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Discussion starter · #21 ·
I took it down to a local indy garage which my friend knows quite well. Inspection was free and they confirmed it was the gasket. It's quite hard to see so what he did was lift the vehicle, turn the wheel to the left to get more space, and from the right side of the car just stuck his head in and started spraying soapy water everywhere. Nice guy from Poland, doesn't mind getting stuck in and dirty. He quoted around ÂŁ50-60 (2 hour job) to fix it because he thought the manifold had to come out first, but luckily the job wasn't too hard a job so I did it myself. Will be going down there again if I get a problem.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
tangapants said:
Im going to give this a go as mine sounds a bit tractory, can i ask what does 22Nm mean? how do you measure that?

also youve written E16 torque required but the diagram has E14 screws?

Thanks
Yea sorry it's E16, I edited the text but not the picture.

You need a torque wrench to tighten it to 22Nm (which is the torque required to turn something). I.e. the higher the torque the tighter you screw it in. If you don't have one, you can kinda estimate. Imagine 2.2kg balancing off the end of a 1m long stick. How much turning force (torque) will this produce.
 
jonnyl888 said:
tangapants said:
Im going to give this a go as mine sounds a bit tractory, can i ask what does 22Nm mean? how do you measure that?

also youve written E16 torque required but the diagram has E14 screws?

Thanks
Yea sorry it's E16, I edited the text but not the picture.

You need a torque wrench to tighten it to 22Nm (which is the torque required to turn something). I.e. the higher the torque the tighter you screw it in. If you don't have one, you can kinda estimate. Imagine 2.2kg balancing off the end of a 1m long stick. How much turning force (torque) will this produce.
Ok cool, thanks!

one last thing say i get to the stage where i would next need to take the E16 bolts off, could i not run my fingers around where the gasket would be to check if its knackered or not?

Cheers
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
You could probably run your finger round and not feel anything because the gasket is tucked neatly between the turbo and manifold. Those bolts shouldn't be too hard to undo, if proper bolts were used and tightened to the correct torque setting. Problem with mine was the last guy who was in there used normal steel bolts which have a much lower operating temperature as opposed to the stainless steel Audi ones (probably why they are like ÂŁ7 each :eek: ).

Make sure you get a tonne of WD40 in there.
 
Jonny, do you recommend applying copper grease (or other sealant etc) to the Gasket itself?

My mechanic mentioned something about doing that when he described this DIY to me. He said if you didn't, the gasket would burn up quickly and you'd have to replace it again.. What do you think?

[smiley=book2.gif]
 
I put copper grease on all exhaust gaskets on assembly, and pipe joints as well. Not only copper helps to share seal heat with the surrounding metal, but also when oil vapors out, it leaves a nice copper based seal, that can withstand very high temps.

I'm slightly obsessed with the copper grease 8) - put it pretty much on everything, especially in suspension area - it makes things so much easier to disassemble should problems arise again.
 
well I attempted and failed this for the last 2 days [smiley=bigcry.gif]

I had the oil burning smell on high boost and my turbo began whistling. Boost leak test found nothing leaking, held a nice 15 psi and dropped very slowly through the oil fill cap.

[smiley=book2.gif] Read up on this procedure, got the gasket, penetraing oil, and new bolts. Got two bolts out with penetrating oil and a power impact driver, third one, the head of the bolt stripped.

To fix, tried the usual, about 4 different types of sockets, even some new kind for rounded off bolts. no go. Bought two different extractors you pound on with a hammer and one that cuts into the metal, no go. Then bought two different types of screw extractors with drill bits, a traditional kind to use with a tap handle, and a "power extractor" that you reverse drill in and then power out, did nothing.

So I'm stuck with a rounded off bolt, drilled off center about 5cm down into the exhaust manifold which the drill bit just doesn't want to cut into.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
Discussion starter · #32 ·
Were they the OEM E16 external torx bolts? How did you manage to round it off? Did you go at it with an impact wrench :eek: ?

I always use a breaker bar as it allows a lot more control, whereas an impact wrench will try to force it off.

DO NOT drill down too far as the bolt is only a few CM long and the bottom is actually the turbocharger itself. Maybe you have hit the turbo which you cant drill through.

Did you get a good set of bolt extractors? Theres a good set at Screwfix. You can just use a rachet wrench with these.

The last option which I hope you don't have to do is remove the turbo itself unfortunately. Then weld a new bolt to the rounded off bolt, then unscrew this new one.

Have you got a picture?
 
I will get a pic tomorrow. The turbo is safe, if anything I would drill through the exhaust manifold. I am prepared to replace it with a tubular Relentless if that happens.

However, I found a tip from a machine shop owner and bought some new tools. I purchased a set of cobalt drill bits that supposedly cut through steel like butter. Then I bought a Dremel Tungsten Carbine Cutter and was told it will be a piece of cake to take off what remains of the head of the bolt. http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories ... x?pid=9904

Once its flush I can either drill out the entire bolt and threads and put in a Helicoil to replace the threads, or if I'm lucky drilling out the center of the bolt it might release.

Wish me luck, nothing like a siezed bolt to ruin your day (or 3 days in my case [smiley=bomb.gif] )
 
That happened to me too mate. Very frustrating.
Depends what equipment you have access too but I used a welder to carefully add metal to the top of the rounded bolt and built it up to give the socket something to grip. I then used one of those turbo sockets to remove the bolt. They are sockets with reverse thread teeth in them that grip as you turn. Picked them up quite cheap from screw fix.
Good luck mate, I hope you manage to get it out.
 
I had a prob with one of them as well, but it's really worth penetrating all that in for some time before disassembling.
I think new turbo bolts come with the head a little taller...

I've used this, everything came out like tightened a week ago, from Halfords.
Image
 
thanks guys, I tried again with the tungsten carbine dremel rotary, didn't do anything. Then stepped up to various cobalt metal drill bits, in 4 hours I only managed to remove about 1/4 of the material from what's left of the bolt. I've already tried those reverse sockets that grip onto whats left of the metal, no go.

I got a quote to have it done at an Audi shop, $1200 USD so thats about 800 pounds sterling in UK terms. There is no way I'm going to pay that much money to have a pro do it.

I am going to find a welder, drive over there, disassemble in his parking lot and have him weld on a new nut or just use an oxygen acetylene torch to cut it out. I'm told if the bolt is in cast iron, which it is, the torch will cut (melt) the alloy bolt right out of the manifold and won't even harm the threads. I will see how it goes.
 
well I finally got the last bolt out. I had to take it to a welder who welded a nut onto it and go it out, cost $40.

I replaced the gasket, which I can see had a small crack in it, and the smell of burning oil at WOT is gone. Thanks all :)

Here is the new part number for the bolts on a 225 (AMU engine) that superseeds the one in this thread:
06A-145-540-K

You will be shocked at the cost of replacements, each bolt costs $18 USD but the kicker is the washer's are $36 USD each :roll:
Total for 3 bolts and 3 washer's $179, the gasket only costs $20. I opted to reuse the old washers to save a substantial amount of money.
 
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