acarney

Well, I give up, dropped a million gaskets and screws while trying to get the gasket between the combi valve adapter arm and the block in place. Even when I did get the gasket in there I still had a huge leak. Ripped the gasket back out, thought I would half *** it with high temp silicone again but nope, exhaust leak again. So tomorrow it's off to the dealer to see how much they'll charge me to correctly fix it. I hope they don't just torque those bolts more then I did and charge me $100. They're already damn tight and I do kinda want to be able to loosen then in the future if I ever have to replace the valve cover gasket again...

DLCroft929

Have you tried gluing the gasket to the combi valve before attempting to reinstall it. It worked for me just using a bit of RTV to hold the gasket in place. Just be sure to let it cure enough before reinstalling it to keep it from falling off of the combi valve.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Use it on one side only and just a little.

acarney

Using a little RTV was the only way I could get the gasket aligned correctly and mounted. Used a thin amount but still a huge exhaust leak, sounded like there wasn't any gasket at all. Anyway, going into the dealer tomorrow, service department took me into the bay to talk to a tech about it, it was determined it'll take 2 to 2.5 hrs of labor as long as the bolt holes are stripped or something and that's why I can't get it tight enough. (I don't think they are, I think my 3 inch micro ratchet doesn't allow me to get a good enough grip/enough leverage and this torque)

So hopefully by 10:30 tomorrow I'll be ~$250 lighter but also exhaust leak free and finally this massive job will be complete!

Prospeeder

I usually glue the gasket on with like super weather strip adhesive. Holds tight and doesnt affect how it seals. Silicone is too sloppy and doesnt setup quick enough to be very useful for gluing gaskets.

Huskerbob

I use Permatex Tack & Seal to hold these things in place for assembly.

jseklund

My girlfriend knows I refer to the combi valves as "annoying valves" and now you know why. These things are the worst design for putting on and taking off. It couldn't get anymore difficult.

I have never used any kind of gasket on these, I feel it may actually help create the leak. You are screwing into aluminum, so it isn't like you want to torque the hell out of it anyway. I always put two screws through and fiddle with it carefully. Maybe a little silicone on the screw head to keep it from falling out would help. The other thing you could maybe do is find something you could use as a post for 2 of the holes, so that you could slide the gasket over the posts, slide the valve over, install the screw in the third hole, and then remove the posts one as a time to install the other two screws. I'm just thinking out loud though. Kind of like the wheel install tool.

If there is a tough way to do something simple, Audi engineers will find it.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

They could have made it so the engine/transmission had to be removed as an assembly to change the valves...

acarney

Actually jokingly asked the dealer if that was the recommended service for it and she laughed and said it sure would make it easier, lol

Huskerbob

Funny! Of course if you put 2 Audi engineers in a 10 ft hole with an 11 ft ladder they will make a shovel out the ladder and dig their way out. But then again these same engineers did throw an S3 engine in an A1 so maybe they're not all bad...............

http://cnettv.cnet.com/audi-a1-quatt...-50158657.html