An Intro and Request for Parts Advice...
12-10-2018, 11:22 AM
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An Intro and Request for Parts Advice...
Hello!
First, thanks for taking the time to read this. I have recently become the owner of a 1995 Audi S6 with around 180,000 miles on it. While I just became the owner, the car itself is familiar to me. My dad has been an Audi guy since back in the day; he bought an Audi 5000 turbo Quattro brand new back during the sudden acceleration fiasco in the eighties when Audi could barely give cars away in the states, and he drove that thing for years... In fact, he had it until the early 2000s until it got to the point where it wasn't worth dumping more money into. He really missed that car, and coincidentally, a relatively low mileage 95 S6 was traded in at a nearby dealership, and he always really wanted the "hot" version of his old chassis. He bought it and drove it semi-regularly up until he started having knee and back trouble three or so years ago. Sadly, it kind of became a "yard car" (although it was parked on a driveway, albeit uncovered) for some time until I brought up the idea of buying it from him last summer. Much to my surprise, he seemed enthused about the idea of my buying it, on the condition that I would keep it for some time and fix it up (me being me, he knows that I'm bound to start repairing it). I'm no stranger to mechanical work; I've actually worked as a full time mechanic before, and I've owned, worked on, and modified some pretty complicated cars, ranging from multiple turbo Subarus to a heavily modified Z32 300ZX twin turbo (which I actually still own). In an effort to help dad over the years, I've worked on his old S6 quite a bit since he's owned it as well. I'm excited to own the car itself, as I've always been a fan of old school Audis and can still remember watching group B footage in awe as kid.
All of the above being said, I'm now tearing into the Audi. Over Thanksgiving I drained and cleaned the fuel tank, changed the timing belt, cam and crank seals, flushed the coolant, etc. in an effort to have the car ready to drive from its native home in Northeast TN to my house in GA. As luck would have it, however, I started running into unexpected issues. The high pressure power steering line was leaking quite badly, and I'm also getting fluid leaking from around the "X plug" in the top of the power steering pump.
After A LOT of searching, I actually found a new, OEM Audi high pressure line. It was expensive, but at least I got my hands on it. Now I'm trying to resolve the X plug issue. I know the simple repair is simply to get a new plug and seal, but I have looked, and looked, and called, and called, and I cannot find one ANYWHERE. EVERY place I find it catalogued now says it is no longer available. I found an an O ring in the garage that seemed to fit the old plug, but pressure and I guess the CH-11 fluid itself destroyed that seal and it began leaking again before my thirty minute test drive was even over. I found another, thicker O ring at a parts store, but my guess is it'll probably suffer the same fate (I ran out of time to keep working on the car, and it's still sitting in TN waiting to be driven back home with me). The pump itself doesn't have many miles on it (it's a rebuild I helped dad put on the car back before it was parked).
So... My question is, does ANYONE have ANY idea where I can find a new OEM X plug and seal? Or if not, does anyone know where I could find a comparable O ring that might actually last more than thirty minutes? I've checked the websites of 034, ECS Tuning, Shokan, and various Audi dedicated Audi dealers, and I can't find anything.
I'm hoping I can find what I need so I can put the new parts on and drive the car back to GA with me when my wife, kid, and I go visit my family again over Christmas.
Again, I'm enthused to be on the forum, and many thanks to anyone who can help lead me down the right path!
