Decided to do an intake refurb, and figured while I am in there, will get the intake and cam covers powder coated. Got an intake refurb kit from 928 Specialists, but what do I need for the cam covers - certainly the gaskets - what about spark plug seals etc? Any other while you're at its?

Cheers

(This is on the 88 S4)

 

Hi Rob we still have a few cam covers ready to go on a swap basis we can get you seal kits as well give us a call Motorsport 801 6996542 Garrity or Dave

 

Thanks, but I'll be doing the cleaning and powder coating myself.

Ken

 

I just did this refurb so I'll share with you my ups and downs. I ordered the cam cover Kit which came with all the gaskets associated with the cam covers. It was about $115 but came with 2 main cam cover gaskets, 8 spark plug hole donuts, all the allen head bolt grommets, four o-rings for the 2 black plugs and 2-90 degree elbows for the breather vents, six of the black cam seals (the solid black ones, not the driven cam seal), about 13 of the thin silver spacers that go under the cam cover bolts in order to add more pressure to the seal if it is worn out, I think that is about it. While I was in there I also cleaned both check valves, replaced the cam chain tensioner "sliders" (white plastic part on chain tensioner, yours will be stained orange). I cleaned them out with carb cleaner and then lubed them back up with some motor oil before re-assembly.

Some re-assembly notes:
1. My throttle linkage underneath the manifold was rubbing on one of the breather tube clamps. This made the throttle hard to operate and it would not close fully all the time. Make sure your clamps are turned in such a way that the wire to the throttle body, and the throttle linkage itself will clear.
2. Install the rubber MAF boot first, and then the black plastic breather fittings on each side of the boot, and then the MAF sensor. Position the large clamps for the MAF to the passenger side so that you can get at them with a screw driver/nut driver. You can try and put as much stuff on before you drop the manifold on, but the MAF will be in the way of connecting the breather line from the oil filler neck as well as the various wires and vacuum lines. That is why I left this off and connected it last.
3. I propped the manifold up on 4 large diameter impact sockets so that I could make all of my reconnections under the manifold. I set the sockets over the studs for the intake manifold. These sockets were the deep ones, not the short ones. I used a make-up mirror and drop light so that I could see the connection to the idle stabilizer. This is hard to feel around for even with the manifold lifted up.

4. Make sure that your throttle cable is laced around the plastic wheel correctly. I popped the cable on the throttle body, and then opened the throtle manually and held the lever in place with my finger, and then laced the wire around the wheel with my left hand. I did this standing on the passenger side of the car.
5. I replaced my vacuum pod for my flappy valve while I was in there. I also replaced the 2 flappy bearings as well. I bought them from Motion Idustries. Do a search on this site for a part number. They were only $7-8 bucks each.
6. I also replaced the black rubber seal for the oil filler neck to the block.
7. Starting to sound like a broken record....I also replaced the 10 rubber grommets for the intake manifold. Mine were shot. Not sure if those came with your intake refurb kit or not.
8. There are two bolts near the back of the engine that go into a water jacket. I sealed those two back up with some Locktight Gasket Maker to make sure that they would not leak water. These two bolts go throught the rear fuel dampner/pressure regulator. When you remove the rear most manifold nut and then this bolt, lift the two brackets up and remove the washer underneath (one per side). This washer can fall into a bad place if not removed prior to lifting the intake up. Even though the washer is big, I still wouldn't chance it.
9. And the item that started all of this, a loose flappy vacuum line. I used some stuff called NP-1 that we use in the HVAC industry to glue this fitting onto the flappy actuator nipple. I have seen this stuff dry in the rain, almost under water before. Good stuff. I used a tooth pick and very lightly coated the inside of the vacuum line and then pressed it on. You only need a very little bit, so that you don't clog up the line.

That's about all I can think of right now. Good luck and remember patience is a virtue when working on sharks....

Mike
1987 S4 Auto

 

Mike,

Thanks you very much for all the information - this is great. Yes, the reason for the R&R is a flappy vacuum line that got pulled off during a TB/WP job. Such is life!

Ken

 

One more thing, if you don't drain some of the water out of the block, when you remove the rear bolts I described earlier some water will spill out and could possibly run into the rear most cylinders. The 2 drain plugs on either side of the block are fairly easy to get to once the belly pan is removed. You mentioned that you just completed a TB/WP job so if you haven't added coolant back in then your o.k. When I finished my TB/WP job I poured coolant back into the block through the water neck to the left of the thermostat (when standing in front of the car looking back towards the wing). I just used a clean funnel with a flexible 1ft piece of hose at the end. Make sure you push it in far enough so that the coolant won't run back out onto your engine. The hose end should make a slight turn to the right about 2.5-3 inches in and then you will know you are in the hole. I then filled the radiator the same way by pouring into the top hose.

Mike
1987 S4 Auto