forgot copper washer on turbo coolant banjo fitting

[hazard860]

so i forgot the copper washer on the turbo coolant banjo fitting, i believe its the return line. should i be worried? i tightened it to the max.

[Corrado_Guy]

You should be worried, the copper washer is what actually seals the coolant hose to the banjo bolt. I would suggest taking it apart and putting the copper washer back in there otherwise you may see leaks when the system is under pressure.

[hazard860]

funny story on that, it fell in a buck of g12 that drained out, alright i said and left to sears to buy some stuff. i come back and the buckets gone, turns out after i left my parents came back with a christmas tree and dumped the bucket and all the other garbage and used the bucket for the tree. So now the tree's probably gonna die out soon and i need to find/get a new washer

[murdered APR a4]

nice, it will leak...mine does because i don't have the copper washer there....doesn't leak enough to make me worry though.

[alm001]

what are you guys using to get at this bolt? We used finger contortion-ism to thread it and a rigged half of a pivoting socket to tighten it all the way

[hazard860]

true^, its a pain and almost impossible to get to...

[murdered APR a4]

do it with the turbo unbolted from the manifold it is way easier to get to that way.....

[Seerlah]

You are supposed to tighten down the banjo bolt before you place the manifold back on the cylinder head. If you can take the manifold off the cylinder head without removing any of the turbo lines, I would suggest going that route.

[walky_talky20]

I figured out a way to tighten it without moving anything but the air intake for working room. It includes:

- chrome 19mm 12 point socket - 3/8 drive
- 3/8 drive "socket cap" to convert to 14mm hex head
- 14mm long wrench w/12 point box end
- 14mm long wrench (#2) w/12 point box end (different manufacturer which gives slightly different clock offset)

Last item might not be completely necessary, but helps to have a couple different wrenches to try. Anyway, using that setup I had no trouble tightening mine in place. The secret weapon being the "socket cap":
http://www.amazon.com/KD-Tools-3435-.../dp/B000RH3922

[alm001]

I figured out a way to tighten it without moving anything but the air intake for working room. It includes:

- chrome 17mm 12 point socket - 3/8 drive
- 3/8 drive "socket cap" to convert to 14mm hex head
- 14mm long wrench w/12 point box end
- 14mm long wrench (#2) w/12 point box end (different manufacturer which gives slightly different clock offset)

Last item might not be completely necessary, but helps to have a couple different wrenches to try. Anyway, using that setup I had no trouble tightening mine in place. The secret weapon being the "socket cap":
http://www.amazon.com/KD-Tools-3435-.../dp/B000RH3922

That socket cap would have been awesome... I might have still needed a shallower socket than the one I was using for clearance up top.
The banjo bolt is 19mm, btw

It's going to be MUCH easier to fiddle in the tiny space than to remove the turbo, or the manifold. This is the FT kit, and we already had to modify some wrenches to tighten the manifold down.
Here is the tool we used to get at the banjo bolt with everything bolted up

We just drilled out the pin, and used a screwdriver/prybar on the "forks" to turn it.

Thanks for all the help!

[alm001]

Oh, and everyone likes pics, right?

[walky_talky20]

That socket cap would have been awesome... I might have still needed a shallower socket than the one I was using for clearance up top.
The banjo bolt is 19mm, btw

Oops. It's been a while, my bad. Edited my tool list.

It's going to be MUCH easier to fiddle in the tiny space than to remove the turbo, or the manifold.

Definitely agree. Unbolting manifold/turbo is way more work than just figuring out a solution to get some torque on that thing. I like that socket/fork idea too. That's kind of a special socket, though. I think I've got one that's 6 point, but not 12. Good to have options in any case.

And for the readership: ALWAYS replace those crush washers. They are pennies and it's just not worth it to have it leak after you're done. Getting back in there, whilst possible, is still a pain. I'm not entirely sure the block-banjo fitting (for 06A) is at all accessible after the fact without taking the front end apart, or removing the turbo partially. So that one is even more important.

