's ever come apart cleanly!
The lower strut braces have taken a big hit at some point. The bar is quite bent and will need straightening. The bolts all came out without a fight too, which is a rare treat.
The impact on the bar has cracked this lower mounting plate. These are getting very hard to come by these days so this will be repaired rather than replaced.
The head was almost completely ground off one of the gearbox mount bolts!
Some dressing with the grinder removed the mushroomed-over head and left just enough spline to get a tool in it
The gearbox rear output seal is dripping without the shaft even moving
Whoever did the seal previously seems to have dilligently cleaned up all of the CV joint grease and not replaced it! Luckily this joint doesn't see much deflection so it hasn't caused any damage so I will re-grease it before putting the drivetrain back in
Engine coming out
Lots of pieces to tidy up in the morning, then I can split the engine and box
