We are done with the tear down of our B5 AEB timing belt job. We have the complete Blauvergnuegen set which includes the cam sprocket seal and crank sprocket seal. The instructions refer to special tools to remove the sprockets AND special tools to remove and install the seals.

Would you recommend changing them (now 140,000 miles on the car, not sure if they were changed before; timing belt was done at 80k or so)?

Are they prone (or at least likely) to fail?

Any write ups how do to DIY? How difficult is it (and certainly won't want to loose the position of cam to crank, even so they are marked).

Please comment.

 

I didn't have very good luck changing mine. Half of the four I changed leaked even though they looked perfect to me. I ended up having someone else do it for me when I couldn't get them to seal. And when I asked about it here, nobody had anything to say about it. There's also an O ring for the intermediate shaft (which is different than the seal) that I would also recommend changing if you're doing the seals.

 

I would replace the seals. Sometimes you can get away with not changing them on the first timing belt job but since this is the third belt I would change them. Are your sprockets keyed? If not, there is special tools to align the cam sprockets.
Anthonyz tony@zippyoil.com