Passenger rear timing cover reseal, in frame?

A8 All/ S8 All
#1

I have my IM off and the oil filter housing so there is room to get my hand in there sort of.
Need to pull the ignition coil harness off the ECU as it takjes up alot of room and move a few small coolant lines.
Is there enough room back there to get a t30 and ratchet on these bolts?

The coolant crossover tube, i have no choice but to drain coolant and disconnect it. I believe the 2 flanges on the rear timing cover are just blind holes and are just suport brackets with no coolant actualy flowing through them yes?

My leak is right at the bottom of the right (passenger) rear timing cover, dyed my oil and can see the bottom bolt is wet with a pool of oil resting on something, right near the exhaust manifolds. finally traced down the source of the oil smell!

#2

Good to see you are taking this on. I’m very interested to see if you can get the hard coolant tube off and get the timing cover off. Could you take some pictures of that area so that I can compare to my S6 to determine if I might actually get the timing cover off mine as well. I’ve got the same leak on the passenger side.
Also, couldn’t quite make out what you were asking about the flanges, blind holes and whether coolant was flowing through them. Here’s a pic of the coolant system. Not sure if it helps answer your question.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p394/froggers6/V10%20coolant%20circuit_zpse41d4kjh.jpg

#3

Frogger, I have been contemplating this, but dont hink I will attempt removing it in frame. even if i get the coolant crossover tubes off my main concern is having enough room to pull the cover back towards the firewall. then have a tiny amount fo room to work in, if at all to scrape old sealant off and apply new one, risk getting crud down the timing chain area…
I have had mild success doing this, but I am going to clean the surround area best I can and apply RTV to the exterior all around the mating area.
I have sealed a leaky oil pan drain plug this way. Not the way to do it…but otherwise it is engine out to do this job right IMO.

#4

That was my conclusion as well. I was just really hoping that you might see something as part of your disassembly that I couldn’t see when I pulled the IM and valve covers off. I’ll be needing to do an engine drop before the end of the year in order to replace the bank 1 cyl4-5 cat that has died. Will end up doing both upper timing covers at that time.

#5

in the s8 it can be done in frame. However best to remove both ECUS, both harnesses, drain coolant, remove the rear crossover pipe, remove oil filter housing.
I just did not want to deal with the hassle. If it wasnt for having to pay for having AC suctioned and recharged i would have dropped the motor already. Need to buy a hydraulic table as well and make some adapters for it. All in due time…Definitely doing headers once i drop the motor though…

#6

it is possible but you also need to tilt the motor back to silde it out. It is a bit of work. It is almost easier to just pull the motor to do it. Heaers would make the motor pull less painful as you would be gaining a ton of power when you put it all back together