Squirrelofdoom
Registered User
Thanks for the help Westy - want to get to the bottom of this, so will get a gauge and take the car to someone more in the know than myself 
Xreg Imola Yellow S3 - Project post
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Squirrelofdoom
Registered User
Another minor update - mostly just to spread the word about Gunk lol. Had a small clean of the engine tonight to confirm if the cam cover gasket really does need replacing (I still think it does). either way (again, only a quick clean, will do a proper one when I get the cam cover off).
BEFORE
AFTER
Cheers,
Aran
BEFORE
AFTER
Cheers,
Aran
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Gunk is good stuff but Jesus does it stink. You've done a great job there mate, it's really scrubbed up well.
Squirrelofdoom
Registered User
Hello all,
Took the time yesterday to finally replace my cam cover gaskets. Think I will smooth my airbox today, but before that, I notice that there are a few walkthroughs of cam cover gasket replacements for an A3, but not necessarily for the S3, which has a little more to do. So, i'll put some pictures up below, hopefully it should help anyone else who wants to do this.
Things you'll need are the gaskets (obviously): part#: 058 198 025 A
Blue Hylomar gasket sealant (or any other which is rated for engine bay use): Blue Hylomar Gasket Size: 100g | Only £7.95 | Gasket Compounds
10mm socket
14mm socket
5mm allen key drive
6mm allen key drive
6 point TORX drive
Brake cleaner
"GUNK" or any other degreaser
Pliers or mol-grips
Big flat head spanner
So, to begin. Firstly, the engine bay we all know and love
Remove the charge pipe with the two clamps: one at the top and one on the left hand side.
When I removed my charge pipe, I noticed this indentation in the bottom; is this normal? Any answers would be great.
Next there is a black double bend pipe about 10mm diameter as shown in this picture on the right hand side of the engine. I found it helpful to remove the two 10mm bolts holding it in place; lets you remove the vac chamber etc much easier
A few steps at once now sorry. Remove the bracket for the charge pipe mounting which is on the top left of the cam cover. I know this isn't strictly necessary to get the cam cover off, but for the sake of a couple bolts it makes everything that bit easier when you're trying to line up the cam cover over the new gaskets. Remove the VAC chamber (its off to the right on this photo, sorry) and the "M" shaped bracket which shares mounting screws with the coil packs. Might be worth taking the connectors off the coil packs at this point too as they can be a bit stiff, and removing them when the coilpacks are loose is annoying. Also remove the earth cable from the top left of the cam cover.
I numbered the coilpacks so I knew where they went before; don't know if this is actually necessary, but worth doing I expect. You can see now the cam cover with all the coilpacks removed.
I removed the heat wrap from the rear of the cover too, just less to get in the way later. 6 point TORX tool required for this.
Remove this breather pipe. Big wrench helps to just slide it off, can be a pain if it's stuck on. There is also a black plastic cover on the left hand side of the cam cover which is held on by 2 easily removed clips. I forgot to photograph this, but it's really easy.
Now remove the CAM cover itself. There are 9 bolts. 3 at the rear; 3 in the middle around the coilpack holes and 3 at the front (you can see the studs below). Now you can see the old gaskets; mine were quite brittle at this point as you can see as the big one was entirely split - no wonder I had a leak!
nice oily buildup from where it was leaking.
Underside of the cam cover; you can see a few places where oil has got through the gasket.
I then cleaned up the mating faces on both the cam cover and the mating face in the car. Used brake cleaner to get them nice and shiny and devoid of any grease.
New gaskets in place. This is where you use the gasket sealant; you really really don't need very much; just perhaps a pea sized drop spread out in each of these locations.
1) On the left hand side where the gasket twists 90 degrees to run over the "hump"; but a blob of sealant at the join where it twists 90 degrees and when it twists back again at the rear
2) Do the same as number 1 for the right hand side of the cam cover
3) There is a half moon section in the gasket, this will be on the top right of the cover as you're looking down into the engine bay; smear a blob into this half moon too
Wipe off any excess gasket sealant and then replace everything in the order you took it off! Once you're happy, take the car for a gentle drive at first and check there are no leaks!
