jseklund

Hi guys - it's been years since I've been on this board. I used to have a couple of older A6's with the 2.7T engines and this forum helped me solve a lot of issues and learn a lot about that engine. At one point I even had to replace the heads on one of them, which I could have never done without this board. About 4 years ago I got rid of my Audi and I haven't had to do any Audi work in a while so I've slacked on coming here. My gf, however, inherited a 2009 A6 about 18 months ago and it's run pretty well with the exception of the typical audi leaks that I have been too lazy to get into fixing. But the time is now coming. I have plans to open up the engine bay and do an R/R on things to get them running well again. Part of the impetus for this is that the serpentine belt shredded about a month ago. When I replaced it, all of the pulleys seemed to spin freely so I put on new belts. There was a lot of oil and potentially coolant in the front of the engine and I am guessing that and the fact that for all I know the belt is an original with 170,000 miles on it - I am guessing that caused the belt to weaken and I just left it at that for now. I currently believe there are multiple issues to be dealt with:

1. General oil leaks. Valve cover gaskets and associated parts are probably wise to do while I'm in there. I am wondering what you guys think I should replace for potential oil leaks while I'm in there. Valve cover gaskets with new valve cover bolts are in the ECS kit so I'm OK with doing that - but in the old 2.7T I would also be doing cam chain tensioner seals, cam seals, etc. - What seals should I get while I'm in there? I would rather do it right while I have it open and spending an extra couple hundred on parts while I've got it all apart makes some sense to me. I saw some reference to the timing chain covers leaking oil and replacing those gaskets - but couldn't find much when I searched on what this involves and how to do it on a 3.0T.

2. Coolant leak - It's time to do the water pump and maybe some coolant lines (I noticed a line in the front of the engine coming down from a split up near the intake that had an approx. 4" rubber hose that looks like coolant is weeping from. I would have replaced it while I had it open but it was cold and I didn't have the part on hand and needed to get the car going again...and the coolant goes down about a half quart a month (the car isn't driven a ton) so I figured I hope I can slip by for a few months. I will be looking to do the water pump, thermostat, and some of the rubber hoses. I know this means removing the supercharger and thus I will need gaskets for the supercharge/intake in addition to the gaskets for the pump and thermostat. Any other parts I should have on hand? I am contemplating getting the hose that runs under the supercharger to the water pump as well, just to have it on hand because I've seen a couple write ups showing the part corroded/broke and I'd rather have it on hand if I am in there than find out I need it...unless this just doesn't happen often.

3. The potentially bigger problem is that since I've put the serpentine belt back on the power steering sometimes craps out when at a stop and the wheel is pushed all the way to one side. This makes me wonder if the pump is on the way out, which is problematic but not too bad. It may just be another leaking hose letting air into the system. Or it could be the rack - which would be a problem I fear dealing with as I changed a rack on a 2.7T and it was one of the worst jobs I have ever done - only because one of the bolts was in a spot that you could barely see never mind reach, but I managed to do it (I think the manual said to remove the engine to change the rack). Are there any parts associated with this that I should be looking to have on hand. Obviously I'm not going to have a power steering rack on hand for the heck of it, but you get where I'm coming from I'm sure. Seals, things I may not think of that will be broken when I get in there (or will likely break while I'm working).

4. What other items, if any, do you guys think I should look into for this project?

Any input would be helpful and I appreciate it. I plan on doing this in a couple months and having the car down for about a week when the weather heats up just a little bit. I can take 40's and 50's ....but 20's or below is tough to be handling metal tools and such. The car still runs reasonably well, and while it has some minor quirks and flaws now, I think it has a lot of life left - I got 360,000 on my old 2.7T. My hope is that I can get about 6 more months out of this and then I should be able to afford a new car for her, and I'm hoping to have this car fixed up and reliable enough to gift to someone I know who needs a more reliable vehicle.

09mazda6

check out FCP-Euro's youtube page and their work on the S4 which is basically the same engine - you will find a lot of answers to many of your questions and pretty good videos showing all the steps. There is another youtuber- Boost Dynamic Tuning - while I"ve seen some information on the various forums that their "services" may not be the best - their video about removing the S/C (it's part of their ported S/C process) and valve cover gaskets are pretty good and show a slightly different way of achieving the same outcome. I watched both of these videos several times, mocked up my tools and steps while watching them with my hood opened and then dove in. I was able to replace VC gasket, breather hose (that cracked in the process), S/C gaskets and PCV gaskets (should have replaced it while I had it opened) and a few other things. I can now go out and take S/C off in @ 20 minutes ( I don't drain coolant like FCP Euro does). Good luck, hope this info was helpful.

jseklund

Awesome, thanks for the info! I will check all of those out. I am pretty comfortable that I could probably do a lot of this without much issue with all the work I have done on cars, but going in blind would mean I would end up taking it apart and then having to let it sit while I gathered all the parts I needed...which only increase the likelihood that I forget something when putting it back together.

Thanks again.

jseklund

Ok, So I ordered tons of stuff on FCP Euro today but afterward realized - the old 2.7T had cam seals, cam adjuster seals and cam caps/plugs that needed to be replaced while you were doing the valve covers. I see no mention of these items in the FCP Euro videos and can find no reference to them in any posts for the 3.0T. Can anyone confirm if these are needed or not?

Also, I saw that the timing chain cover sometimes leaks oil - are there any good write ups on that. I haven't been able to find anything about this in FCP Euro's info. Not sure if this is worth getting into?

So far I have a new power steering pump, water pump, thermostat, coolant pipe under the supercharger, short coolant hose in the front of the engine, valve cover gaskets, PCV box, upper and lower intake gaskets, valve cover screws (got 14 - not sure I will need to replace them all??), and some various round gaskets for the coolant pipes, etc.

I am thinking I need to get a serpentine tensioner and any cam seals and maybe the timing chain cover gaskets?

09mazda6

Those parts you mention are not needed to replace the VC gaskets on the 3.0. It's just the gasket - no sealant involved on the 3.0. Timing chain covers do leak and if you search this forum you'll find a guy named Kelisko who did his TCC on his 3.2 and it's my understanding that it's nearly identical to the 3.0. as part of changing his tensioners out. He also have a youtube channel and his videos/instructions for a guy who's not @ a dealer or audi shop are so detailed. No gasket needed on those if I remember correctly. I did not replace the bolts on my VC - the covers are plastic and trying to pull the bolt out felt like it would break so far no leaks.

jseklund

Great! Thanks for the help brother! You rock.