- Jonathan
First, thanks for taking the time to read this. I have recently become the owner of a 1995 Audi S6 with around 180,000 miles on it. While I just became the owner, the car itself is familiar to me. My dad has been an Audi guy since back in the day; he bought an Audi 5000 turbo Quattro brand new back during the sudden acceleration fiasco in the eighties when Audi could barely give cars away in the states, and he drove that thing for years... In fact, he had it until the early 2000s until it got to the point where it wasn't worth dumping more money into. He really missed that car, and coincidentally, a relatively low mileage 95 S6 was traded in at a nearby dealership, and he always really wanted the "hot" version of his old chassis. He bought it and drove it semi-regularly up until he started having knee and back trouble three or so years ago. Sadly, it kind of became a "yard car" (although it was parked on a driveway, albeit uncovered) for some time until I brought up the idea of buying it from him last summer. Much to my surprise, he seemed enthused about the idea of my buying it, on the condition that I would keep it for some time and fix it up (me being me, he knows that I'm bound to start repairing it). I'm no stranger to mechanical work; I've actually worked as a full time mechanic before, and I've owned, worked on, and modified some pretty complicated cars, ranging from multiple turbo Subarus to a heavily modified Z32 300ZX twin turbo (which I actually still own). In an effort to help dad over the years, I've worked on his old S6 quite a bit since he's owned it as well. I'm excited to own the car itself, as I've always been a fan of old school Audis and can still remember watching group B footage in awe as kid.
All of the above being said, I'm now tearing into the Audi. Over Thanksgiving I drained and cleaned the fuel tank, changed the timing belt, cam and crank seals, flushed the coolant, etc. in an effort to have the car ready to drive from its native home in Northeast TN to my house in GA. As luck would have it, however, I started running into unexpected issues. The high pressure power steering line was leaking quite badly, and I'm also getting fluid leaking from around the "X plug" in the top of the power steering pump.
After A LOT of searching, I actually found a new, OEM Audi high pressure line. It was expensive, but at least I got my hands on it. Now I'm trying to resolve the X plug issue. I know the simple repair is simply to get a new plug and seal, but I have looked, and looked, and called, and called, and I cannot find one ANYWHERE. EVERY place I find it catalogued now says it is no longer available. I found an an O ring in the garage that seemed to fit the old plug, but pressure and I guess the CH-11 fluid itself destroyed that seal and it began leaking again before my thirty minute test drive was even over. I found another, thicker O ring at a parts store, but my guess is it'll probably suffer the same fate (I ran out of time to keep working on the car, and it's still sitting in TN waiting to be driven back home with me). The pump itself doesn't have many miles on it (it's a rebuild I helped dad put on the car back before it was parked).
So... My question is, does ANYONE have ANY idea where I can find a new OEM X plug and seal? Or if not, does anyone know where I could find a comparable O ring that might actually last more than thirty minutes? I've checked the websites of 034, ECS Tuning, Shokan, and various Audi dedicated Audi dealers, and I can't find anything.
I'm hoping I can find what I need so I can put the new parts on and drive the car back to GA with me when my wife, kid, and I go visit my family again over Christmas.
Again, I'm enthused to be on the forum, and many thanks to anyone who can help lead me down the right path!
- Jonathan
12-11-2018, 02:49 PM
#2
If you don't get an answer here, try the urs4 forum at quattroworld that has a much larger critical mass of urs4 owners. Not as easy to use as this one, but lots more info available.
12-13-2018, 09:36 AM
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Welcome to the club. You are correct, the re-seal kits appear to be NLA from Audi. Gates sells kits on eBay for the 1991 Audi 200 that might be workable: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-1989-1991-Audi-200-Quattro-Power-Steering-Pump-Seal-Kit-Gates-34433RY-1990/292749168637?epid=21024326754&hash=item442935cffd: rk:1
f:0
Some have suggested that the following o-ring works too: McMaster 1185N69, Viton, Brown, 17mm ID, 21mm OD, 2mm thick, 90+ durometer - https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/124/3613
Make sure you are careful when removing the x-plug to replace the seal (drag link socket) as there is a very small spring lurking behind there that can sometimes pop out and put you in a world of hurt.
f:0 Some have suggested that the following o-ring works too: McMaster 1185N69, Viton, Brown, 17mm ID, 21mm OD, 2mm thick, 90+ durometer - https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/124/3613
Make sure you are careful when removing the x-plug to replace the seal (drag link socket) as there is a very small spring lurking behind there that can sometimes pop out and put you in a world of hurt.
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