Cam chain tensioner gasket

[MURRAYS444]

Just a quick question mine is needing replaced and my garage have advised me it will take 3 hours I thought it was a simple job or am i wrong!

 

[<tuffty/>]

3 hours seems a bit long... I have done a couple before and don't remember it taking that long... just over an hour maybe?

<tuffty/>

 

[Broken Byzan]

Its about 2 hours max, have to remove all pipes that prevent the rocker cover coming off. Charge pipes, coil packs and associated wiring. Then cover off and compress the tensioner slowly and fiddle the gasket out and replace that and the half moon seal.

And reverse proceedure to assemble etc

 

[MURRAYS444]

Its a good few hours, have to remove all pipes that prevent the rocker cover coming off. Charge pipes, coil packs and associated wiring. Then cover off and compress the tensioner slowly and fiddle the gasket out and replace that and the half moon seal.

And reverse proceedure to assemble etc

It sounds like a ***** of a job I think i'll leave it to the professionals!

 

[<tuffty/>]

....its not so much simple as fiddly... need to take the cam cover off so that normally needs lots of stuff removing first especially on an S3... you don't need to remove the cams but use a tensioner tool to wind in the tensioner to give you the room to fit the gasket and the half moon seal...

Fiddly but certianly not 3 hours...

<tuffty/>

 

[Westy]

The way elsawin tells you to do this is to remove the inlet cam to slacken the chain and tensioner so maybe they're quoting you that procedure even though you'd have to be insane to do it that way.

 

[vfr800]

Hi Chaps,

My cam chain tensioner gasket is leaking oil and I'm planning to replace it this weekend.

I have the rocker cover gasket, tensioner gasket and the proper sealant (sorry I mean ****** expensive sealant), I've also got one of the laser cam chain tensioner retaining tools.

I'm obviously going to mark the chain and sprockets before I fiddle with the tensioner but ...
Do I need to have the camshafts set to a particular point? or can I just get to work and make sure the chain tensions back on to the correct teeth as marked?

Reason being I saw some youtube clip where the guy says to crank the engine until the timing marks come round and match up - or something. But I'm not removing the camshafts, merely loosening the tensioner, so I don't think this applies??

Thanks, Liam

 

[Westy]

Easier way doesn't even require moving the cams or chain mate so don't worry about it.

Once the rocker cover is off and you can get to two torx bolts on top of the chain tensioner. You unscrew these and then you will need a mate (can be done on your own but more fiddly) to press down on the tensioner piston and you can then lift up the top o the tensioner just enough to slide out the old gasket and get the new one in.

It's still a bit of a fiddly job even with 2 of you but it saves having to mess with the cams and chain.

 

[vfr800]

Easier way doesn't even require moving the cams or chain mate so don't worry about it.

Once the rocker cover is off and you can get to two torx bolts on top of the chain tensioner. You unscrew these and then you will need a mate (can be done on your own but more fiddly) to press down on the tensioner piston and you can then lift up the top o the tensioner just enough to slide out the old gasket and get the new one in.

It's still a bit of a fiddly job even with 2 of you but it saves having to mess with the cams and chain.

I think I'll use the tensioner all the same.

I know that I need sealant on the 90 deg points and the half moon insert.

Do I need sealant on either side of the tensioner gasket?

Are there any diagrams showing where exactly to put the sealant.

What's safest, be liberal or conservative with the sealant?

How long should I give the sealant to cure?

Thanks. Liam

 

[Westy]

I think I'll use the tensioner all the same.

I know that I need sealant on the 90 deg points and the half moon insert.

Do I need sealant on either side of the tensioner gasket?

Are there any diagrams showing where exactly to put the sealant.

What's safest, be liberal or conservative with the sealant?

How long should I give the sealant to cure?

Thanks. Liam

The gasket has a blue area on it which is marked to show you where to put the sealant. You don't need too much sealant and it only goes in the blue area of the gasket. The sealant will be fine for you to drive the car once it's all been screwed back together.

 

[danger S3]

from what i could see from the one i did the blue parts on the gasket are wee pockets of sealant, once torqued down they pop and fill where needed.

i used the tensioner tool and put the car in gear and rolled it forward slightly which slackened the chain a bit more and i could get plenty of room to replace the gasket. mine hasnt leaked since then.

when using the tool make sure you screw it down slowly as the tool may break if you animal it

 

[Prawn]

tufty talked me through how to do mine over MSN, and it took me 1 hour tops including removing the inlet cam totally as I needed to change the tensioner itself.

To change the gasket alone, for a mechanic in a garage with all tools is definitely no more than 1 hours work I'd say.

Fiddly yes, difficult no.

 

[vfr800]

Cheers everyone.

I know. Doesn't stop garages from estimating 3 hours and then charging 3 hours regardless of how long it actually took them.

<rant>It really pee's me off. I run a business where we make a profit from selling our time, just like garages do.

Using our experience, we estimate how much a job will cost for our clients. We're usually bang on. If we get it done quicker they get charged less, if it turns into a minger of a job we'll let them know before we blow the budget.

If there's an economy of scale we'll build it into the estimate i.e. already having the car up on ramps and the wheels off.

We *always* try to give the client a warm fussy feeling that we haven't ripped them off and they got a good deal. We only trade on reputation and word of mouth so we have to keep them happy.

I know of a couple of good garages who do an honest job but they're too far to take my car all the time.</rant>

 

[MURRAYS444]

from what i could see from the one i did the blue parts on the gasket are wee pockets of sealant, once torqued down they pop and fill where needed.

i used the tensioner tool and put the car in gear and rolled it forward slightly which slackened the chain a bit more and i could get plenty of room to replace the gasket. mine hasnt leaked since then.

when using the tool make sure you screw it down slowly as the tool may break if you animal it

Do you fancy doing mine for some money mate???

 

[danger S3]

Do you fancy doing mine for some money mate???

aye could be a plan, although I don't have any weekends free this month :-(