Inlet manifold Co flap broken off

[spannerrash]

The pads are actually a very stiff rubber not plastic. Still quite flexible in hand.

[ainarssems]

Originally Posted by steamship

Just looking at the photos again, isn't it a very unusual part to break? I always thought that it was just the plastic flaps that deteriorated over time, got brittle and broke off. Although, you could say he was 'lucky' in that there was no way part of the arm and the flap were going to drop into the cylinder, unlike small bits of plastic.

Plastic going through the engine probably would not do any harm, if anything it would go through engine and get stuck in cat. It might just burn up in cat and not cause any issues or it may contaminate cat and make it less efficient.

On 4.0TDI I think the manifolds themselves are plastic, they age, wear and cracks over time and let the metal bits become loose which go in engine and wreck it.

[spannerrash]

So...... an update.

Got the NOS unit from the US but unfortunately it arrived with a broken vacuum pod. Seller was super helpful, perhaps a little too helpful and refunded me the cost of a new one which I got from sccuderia (£130).

The used unit I bought on Ebay which came from Germany (£180) ish seems to be in perfect working order. I've checked it with a hand held vacuum pump and all seems good and the flaps move nice and freely. I gave it a lick of paint to smarten it up a little.

After exploring my options I've decided to fit the German one for now. It wasn't my easiest of decisions as I'm a bit OCD about maintaining the car but financially it makes sense. Whilst ever I keep the US unit new it will maintain some value. Once fitted to the car it will obviously just become part of the car and it's value (£1400) will be lost.

I hope I don't live to regret that decision.

The other main reason for fitting the used unit is because I'm getting increasingly frustrated about how difficult it is becoming to find parts for the S8. My OCD is quite severe when it comes to maintaining my vehicle's. It's kind of my hobby and not being able to do it correctly bothers me. Consequently I keep flip flopping between keeping and selling the car.

[spannerrash]

Does anyone know the torque setting for the bolts that hold the inlet manifold to the block please? My info seems to suggest 25Nm but that seems quite high to me for the size of bolts.

[steamship]

Originally Posted by spannerrash

My info seems to suggest 25Nm but that seems quite high to me for the size of bolts.

I used the following PDF from the D2 Tech dump post. According to the table on page 83, it's 10Nm. Link as follows, and would have been the document I referenced when working on mine last year:

Service Manual 8-cylinder engine (3.7 ltr & 4.2 ltr 5-valve AQF, AQG, ARU, AUW, AVN, AVP, AKC, .pdf

[spannerrash]

I see it. Thanks very much.

[spannerrash]

Final update

In the end I decided to fit the new unit I bought from the US. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to split the second hand unit I sourced from Germany so I could inspect it properly. Whilst the flaps did move freely there were signs of wear on some contact surfaces. Nothing too extreme but that coupled with the fact I now need to re-seal it made me decide to go down the easiest but more expensive route. This will also allow me to sleep better knowing I have done the best I can and not compromised.

I put the car through it's Mot which she passed once again with flying colours and have been driving her for the last few weeks with no problems. So hopefully that brings an end to this little drama.

The issue of which this thread is about has once again frustrated me with how difficult it is getting to keep these cars in good running condition. I find myself constantly thinking about what's next and spending hours on the Internet looking for hard to get parts that I may need in the future. This has all lessened my enjoyment of ownership and so I have decided to sell.

A few pics bellow taken just after the Mot as a teaser. If you are in the market for a low ish millage S8 I will be listing her in the for sale section in the next week or so. I just need a bit of time to pull all the information together.

Cheers Frank

[steamship]

Originally Posted by spannerrash

This has all lessened my enjoyment of ownership and so I have decided to sell.

A shame that another one goes up for sale because of the difficulty of buying spare parts. GWLS.