Cam's out of alignment slightly? Calling Tester123 & jseklund + others
01-23-2014, 08:45 AM
#21
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And that 3rd hand won't be available most of tomorrow so... I'll have to do it tonight after a 13 hr day of classes and then just leave it outside the car before I can work on it tomorrow morning and then probably have to switch to working on the driver side before I put the passenger camshafts back in since that 3rd hand won't be available till the evening and I don't want to sit around wasting time...
(In fact, would you recommend leaving valve covers off on both pass and driver side to check their alignment together, even if i'm SURE the marks on the chain match the marks on the sprocket, etc. I was going to button up one side completely before moving the the next just to keep things orderly)
01-23-2014, 08:56 AM
#22
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Yeah it is really dirty so, what you gonna do about it? Leave it alone. Like others mentioned, get the breather pipe fixed. Its those blow-by oil vapors that are depositing in the engine. People mention seafoam and whole other products to oil. I suggest you never add any thing to oil. Just good brand synthetic oil and change it frequently or on time/mileage. Nothing serious here that requires any government to get involved in!
Now, before you pop those bearing caps, follow this post:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...5&postcount=24
Granted, some parts don't apply to you but from STEP 12 TO 15.
Forget those sounds (that were specific to OPs problem). Just turn the engine and turn back 45 degs and back to marked position. Now check alignment of those notches and arrows. By doing this all slack in the chain will be gone and they should align properly. Even if they don't, don't worry too much about it; mark and continue.
Just read that post clearly and use pertinent info. Count the links. Mark it with White-Out. Any permanent marker will just wash out when you spray brake cleaner etc. when cleaning. Don't worry, the chain won't break or your engine won't lose any efficiency because you got white-out on the chain. Don't make the mistakes I made... I used permanent marker and didn't realize while cleaning off the grass (that f'ing lawn mower guy
) I sprayed brake cleaner and ink washed right off and you can imagine my panic! Of course after much deliberation, (thanks for fellow forum members), trial and error, I got it all back together. Otherwise, I wouldn't be the professor that I am here now, would I? 
Good, now we are getting to meat and potatoes here!
Remember, Surfaces have to be CLEAN; like, Acetone Clean! when putting back - if you never want to see these leaks for another 100k! And, screw the manual's advice on not using silicone sealer on gasket! USE it, but very lightly! EVEN on Valley seals, Cam tension adjuster gasket (pay special attention to the oil inlet opening to cam adjuster) too much and you'll clog it. Better yet, put a thin layer on both sides of metal gasket BUT, WIPE off the sealer around the oil inlet opening. Leave a thin layer around the outer edges of it instead. I hope that makes sense. if not, post back and i'll try to explain more.
A note about surfaces, Audi uses some sealer (there is a number I forget; like they do for everything) between the head and end bearing caps -ones with cam seals. After removing all bolts, use a rubber mallet and tap slowly until they move. You don't want to bend them with force. Aluminum will nick/warp very easily. Also, take your time to remove ALL this glue/sealer. It didn't budge even with Acetone. I used Dremel with small wire brush and brushed it all away basically. It's that cross hatch area I am talking about; they mention it in the manual. Here too, you can use the silicon sealer (thin even layer). Bolt them down, wait a few mins because the excess of sealer will seep out in the cam seals area. Complete tightening all bearing caps and by now, the sealer will dry. Take a wooden pick etc. and just clean that out. Don't do this until it dries or you'll just smear that stuff all over. When dry, it will peel off clean like that glue behind new credit cards.
Also the same with tensioner gaskets etc. Basically, clean out all excess sealer after it dries completely. Then put some on the valve cover gasket and lower it and complete the rest.
Now, before you pop those bearing caps, follow this post:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...5&postcount=24
Granted, some parts don't apply to you but from STEP 12 TO 15.
Forget those sounds (that were specific to OPs problem). Just turn the engine and turn back 45 degs and back to marked position. Now check alignment of those notches and arrows. By doing this all slack in the chain will be gone and they should align properly. Even if they don't, don't worry too much about it; mark and continue.
