WITW - Barn-find Final Edition

[Ronin]

[David's8]

i look forward to WITW more than the sunday newspapers

[MikkiJayne]

This morning started well - I was all motivated and started cleaning the inlet manifold. It didn't end well I quickly concluded that it was a bit too manky and swapped to a better one, but it still needs repainting.

So, 4 hours later, its drying off in the kitchen since it's too cold to dry in the workshop. It was so cold this morning that the aerosol degreaser I started using was creating ice on the manifold which mixed with the oil to make a dirty slush so I ended up using APC instead.



I'm still waiting for knock sensors so the manifold can't go back on yet anyway. I also remembered I'm waiting on cam chains too so can't do those yet either so I'll probably do the valley gasket and coolant pipework this afternoon instead.

[MikkiJayne]

More cleaning, some replacing.

The coolant pipe on the back was very crusty. Normally I'd soak it in evaporust and then paint it, but its way too cold for that. So, replace it with a good one and I'll deal with the rusty one later.



I remembered I had a couple of genuine knock sensors tucked away for a future project, so repurposed them to this one so I can get on with it. Interestingly, these are made by Siemens whereas the aftermarket ones I've been buying are Bosch. Bank 1 sensor back in place along with the water pipe



Water pipes done on the back too.



I put the valley plate back in as well but forgot to take a photo. Cam tensioners tomorrow hopefully, or at least one of them.

[MikkiJayne]

Time for tensioners.



Both cams out this time as I was planning to do the chains as well





The gauze has popped on this one but not gone through yet



There really ought to be some sort of heavenly fanfare or angelic chorus when unboxing these things





I was planning, given the mileage, on changing out the chains as well, and went to some trouble to source INA chains on the basis that they should be OEM. Alas no, these are much more lightweight than the originals - same size rollers, but smaller pins and much smaller links. They are also ever so slightly longer, so I see no benefit to swapping the originals for these.



Old chain back on with the new tensioner. The cams are rotated forward 45° n this head to make them easier to put in place, as that way they're not trying to push any valves open



Cam caps all on and rotated back to TDC to confirm the cams are still timed properly



Bolts torqued to 5Nm and then marked



Then tightened another 90°



New cam seals from Elring



One on the front



Seal and a blank on the back



Cam cover back on with a fresh gasket.



Other side tomorrow

[David's8]

Are the tensioners D2 specific and, if so, are they on the endangered list?

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by David's8

Are the tensioners D2 specific and, if so, are they on the endangered list?

They are available through tps and on the 'stupidly expensive list'

One of mine failed and i bought a chinese replacement for £30 instead of paying a grand or however much it is for oem one.
It has been working ok for about 2k miles now and if it fails ill replace the 2,8 engine with a 4.2

Still if S8's are £25k cars now it would be silly not to get them replaced if needed.

[MikkiJayne]

They are also used on the D3 so there is supply for probably another 3-4 years.

There is some chatter in the RS6 community that the Vaico units are in fact the genuine items without the Audi rings. These are £350 each, so half the price of the originals, but until I've laid eyes on one and someone has run them for a while its a bit of a gamble, and no one wants to be first!

[tintin]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

They are also used on the D3 so there is supply for probably another 3-4 years.

There is some chatter in the RS6 community that the Vaico units are in fact the genuine items without the Audi rings. These are £350 each, so half the price of the originals, but until I've laid eyes on one and someone has run them for a while its a bit of a gamble, and no one wants to be first!

Glad you replaced mine when it disintegrated in a, errr..., timely fashion at yours then

[David's8]

i saw the Vaico units for that price and they were pre-fixed with "OEM" on the UK parts site i visited. But, as you say. its a gamble for high stakes!!!!