Hi everyone, here comes yet another balance shaft/oil pump post in 3....2....1....

So i'm looking to do a preventative job on my VAG Passat B6 BKP. I will try to break this post into two sections, first discussing all my timing belt questions which will be needed to be solved in order to do the balance shaft renewal. I have read many posts and you tube videos and so first of all i will present you guy's with what i know so far followed by my questions. To lock the timing belt in TDC, cams need locking and crank, crank has to rotate twice before the cams have completed one turn. The Aux belt needs to be removed with the tensioner pulley locked with a pin/screw, anything lock and slim enough to reach the hole. The crank pulley that the aux belt wraps around has to be removed to get to the rear main crankshaft cog. Does the timing belt have to be removed to do the balance shaft, if so here comes the following timing belt tensioner questions. To remove the tensioner stud, do you have to double nut it and then use a spanner to undo it? after that when reinstalling it the stud (03G 109 459) needs to be renewed and torqued at 20 NM + 1/8 (45*) and loctite applied so it doesn't undo itself. What about the nut that goes onto the stud after the tensioner roller has been installed, what is that torqued to? Also some say that tensioner can be removed without having to take off the engine mount, is that true? Due to the horror stories, this is what I fear the most failing.

Timing torque specs (sorry for large images)






I'm also aware that there are two types of crankshaft locking tools, i have a spare BKP engine (original engine of my car) and I will check that. My original car engine failed after a timing belt job, either he used same tensioner stud or over-torqued. But it went to 191k miles with a serious knocking after that engine had a oil pressure failure. Now I want to make sure history does not repeat itself. If i torque everything correctly and lock the engine at TDC and renew all the torque-to-yield nuts/gaskets, this should be successful right?

Now once the timing belt is set to TDC, i will also after locking timing belt be removing the gearbox at this time because it will make it easier to get to the bolts between the flywheel and sump and its been a few years since it last had it changed. I will leave any gearbox removal questions and focus on timing belt and balance shaft renewal for now. I don't want to overwhelm those that help me. Does the crankshaft sprocket need to be heated and removed? Now moving onto the balance shaft questions once the engine is set to TDC and gearbox is removed. I will be using KMB for the parts. so far below is a guide that i have found posted by GazWorld:

Disconnect battery negative lead.
Slacken OSF wheel nuts.
Jack up car slightly to remove undershield and remove wheel and wheel arch liner.
Slacken auxiliary belt tensioner and lock off with suitable "pin" (allen key, drill bit or short handled screwdriver) and remove auxiliary belt noting its rotational direction.

Remove timing belt covers and crank pulley.
Drain oil.
Jack up higher and support with axle stands at suitable points to the rear of the subframe to allow room to work under engine.
Disconnect oil level sensor plug, remove sump, remove leftover silicone sealant from sump edge and crank carrier surfaces as you will need to reseal the sump for refitting - their is no sump gasket.

At this point you will see the balancer shaft unit bolted below the crank.
Lock cams and toothed crankshaft cog at TDC with appropriate locking tools.
This also locks the balancer drive cog on the back of the crank gear cog inside the sump area.
Support balancer unit and undo the 8 retaining bolts, if I remember rightly one of these is a long oil pump bolt and they are different sizes so use a piece of cardboard and pop them in the same positions on the cardboard noting that you are looking upwards at the balancer unit (renewal of the bolts is recommended as they are stretch type with additional angle stage tightening).
Wiggle the unit slightly and it should come away - it is HEAVY!!
Lower it carefully, it still has a lot of oil inside and remove from under the car.

Remove circlip from oil pump drive key hole (it's very small - renew it).
Drive key can be removed with a small magnet or by feeding it through from the balance shaft end.
Balancer unit is in two halves. Remove strainer pipe checking gauze is clear (clean pipe and gauze if necessary and renew pipe seal).
Undo retaining bolts again they may be different sizes and lift off top half leaving bottom half with balancer shafts in situ.
Shafts can be lifted out from bottom half of unit and gearing checked.
Replacement is usually no 2 shaft which has the drive key hole for the pump with a modified version (yours or exchange).
Clean visible oil channels on both halves and inspect shell bearings of balancer unit where shafts sit. Renew shells if worn or scored.

Apply thick oil or assembly lube to inside of shells and clean balance shaft journals.
When replacing a shaft ensure that the flat surface of the balance weight on each shaft sit level with each other (once their gear cogs have been reintroduced) in the bottom half of the balancer unit.
Apply assembly lube to balance shaft gear cogs.

Fit a new upgraded drive key of the correct length with retaining circlip.
Refitting is the reverse of removal noting that a special tool will be needed to retain the shafts in a specific position in the balance unit to align the drive gears and ensure they marry correctly before bolting the unit to the specific torque / angle settings.

A very small amount of backlash (backward rotation of the intermediate cog) should be present after refitting the unit.
This is necessary to avoid gear damage or excess wear.
You should have very slight rotational "play" for want of a better word when turning the lower gear cog against the intermediate one.
This is necessary to avoid gear damage or excess wear. Too tight against each other and the gear teeth will grind.

Seal sump with silicone sealant before refitting. Refit all other components removed applying correct torque settings.

CHECK: REMOVE ALL LOCKING TOOLS AND REFILL OIL!!

Rotate engine by hand a few turns to ensure free movement and no sticking of balancer unit gearing.

Reconnect battery and start up.

