KaMaKaZieP -ALUMIN8-

Great... i got a message from the dealer. They found my "leak"

Oil pump housing seal. another $1500.. this will be the 4th time my timing belt cover and parts have been taken off and i still leak... oh but they agreed to drop the charge doen to $900.. YOUR KIDDING ME RIGHT?

So to find the oil leak we have replaced the following:

1. Rear Cam seals
2. Oil cooler gaskets and pipe
3. Front cam seals
4. Head gasket
5. Breather lines
6. Valve Cover gaskets
7. Crank shaft seal
8. and now the oil pump housing.

I am amazed. How can they charge me labor when they took my engine apart 4 times.

PaulW

What exactly is the component? The drive for the oil pump?

The oil pump is driven by the toothed gear all the way at the bottom, left of the word "tensioner" in the picture below.

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tbp71.JPG">

Is it that seal that goes through the block there? If so, why the hell didn't they replace it before? Couldn't they see that it was leaking?????????????? Or did the repair order say "change both head gaskets because that's where the leak isn't"?????

What a bunch of idiots, you should pay for the $15 seal and they should eat the rest.

So it wasn't your head gaskets.....amazing!

Good luck, I feel for you!

KaMaKaZieP -ALUMIN8-

if its leaking down there how did it get on TOP of the alternator?

skiracer

including both head gaskets, the front cam seals, the crank shaft seal, and possibly the valve cover gaskets. (The other items were likely in need of replacement anyway.) If they don't reimburse, then threaten to sue them for fraudulent business practices. These idiots are so typical- they don't take the time to properly diagnose the problem, and just start randomly replacing parts in the hopes they get lucky sooner or later. In the mean time they make big $$$ performing unnecessary repairs at full shop rates! What a total con!

PaulW

How can they determine it's the oil seal (if it's the one that I showed) without taking the front end off and the cam belt cover???

You can't.....it's that simple.

Mine leaks on the alternator too, I've come to the conclusion that it's the head gasket, but haven't proved that for sure.

Once I get into my house, I'll probably rip the whole thing apart in the fall to fix it....or maybe not.

Ask them how they know it's that seal if they haven't taken the cover off yet, which is totally bolted to the engine and is part of the torque support assembly.

Paul

PaulW

Okay, here's the front end of my car before taking the cam cover off.....oil appears to be everywhere, but it's just been leaking a small amount for a long period of time.....

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tbp75.JPG">

And here is the engine after I took it all apart and cleaned up the oil. Notice there is nothing near the oil pump gear drive at the bottom....I didn't take it apart and clean behind it because it was perfectly clean.

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tbp71.JPG">

So if this is similar to what you have, how could it be the oil pump, especially if they haven't taken the cover off yet????

I would be looking closely at the head gasket repair. It leaked somewhat before, they did the head gasket and now it's a gusher???

KaMaKaZieP -ALUMIN8-

Mine looked just like yours.. and the entire bottom was covered in oil back to the exhaust

Oringial - few drops
timing belt done - now its a gusher
head gasket - slight gusher

PaulW

I went back and looked at my pics from my timing belt change out....and I can't figure out what is leaking....I thought it was the oil cooler, but I fixed it and it came back after the timing belt change.

I know the oil drive gear shaft/seal were dry.

Whatever it is, the fan is going to have an effect on it....but I don't know how much it will pick the oil off the oil pan and throw it up on the engine by the alternator. Wet stuff at the bottom is not oil, it's coolant from disconnecting the hoses.

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tb105.JPG">

The wet stuff at the bottom is coolant from disconnecting the hoses, not wet oil.

<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tb107.JPG">

And here's a close up of where the oil cooler was removed, you can see the oil is higher up than the oil drive gear. And it was dry at the shaft.

I figured at that point it was from the RH head.

I wonder if it's from the oil pan gasket and somehow is getting wicked up the motor from the fan......I always have oil on my pan when I do oil changes.
<img src="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/tb106.JPG">

KaMaKaZieP -ALUMIN8-

Paul.. in your last picture.... you see the gear in the lower right corner.. could that be where i am leaking? You see the 2 bolts right behind the gear and the 2 about 2 inches higher.. cou that be the oil pump gasket thats leaking.. it looks like yours is too..

PaulW

Anything is possible