I think it would be great if

[famwagon]

Audi put out a recall for the cam tensioner seal. For those of us with no warranty it really sucks. It seems like this happens to every 1.8t on this forum. Lets start another class action suit. Who's in?

[AudiA4_20T]

if its a recall you should be able to get it covered, its not too bad of a DIY anyway

[famwagon]

S--t man, I wish there was a recall. Everyone should call audi and complain, just like i did today. My car is in the shop now. I printed out the diy instructions to my mechanic. Anchor Audi gave me a quote for $966. Thats nuts. Hopefully it will be much less the diy way.

[risc427]

S--t man, I wish there was a recall. Everyone should call audi and complain, just like i did today. My car is in the shop now. I printed out the diy instructions to my mechanic. Anchor Audi gave me a quote for $966. Thats nuts. Hopefully it will be much less the diy way.

Wow, $996, what the hell are they doing, taking your cams completely out?!

I agree though, it does suck that almost every 1.8T has this problem at some point. My B5 had this issue and I know my B6 is going to, but it'll get replaced before it becomes a problem this time.

[kwimberly]

Just had mine done with the VCG last week.

[A4SoftWalker]

Mine was done under warranty somewhere between 30k and 40k. Not too sure how frequently it needs attention (knock on wood) I'm @ 102k now.

[festerfm]

yeah... i got that cam seal leak... been leaking since i got the car. doesnt leak real bad, but enough to make me unhappy... how hard is this to do? i went to the dealer for an allignment and they did a "complimentary" timing belt check since i was at 110k on my 03.. they said the timing belt looks just fine but there is an oil leak on it coming from the cam tentioner seal or some shit like that.. is that a diy?? any writeups?

[risc427]

You can do it yourself, but you need to compress the cam chain tensioner which is what makes this a PITA. The tool to do this can be had for like $25 - $30, so it would definitely be worth it if the other option is like $900.

[festerfm]

what is involved??? is there a writeup anywhere

[risc427]

This thread doesn't explain exactly how to do it, but it'll give you a very good idea. I don't think I've seen a write up explain it step for step.

Cam Tensioner Gasket

[Papachristou]

my dealer offered me a "discounted rate" of $800

local german shop $250

[famwagon]

There is a great diy in the b5 forum. Thats what i brought over to my mech. Apparently he still had to remove a cam because of a solenoid on the tensioner blocking his path to the half moon seal. Still, he said it was not to bad of a job.

[festerfm]

still lookin for a writeup of some sort... i'm out of warranty and not paying a shop that much for a seal if it is something i can do myself.. i understand i'll need the tool and i have one available to me it's just how involving is it??

[famwagon]

Use the search and you'll find some helpful material. This is not a diy thread. This is a lets try to make audi pay for it thread. This should not be happening to low mileage or well taken care of cars.

[festerfm]

ok.. and fwiw, i just talked to my audi dealer who looked into my file and told me its not coming from the tentioner... that there's a leak up front and w/out taking everything apart, there's no clue where the leak is coming from.. so i think i'm going to do the valve cover gasket first to try the cheapest route.. he tried telling telling me that it's pretty rare for the cam seal tentioner to go and have oil get on the clutch since its only way in would be the breather tube and that it's a very rare occurance..

so long story short, nm the write up idea. but i will jump on the bandwagon if it gets turned into a recall or whatever...

[risc427]

Just as a FYI, if you do the valve cover gasket now and end up having to do the cam tensioner gasket later, you'll have to replace the VC gasket again. Once you remove the VC it's not recommended to reuse the same gasket. (generally true with most gaskets in my experience)

Not an expensive piece, but why spend money that you may not have to.

[festerfm]

very true.. but if it isnt leaking when i do take it apart, i'm not going to mess with it.. since i'll be doing it myself it's not like i'm wasting $$$ on labor...

[famwagon]

ok.. and fwiw, i just talked to my audi dealer who looked into my file and told me its not coming from the tentioner... that there's a leak up front and w/out taking everything apart, there's no clue where the leak is coming from.. so i think i'm going to do the valve cover gasket first to try the cheapest route.. he tried telling telling me that it's pretty rare for the cam seal tentioner to go and have oil get on the clutch since its only way in would be the breather tube and that it's a very rare occurance..

so long story short, nm the write up idea. but i will jump on the bandwagon if it gets turned into a recall or whatever...

Just to let u know bud, I did it the easy way 5 moths ago, with just doing the cover and had to have it opened again today to do the seal. If the leak is starting at the rear of the cover, its def. the seal.

When i brought the car in for the free timing belt inspection, a tech told me the tensioner seal is a very common issue on our cars.

[CyberPMG]

I'm getting mine replaced next week. Fortunately, it's a very tiny oil leak right now. The stealership quoted me $550. My local indy shop will get it done for under $200.

From what I've heard, it's not that difficult with the right tools, but it is time consuming. Supposedly takes 4-5 hours to complete, but you then need to let it sit another 4 hours before you can fire up the engine. The cam seal is only $6 to $8, and they tell you that it has to sit for 4 hours after the install.

Mine started leaking about 6k miles ago. I'm pretty sure it happened when the stealership did a carbon cleaning of the valves. That means that the seal lasted for 135k miles and almost 5 years. I think that it definitely lasted it's full life and not considered for any recall. That's including many hours on the track, some aggressive mountain road driving, and road trips.

[festerfm]

Just to let u know bud, I did it the easy way 5 moths ago, with just doing the cover and had to have it opened again today to do the seal. If the leak is starting at the rear of the cover, its def. the seal.

When i brought the car in for the free timing belt inspection, a tech told me the tensioner seal is a very common issue on our cars.

well call me a noob but when the dealer told me about the leak and said "cam seal" then i started reading this thread i thought that the tentioner seal could be the culprit but it's not leaking anything out the back.. i thought the tentioner was up front until i started seeing pics and read through this thread. the leak is up front and is a very very slow leak. that's why i'll start w/ the valve cover gasket as opposed to the cam seal since that would be done when i get the timing belt done.