Towing an AWD car

[shorefisher]

Hi all, I have an AWD car and need to tow it about 5 miles. Can you do this with all wheels down with the car in neutral with out hurting anything? Thanks much.

[Macgyver55]

Some AWD vehicles are "towable" depending on the system it has. Many Subarus are "certified towable" by the Manufacturer. What kind of car is it?

[shorefisher]

It's a 1990 Audi Quattro.

[Scott K]

I wouldnt tow this thing more then a few feet.

[Macgyver55]

I negected to ask, is it a manual or auto, and does it run at all?

[deadeye]

Either tow it with all the wheels on the ground with the car in neutral or put it on a flatbed.

DO NOT tow it with only 2 wheels on the ground.

[shorefisher]

Thanks everyone. I just pulled it with a strap and all went good. Reason for towing is a broken timing belt. YaY For Me

[Crm7290]

depending on what happened when the belt broke you can do that yourself. There are some nice Vw/audi forums with tons of people willing to help out. They are very knowledgable about those cars, a good number being dealer mechanics or people with their own shops.

[Macgyver55]

Thanks everyone. I just pulled it with a strap and all went good. Reason for towing is a broken timing belt. YaY For Me

The only thing is, you wont know if all went well until its running. Its probably ok for that short of a distance, but what I was concerned about is the transmission. With a manual trans it shouldnt be a problem because there isnt a pump involved for lubrication. On an automatic trans, the lubrication is done by the transmission pump and that is driven by the motor. On a long extended tow, bushings and bearings could heat up and be damaged.

[Jeremy airjer W]

depending on what happened when the belt broke you can do that yourself. There are some nice Vw/audi forums with tons of people willing to help out. They are very knowledgable about those cars, a good number being dealer mechanics or people with their own shops.

The hardest part is getting the front clip off. Aft5er that they are a piece of german chocolate cake.

[shorefisher]

Thanks everyone again. crm7290 that is what I did and did find alot of info. airjer thanks for those pic. I have a buddy checking it out to see what if any other damage might have happened before I get into it. I was told by audi this had a free-wheeling motor and no valve damage should have happened. Have any of you heard of this it was new to me but looking on the net it looks to be true? Any how I need to go fishing now it been a long winter fixing cars time for a fishing break.

[MNice]

not to hijack thread, Airjer, what about the timing belt on a 02 beetle TDI? Big pain in rear??

Thanks for your time!!

[Jeremy airjer W]

Everything in a beetle is a big pain in the rear. I have not done any timing belts in a beetle yet so I couldn't begin to give you an experienced scale of difficulty but on a scale of 1-10 I would bet your looking at a 37!

[Macgyver55]

Everything in a beetle is a big pain in the rear.

I heartily second that! The few things I've had to do on them (other than brakes) were miserable. Its one of the few cars I just plain turn down for work now.

[MNice]

Thanks you two, really cheers me up I knew things would be tough but I bought it anyways. Old bonneville finally died, 275,000 RIP.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Old bonneville finally died, 275,000 RIP.

Old Bonnevilles never die, they get recycled into new Hondas and Toyotas!

[swamptiger]

That thing looks like a real mechanics dream (nightmare)... Looks like a major undertaking to get at the alternator, too..

[Jeremy airjer W]

You'd be surprised. After you do a couple you can have the front clips pulled back in about 20 minutes. Once its out of the way there is so much room to work its fantastic. Like you mentioned the unfortunate part is you have to pull back the front clip to do anything.

On the other hand if you have to do an alternator on an escape your looking at pulling a wheel, motor mount, drive axle, and a host of brackets just to get the alternator out of the car. The old GM 3.4 liter DOHC you had to drop the subframe and pull a drive axle to get the alternator out. I'd rather do this style VW or Audi than those anyday.

[pureinsanity]

is an 01 Jetta 2.0L and interference motor? I gotta replace my timing belt, oh 70K ago lol so I am thinking about doing that soon. But the major thing is people told me it is an interference motor so when it goes my motor goes. this true?

ps 4 cyclinder VW's and Audis seem to be a cake walk to work on. its when you get to the V6 you run into problems because of the larger motor and not much working space IMO.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Technically the 2.0 is not but it can and does smack valves occasionally.

The 1.8 on the other hand is an automatic $3,000 if the belt breaks!

If the 4 cylinders are transverse mount they are way harder than a normal mounted 4 cylinder or v-6. Like I said once the front clip is off, about 20 minutes, You have all the room you need to get in there and do what ever you need to.

[shorefisher]

Nutz&Boltz has a good list of interference and non-interference motors on there web site.

[Jeremy airjer W]

If you change it when you are supposed to then you don't have to worry about whether or not it is an interference engine. I know it sounds to good to be true but there is no wondering and its a little cheaper and more convenient than sitting on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck!

[Macgyver55]

True...its far easier to plan a convienient time to have it done than to plan a convienient time to break down.