Just read that post clearly and use pertinent info. Count the links. Mark it with White-Out. Any permanent marker will just wash out when you spray brake cleaner etc. when cleaning. Don't worry, the chain won't break or your engine won't lose any efficiency because you got white-out on the chain. Don't make the mistakes I made... I used permanent marker and didn't realize while cleaning off the grass (that f'ing lawn mower guy
) I sprayed brake cleaner and ink washed right off and you can imagine my panic! Of course after much deliberation, (thanks for fellow forum members), trial and error, I got it all back together. Otherwise, I wouldn't be the professor that I am here now, would I? Good, now we are getting to meat and potatoes here!
Remember, Surfaces have to be CLEAN; like, Acetone Clean! when putting back - if you never want to see these leaks for another 100k! And, screw the manual's advice on not using silicone sealer on gasket! USE it, but very lightly! EVEN on Valley seals, Cam tension adjuster gasket (pay special attention to the oil inlet opening to cam adjuster) too much and you'll clog it. Better yet, put a thin layer on both sides of metal gasket BUT, WIPE off the sealer around the oil inlet opening. Leave a thin layer around the outer edges of it instead. I hope that makes sense. if not, post back and i'll try to explain more.
A note about surfaces, Audi uses some sealer (there is a number I forget; like they do for everything) between the head and end bearing caps -ones with cam seals. After removing all bolts, use a rubber mallet and tap slowly until they move. You don't want to bend them with force. Aluminum will nick/warp very easily. Also, take your time to remove ALL this glue/sealer. It didn't budge even with Acetone. I used Dremel with small wire brush and brushed it all away basically. It's that cross hatch area I am talking about; they mention it in the manual. Here too, you can use the silicon sealer (thin even layer). Bolt them down, wait a few mins because the excess of sealer will seep out in the cam seals area. Complete tightening all bearing caps and by now, the sealer will dry. Take a wooden pick etc. and just clean that out. Don't do this until it dries or you'll just smear that stuff all over. When dry, it will peel off clean like that glue behind new credit cards.
Also the same with tensioner gaskets etc. Basically, clean out all excess sealer after it dries completely. Then put some on the valve cover gasket and lower it and complete the rest.
01-23-2014, 09:06 AM
#23
AudiWorld Super User
Your call on leaving both cam covers off, etc. I see your shoes are black and they look in good shape. At least you have both ends..that's usually where I see them broken off.
01-23-2014, 09:17 AM
#24
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Ya, but they for sure have groves in at least the top pad... and since I have replacement pads... should I replace? I really don't want to do this again in 10 or 20k miles or something because on of those pads break...
01-23-2014, 12:12 PM
#25
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Chances are you will get more than 10 or 20K miles. These things often last for several hundred K miles. Unless you were getting noise on startup (and that can even be too thin oil for worn tensioner hydraulics) or actually see chewed up shoes, I wouldn't bother replacing the shoes unless you happened to have the tensioner out for some reason.
01-23-2014, 12:34 PM
#26
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Chances are you will get more than 10 or 20K miles. These things often last for several hundred K miles. Unless you were getting noise on startup (and that can even be too thin oil for worn tensioner hydraulics) or actually see chewed up shoes, I wouldn't bother replacing the shoes unless you happened to have the tensioner out for some reason.
I'm pretty sure I haven't heard any chatter at start up, or at least it's not very noticeable. I maybe kinda hear something for the first 30 sec or so when it's damn cold and the car has sat for at least a couple hours or so but that it, as soon as it warm up 30+ degrees outside that sound isn't noticeable on start up. Probably unrelated?
01-23-2014, 01:25 PM
#27
Can you take a photo of the groove and show us? It is a bit of a judgement call. Obviously if something looks damaged, it may be a good idea to replace it, but removing the cams can introduce complexity. I do everything I can to avoid removing cams when possible, but you have to pull them out with the tensioner in order to replace those pads.
