[s-cars] How hard to replace oil pump seals?

[Fred Munro]

Hi Dave;

In order of likelihood, I'd suggest the leak is coming from this source(s):

1. When the timing belt was replaced, the bolts securing the timing belt
tensioner and timing belt covers weren't cleaned and Loctited. Some of these
bolts go into oil passages and will leak oil if not sealed with Loctite.
It's good practice to Loctite all the bolts going into the block in this
area unless you know for sure which ones go into the oil passages (I Loctite
everything in this area). From your photos, it looks like the bottom left
tensioner bolt is leaking oil. You can fix this without removing the t-belt.
The t-belt looks dry in your photos so it should be OK.

2. Front crank seal. You'll need to pull the front pulley to change this. If
this is leaking, the back of the pulley will be covered with oil and oil
will be flung out around the area. Don't see too much of that in your
photos, but it's hard to tell without seeing the engine.

3. Cam seal leaking oil down behind the inner upper t-belt cover. Hard to
tell from the photos - doesn't look too likely.

I'd suggest you clean the area very well, run the engine for 15 minutes or
so, and look to see where the fresh oil is coming out.

Good luck!

Fred Munro
'94 S4


-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Dave Ellis
Sent: September 30, 2004 12:49 PM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com
Subject: [s-cars] How hard to replace oil pump seals?



Hi All!

My '93 S4 has developed an oil leak from the bottom front of the engine.
I've tracked it down to coming from in and around the oil pump and
suspect either the oil pump gasket or nearby seal has gone south on me.

I've not yet had to change the timing belt since I got the car, so I'm
not very familiar yet with this area of the engine.  I was unable to
see precisely where the oil is leaking from without removing the timing
belt etc. since it's partially covered by the rear timing belt plastic
shield.

Does anyone know if it's more likely that a shaft seal or a gasket has
let go?  Has anyone run into this problem before?

How hard is it to change the oil pump gasket?  What about the shaft seal
that goes through the pump?  It appears the timing belt and
paraphenalia must be removed to do this.  Any way to get around having
to do that?  The timing belt has only 21000km on it so far.  Anyone
have a BTDT for this?

Lots of questions!   :o)

I took some photos of the oil leaking from the around the oil pump area.

Here's looking down the passneger side of the engine with the camera
just above the TBV:
http://mimir.dyndns.org:8080/images/camera/Dave/08-04-2004/IMG_1872.JPG_inde
x.html
http://mimir.dyndns.org:8080/images/camera/Dave/08-04-2004/IMG_1874.JPG_inde
x.html

And here's the same view from the front of the engine looking down to
the bottom of the timing belt and oil pump:
http://mimir.dyndns.org:8080/images/camera/Dave/08-04-2004/IMG_1870.JPG_inde
x.html
http://mimir.dyndns.org:8080/images/camera/Dave/08-04-2004/IMG_1871.JPG_inde
x.html

Other photos both before and after washing the accumulated crud stuck to
the leaked oil are at
http://mimir.dyndns.org:8080/images/camera/Dave/08-04-2004/index.html

Thanks!

Dave Ellis
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
'93 S4


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