Cheers,
Aran
Took the time yesterday to finally replace my cam cover gaskets. Think I will smooth my airbox today, but before that, I notice that there are a few walkthroughs of cam cover gasket replacements for an A3, but not necessarily for the S3, which has a little more to do. So, i'll put some pictures up below, hopefully it should help anyone else who wants to do this.
Things you'll need are the gaskets (obviously): part#: 058 198 025 A
Blue Hylomar gasket sealant (or any other which is rated for engine bay use): Blue Hylomar Gasket Size: 100g | Only £7.95 | Gasket Compounds
10mm socket
14mm socket
5mm allen key drive
6mm allen key drive
6 point TORX drive
Brake cleaner
"GUNK" or any other degreaser
Pliers or mol-grips
Big flat head spanner
So, to begin. Firstly, the engine bay we all know and love
Remove the charge pipe with the two clamps: one at the top and one on the left hand side.
When I removed my charge pipe, I noticed this indentation in the bottom; is this normal? Any answers would be great.
Next there is a black double bend pipe about 10mm diameter as shown in this picture on the right hand side of the engine. I found it helpful to remove the two 10mm bolts holding it in place; lets you remove the vac chamber etc much easier
A few steps at once now sorry. Remove the bracket for the charge pipe mounting which is on the top left of the cam cover. I know this isn't strictly necessary to get the cam cover off, but for the sake of a couple bolts it makes everything that bit easier when you're trying to line up the cam cover over the new gaskets. Remove the VAC chamber (its off to the right on this photo, sorry) and the "M" shaped bracket which shares mounting screws with the coil packs. Might be worth taking the connectors off the coil packs at this point too as they can be a bit stiff, and removing them when the coilpacks are loose is annoying. Also remove the earth cable from the top left of the cam cover.
I numbered the coilpacks so I knew where they went before; don't know if this is actually necessary, but worth doing I expect. You can see now the cam cover with all the coilpacks removed.
I removed the heat wrap from the rear of the cover too, just less to get in the way later. 6 point TORX tool required for this.
Remove this breather pipe. Big wrench helps to just slide it off, can be a pain if it's stuck on. There is also a black plastic cover on the left hand side of the cam cover which is held on by 2 easily removed clips. I forgot to photograph this, but it's really easy.
Now remove the CAM cover itself. There are 9 bolts. 3 at the rear; 3 in the middle around the coilpack holes and 3 at the front (you can see the studs below). Now you can see the old gaskets; mine were quite brittle at this point as you can see as the big one was entirely split - no wonder I had a leak!
nice oily buildup from where it was leaking.
Underside of the cam cover; you can see a few places where oil has got through the gasket.
I then cleaned up the mating faces on both the cam cover and the mating face in the car. Used brake cleaner to get them nice and shiny and devoid of any grease.
New gaskets in place. This is where you use the gasket sealant; you really really don't need very much; just perhaps a pea sized drop spread out in each of these locations.
1) On the left hand side where the gasket twists 90 degrees to run over the "hump"; but a blob of sealant at the join where it twists 90 degrees and when it twists back again at the rear
2) Do the same as number 1 for the right hand side of the cam cover
3) There is a half moon section in the gasket, this will be on the top right of the cover as you're looking down into the engine bay; smear a blob into this half moon too
Wipe off any excess gasket sealant and then replace everything in the order you took it off! Once you're happy, take the car for a gentle drive at first and check there are no leaks!
Cheers,
Aran
Squirrelofdoom
Registered User
Hello!