If you are going to remove them, I would get a clean work surface (a cardboard box on the garage floor or better) and take off all of the caps in sequence (they have an order with which to take them off) and pull both cams with the tensioner and put it on the work surface all together, trying to keep tension on the chain so that the cams don't move off of their links. If the chain does come off, you just have to put it back on and count the links, but this is harder to do with certainty when it is off the car IMO, and sometimes you get it back together and realize you are off a link if you are prone to stupid mistakes like me.
Once the cams are out you can just use a screwdriver to pop the pads off. The tensioner tool will need to be removed to get the top pad off I believe.
If you are going to remove them, I would get a clean work surface (a cardboard box on the garage floor or better) and take off all of the caps in sequence (they have an order with which to take them off) and pull both cams with the tensioner and put it on the work surface all together, trying to keep tension on the chain so that the cams don't move off of their links. If the chain does come off, you just have to put it back on and count the links, but this is harder to do with certainty when it is off the car IMO, and sometimes you get it back together and realize you are off a link if you are prone to stupid mistakes like me.
Once the cams are out you can just use a screwdriver to pop the pads off. The tensioner tool will need to be removed to get the top pad off I believe.
01-23-2014, 02:06 PM
#29
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Can you take a photo of the groove and show us? It is a bit of a judgement call. Obviously if something looks damaged, it may be a good idea to replace it, but removing the cams can introduce complexity. I do everything I can to avoid removing cams when possible, but you have to pull them out with the tensioner in order to replace those pads.
If you are going to remove them, I would get a clean work surface (a cardboard box on the garage floor or better) and take off all of the caps in sequence (they have an order with which to take them off) and pull both cams with the tensioner and put it on the work surface all together, trying to keep tension on the chain so that the cams don't move off of their links. If the chain does come off, you just have to put it back on and count the links, but this is harder to do with certainty when it is off the car IMO, and sometimes you get it back together and realize you are off a link if you are prone to stupid mistakes like me.
Once the cams are out you can just use a screwdriver to pop the pads off. The tensioner tool will need to be removed to get the top pad off I believe.
If you are going to remove them, I would get a clean work surface (a cardboard box on the garage floor or better) and take off all of the caps in sequence (they have an order with which to take them off) and pull both cams with the tensioner and put it on the work surface all together, trying to keep tension on the chain so that the cams don't move off of their links. If the chain does come off, you just have to put it back on and count the links, but this is harder to do with certainty when it is off the car IMO, and sometimes you get it back together and realize you are off a link if you are prone to stupid mistakes like me.
Once the cams are out you can just use a screwdriver to pop the pads off. The tensioner tool will need to be removed to get the top pad off I believe.
I'll see if I can get a picture of this.
Are the caps numbered 1 - 7 with one being at the front of the engine and moving back? That's how blauparts has them numbered but some of the caps actually have a little arrow pointing toward the center of the valve cover area and little number etched in them. I have two cam caps with 2, 4, and 7 etched on them... But they're NOT in an order from front to back or even back to front. Blau parts is VERY clear and bold saying that can caps MUST go back in the specific spots and if they're mixed up it could cause damage... I put them back in the same spots I pulled then off because the car was working... But man I'm wondering why those numbers are there and if my indie mixed them up...
01-23-2014, 05:20 PM
#30
The heads are identical, so use one head to match the other head. I do believe the numbers indicate their placement.
If you look at the bottom of the cam cap you will see a small hole. If you look at the head where the cap sits, you will see a small hole. Those two holes NEED to line up (which is why they put the arrow on there). If you flip the cap upside down, you will have no hole on the cap over the hole in the head and oil will not come through and your cams will run dry. Make sure you do NOT do this.
If you look at the bottom of the cam cap you will see a small hole. If you look at the head where the cap sits, you will see a small hole. Those two holes NEED to line up (which is why they put the arrow on there). If you flip the cap upside down, you will have no hole on the cap over the hole in the head and oil will not come through and your cams will run dry. Make sure you do NOT do this.