Hey all, I'm back at it again.

I've replaced literally every seal I can possibly think of on my car to solve an oil leak, including the cam adjuster seals, the adjuster gaskets and valve cover gaskets, and the 12 oil rings or clips that the adjuster sits over on the cams. I took off the PCV vent valve and cleaned out some gunk and water that must have frozen over the winter. The rubber membrane inside moves freely though with no holes or cracks, so I don't think I'll be having to replace that. Breather hoses seem to be clear of any obstructions or gunk and air can move freely through them with no cracks or anything that I could see in the hoses.

Anyways, after all that, oil still pours out of the front side of the engine like there's no tomorrow. The only other seal I have to replace is the front crankshaft seal.

My questions are:
1) Can anyone give a good description of where to put the crank locking pin? I know it's on the driver's side of the engine somewhere, but I can't quite seem to spot it.
2) Does this have to be torqued down at all or anything? Do I just insert it as far as it goes (that's what she said)?
3) Does the radiator have to come off completely in order to do this job? It seems like it might be pretty tight to not only get the old seal out but also to get the new one in at the right depth.
4) Is there any trick to getting the main crank bolt and crank pulley off? I haven't gotten there just yet, but it seems like it might be rusted on or something and be a bit hard to break loose.
5) This is a timing belt question, but do you have to loosen the bolt on the eccentric pulley (the sort of oval, oblong roller) in order to rotate it to put tension on the belt?

Sorry, a lot to read, I know. Basically, any and all help, tricks or tips would be welcome!

Thanks a lot everyone!

 

Oh wow... your getting yourself into one hell of a mess. Replacing that seal is one of the most labor intensive seals on that entire engine.
That seal is not replaceable on its own... I don't know about aftermarket. But Audi states that the entire flange has to be replaced as well. And to do that, the upper and lower oil pan has to come off, the oil pump has to come out. The oil pump has to be timed when installed.

The harmonic balancer is held on by 8 - 6mm allens. And the crank bolt is a 24 mm 12 point socket. You HAVE to have the crank pin in to break the bolt loose. It is very very tight.

It seems wierd to me that if you replaced the cam shaft seals but are asking simple timing questions..... cause everything you did there you have to do again. The timing belt has to come off.

You have to put the lock carrier in service position. it doesn't have to come off but tipped forward.

And you absolutely have to have a seal installer or you will fold the lip over and it will leak.

 

Huh. Well that sucks.

This is what I bought from ECSTuning...
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B6_A4-...iming/ES11825/

My understanding was that once you get the main crank pulley off (harmonic balancer), you take the 12 point crank bolt off, then the main crank sprocket. With those pieces off, it's the seal around the main crankshaft. I didn't know all of that other stuff had to be done. All the stuff I've looked at says this seal is done with the timing belt service and I wasn't under the impression that it required all that more work. At least no more than getting to the adjuster seals on this engine.

I have the crank locking pin, but still haven't been able to find where I insert it (albeit I haven't really done a super thorough job looking; just stopped inside to get my flashlight and noticed a reply to my thread). I'll be picking up a new crank bolt tomorrow since apparently they're one-time use.

Per the timing belt questions, my belt was only 20k miles old the last time I took everything apart and appeared to be dry, but now it's been saturated with oil. The previous time I had it off I didn't have to monkey around with eccentric pulley, until now since I'm putting a new, dry belt back on. Now that I'm putting a new belt on though, I'm thinking I'll have to rotate that roller to give me a little more slack to fit it around all the rollers and such. Either way, I can figure all that out myself.

Anybody know if the Alldata on this repair is worth having for the $25 or whatever? I've just been going off a write up on Audiworld and advice from you guys and the techs at my dealership. Any clues on what the part number is for that seal installer or where I can find one?

Thanks Audi Tek.

 

It says Audi original... Its not. I know for a fact that on a 3.0L engine that seal does not come seperate from the flange. But if you can get your hands on one aftermarket, like it seems you have. then replacing the seal individually should be pretty straight forward, Meaning you don't have to do everything i mentioned yesterday.

The most important advice.... is like i said. Do not attempt to removed the crank bolt without the crank pin in place, you will bend a valve. theres a 6mm allen plug on the driver's side block.... remove that and the crank pin goes in there. Make sure its secure on TDC cylinder 3, which is where the timing marks all line up.

Also, you need a seal installer... you can make one possible. Its what i do. But without it you will most definately fold the lip over and it will leak and ruin the seal.

 

audi tek....im at this stage of replacing the crank seal. how did u make a crank seal installer? ive also been looking for the location of the crank plug but can't find it...do you have a picture of it by chance?