And here is another site offering another individual help. I will put the questions next to each part to keep it clear as possible.

To time the balancer shaft to the crank shaft you will need to make sure that the engine is set to top dead centre just like you are doing the cambelt and then do the following.

Before positioning the balancing shaft module at cylinder block slacken the screw -1- for intermediate wheel approx. 1/4 turn Slacken clockwise?



Position the balancing shaft module at cylinder block, while doing so pay attention to the correct position of the intermediate wheel:
The white point -arrow- on the intermediate wheel must be positioned in the centre of the crankshaft. How can I position the balancing shaft module at cylinder block, which position should it be to be at cylinder block? with the intermediate wheel attached to the crankshaft cog and the crankshaft locked, how is it possible to rotate the intermediate wheel?





First of all tighten the screws in the sequence -1 ... 8- by hand.
Tighten screws of balancing shaft module as follows
Pre-tighten the screws in the sequence -1 ... 8- to 6 Nm.
Pre-tighten screws-5- and -7- to 13 Nm.
Torque screws -5- and -7- a further 90° (1/4 turn) using a rigid wrench.
Tighten the screws -1 ... 4-, -6- and -8- to 20 Nm
Torque screws -1 ... 4-, -6- and -8- further to 90° (1/4 turn) using a rigid wrench. ​This baffles me too, what does sequence -1 8- mean and what is a rigid wrench, a non-torque wrench as the stiffness may damage the torque wrench?




Interlock balancing shaft with rig tool -T10255-, to do so turn the balancing shaft.
The stud of the rig tool must grip into the groove of the balancing shaft.




Carefully put balancing shaft pinion onto the balancing shaft, to do so push the intermediate wheel slightly to the side.
Tighten balancing shaft pinion -arrows-.
Remove rig tool -T10255-.There is no intermediate wheel pictured above as opposed to below. how do you push something that is bolted on to the side? Is it because as stated above, I have loosened the intermediate wheel? Is there a way of finding out if it is at TDC besides the balance shaft timing tool? once balance shaft is set at TDC, is this when both shafts have their flat side perfectly leveled to the balance shaft and facing the cyclinder block? such as the below pic





The following 3 work steps must be carried out simultaneously (two mechanics required to do this):
If necessary forcefully push the intermediate wheel -3- with the aid of a wooden rod in -direction of arrow- into the serration of the drive pinion -2- and balancing shaft pinion -1-.
While doing so slightly turn the balancing shaft pinion anti-clockwise.
Tighten screw for intermediate wheel.
Remove crankshaft arrester.
After the assembly the intermediate wheel must have no torsional clearance. This can be checked by hand with little force. ​This seems like the trickiest part, so I am pushing the intermediate wheel towards the direction of the arrow pictured below while turning the balance shaft wheel anti-clockwise. How can i rotate the balance shaft wheel when its groves are within the other two wheels groves? Also why am I turning balance shaft wheel anti-clockwise?



Now refit all the other parts and you should be timed up.

I hope this helps and if I can help further please feel free to ask

What are the torque specs of the intermediate wheel and the four nuts on the balance shaft wheel?

some more information about balancing shaft torque specs and part numbers of items that will need to be renewed:

This is for NEW balancer unit to cylinder block bolts (if you are not renewing them do not use these settings):

M7 bolts - Stage 1 is 13 Nm (10 lbf ft) and Stage 2 is further angle-tighten by 90 degrees

M8 bolts - Stage 1 is 20 Nm (15 lbf ft) and Stage 2 is further angle-tighten by 90 degrees

Crankshaft pulley to sprocket bolts - Stage 1 is 10 Nm (7 lbf ft) and Stage 2 is further angle-tighten by 90 degrees.

Sump to cylinder block bolts - 15 Nm (11 lbf ft)
Sump to transmission bolts - 45 Nm (33 lbf ft)
Oil pickup pipe bolts - 10 Nm (7 lbf ft)
Oil pump to balancer unit - 10 Nm (7 lbf ft)

Part numbers quoted are based on the gear driven unit. Should be the same for the balancer unit on chain driven oil pump system. Some early PD engines didn't have a balancer unit.
2005-2009 (to October) balancer unit is 03g103295K
2009 (November and December only) unit is 03g103295AG
2010 (January onward unit is 03g103295AK
The AG and AK revisions are 100mm long follower keys and should not be failing like the 77mm short ones.
For the K revision (77mm long follower key) there is a 5, 1, 1, 1, configuration with four different bolt part numbers:
N 10601402 x 5
N 90977502 x 1
N 91104601 x 1
N 91123401 x 1
N 90951301 x 1 oil pickup seal
N 0122942 x 1 follower key retaining circlip
The five bolts listed for a K revision unit are reduced to three for the AG and AK balance unit revisions.
VW swapped from chain to gear in the time that the BKP was being produced.

Is there a way besides dropping sump of knowing if engine is geared or chain as i have changed engines so VIN may not work.

A special thanks to Gazworld, DMitch and crasher for all their help that I've managed to gather into this post. Besides doing a service I have never done any advance job such as this. Talk about running before you can walk lol. but with all the help above, if i have the knowledge and the correct tools i should be successful. My earlier posts i haven't presented the results as i haven't fixed those issues yet. I wish to do this so if it fails at least i didn't waste money before fixing smaller issues around my car. Thanks and I look forward to your help. Hopefully I will make up a great guide on how to do this job. I have probably missed out a few questions as there is so much to know.