So, finally another update....and annoyingly, not a good one really :S
So, I've had smoke coming up between the red rubber charge pipe and the heat shroud surrounding it. Also got blue smoke out the exhaust under acceleration / lift off etc. Also had intermittent boost. So, I figured it was turbo seals. I went through getting quotes for a rebuild etc (even talked to our very own Beachbuggy to talk about a hybrid ). In the end I bought a rebuild kit and decided to replace the seals / bearings myself assuming nothing was wrong with the shaft / wheels etc.
So, I didn't have anywhere to put the car while it would be off the road, so I decided to let a garage remove the turbo and keep the car while I work on it. (DPS Coachworks in the Sunningdale area in Surrey; they're great for this kind of thing for anyone in the area - only charge £90 to take out the turbo and refit afterwards including an oil change). So, gave the car to the garage and same day got a phone call. They said that same red rubber charge pipe was very split. I thought, great, it's probably just this then. See below for a photo. So; I went and bought a replacement from Forge and got the garage to fit it.
Picked up the car today and drove it home. Problem is, I still felt like the car wasn't as good as it should be. Still intermittent boost, and it felt like I was dropped into limp mode and had no boost at all. Also, when I got home I popped the hood and still had smoke coming from exactly the same place as before - and my friend who followed me said that I still had blue smoke out the exhaust.
So, I guess the turbo seals are still the main possible culprit? What do you all think, should I just go ahead and do the turbo? I definitely want to sort out the smoke from oil getting places it shouldn't before I do other work on the car.
Thanks for the help guys!
Cheers,
Aran
So, finally another update....and annoyingly, not a good one really :S
So, I've had smoke coming up between the red rubber charge pipe and the heat shroud surrounding it. Also got blue smoke out the exhaust under acceleration / lift off etc. Also had intermittent boost. So, I figured it was turbo seals. I went through getting quotes for a rebuild etc (even talked to our very own Beachbuggy to talk about a hybrid
). In the end I bought a rebuild kit and decided to replace the seals / bearings myself assuming nothing was wrong with the shaft / wheels etc.So, I didn't have anywhere to put the car while it would be off the road, so I decided to let a garage remove the turbo and keep the car while I work on it. (DPS Coachworks in the Sunningdale area in Surrey; they're great for this kind of thing for anyone in the area - only charge £90 to take out the turbo and refit afterwards including an oil change). So, gave the car to the garage and same day got a phone call. They said that same red rubber charge pipe was very split. I thought, great, it's probably just this then. See below for a photo. So; I went and bought a replacement from Forge and got the garage to fit it.
Picked up the car today and drove it home. Problem is, I still felt like the car wasn't as good as it should be. Still intermittent boost, and it felt like I was dropped into limp mode and had no boost at all. Also, when I got home I popped the hood and still had smoke coming from exactly the same place as before - and my friend who followed me said that I still had blue smoke out the exhaust.
So, I guess the turbo seals are still the main possible culprit? What do you all think, should I just go ahead and do the turbo? I definitely want to sort out the smoke from oil getting places it shouldn't before I do other work on the car.
Thanks for the help guys!
Cheers,
Aran
Squirrelofdoom
Registered User
Sooo....I've had a clicking noise from the front left for a time now and wasn't quite sure what it was. Thought the disc was warped so checked it out today. Took the wheel off and ran a clock on the disc - runout of about 2mm!!! Then took the disc off and checked the hub, runout of 1mm!! So, the hub has been warped somehow, causing both the disc and the wheel to runout quite significantly. Gonna get the wheel, hub and disc skimmed next week (and will replace the N/S driveshaft while I'm at it, cuz that needs doing too lol).
Also replaced my rubber charge pipe because it had split (As is common) and thought that would help the smoke issues i've been having. Hasn't helped, so I think it's time to whip out the turbo and use the repair kit I already bought to replace the seals & bearings - reckon they are shot!
So, plenty still to do :S
Also replaced my rubber charge pipe because it had split (As is common) and thought that would help the smoke issues i've been having. Hasn't helped, so I think it's time to whip out the turbo and use the repair kit I already bought to replace the seals & bearings - reckon they are shot!
So, plenty still to do :S