[murdered APR a4]

What size are these washer's does anyone know?

[hazard860]

i think they are 14-20mm

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Crush_Washer/ES257626/

[hazard860]

id wait for walkytalky to verify my find tho..

[murdered APR a4]

Yeah because I went to napa and they couldn't find it and I searched online but no success and I really don't want to take to one that's on there off and go to napa with it.....lmao

[hazard860]

yeah, i ordered 2 from ecs , but they were copper, unfortunatly one of the two were the wrong size, but i had more important things to do complain to ecs about a copper washer, i just reused the old one and no leaks, working perfect.

[murdered APR a4]

I really would like to avoid ecs on a small item due to the ridiculous shipping lol. So if I can just get the size that would be great.

[SS92]

I really would like to avoid ecs on a small item due to the ridiculous shipping lol. So if I can just get the size that would be great.

They are 14mm... search my username for the thread leaking coolant banjo bolt... Walky chimed in on my thread with that size.

[hazard860]

I really would like to avoid ecs on a small item due to the ridiculous shipping lol. So if I can just get the size that would be great.

this is very true!

[walky_talky20]

Just for posterity, the correct crush washers are:

14X18X15

That is IDxODxTHICKNESS in millimeters.

Part #: N 0138149
Link: http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/N0138149/ES466245/

I believe the factory equipped items were copper, but the replacements are aluminum. I've had bad luck trying to reuse them, so now I always replace them every time. It's far too annoying to fix it when you find out it didn't seal perfectly.

[murdered APR a4]

shipping is 15 dollars on that no thanks anywhere else that sells that?

[crazexr7]

google the part no. I got brought to this site http://www.jimellisaudiparts.com/pro...N-0138149.html

[walky_talky20]

I just get them at the dealer. They keep them in stock.

[murdered APR a4]

I just get them at the dealer. They keep them in stock.

closest dealer is a 45 minute drive maybe I will bring the dimensions to napa and see what I can do.

[Seerlah]

If there is a VW dealership close to you, they will have them also. I go to the VW dealership because it's like 15 min away while the Audi one is like 30-35 min away.

[murdered APR a4]

Only dealerships within a 20 minute drive from me are chevy, ford, dodge, and that's pretty much it lol.

[walky_talky20]

So, blast from the past, I had to do this job again on my B5.

Actually, I had to replace the entire coolant hose that goes between the block and the turbo because i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶B̶5̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ the hose completely failed and was gushing coolant everywhere. I conveniently found this out when the engine started overheating whilst I was driving through the middle of nowhere at like 6 in the morning. It was raining, so I literally found a discarded Dr. Pepper can and filled my coolant reservoir with water from a puddle so I could limp it back home. It was a great day.

Anyway, I had to find this post to remind myself how I did this. It was like 10 years ago now, lol. This time, I thought I'd take some photos to share.

Also the special tool that makes this easier - the "Socket Cap" set from Harbor Freight Tools:

https://www.harborfreight.com/3-piec...aps-67011.html

Here's the tricky banjo bolt:


Here's the tools, and my tiny pink hands - soon to get much more dirty:




Tool in place on the banjo bolt:


Double wrench to bust it loose:


To work it off the rest of the way, I used a piece of plastic bag so the wrench would stay stuck on the socket for me:




Bolts are out, sizing up replacement crush washers. Got this kit on amazon a while back.


Got my prize:


Here is the failure point:


All in and done without removing the manifold or the turbo.

As for the 8mm Allen bolt where it connects to the block, I put the car in service position (slide front lock carrier forward) and was able get a regular 3/8" drive ratchet and 8mm allen socket on it. I also disconnected one of the DV hoses from the Turbo Inlet Pipe and removed the PCV puck valve and its tube to get better access. That was about all the stuff I had to move. It would have been nice if I had a "stubby" allen socket, but a standard length one did the trick. A regular allen wrench with some extra leverage would also probably work ok. Getting the bolt back on that one without losing one of the crush washers was probably the trickiest part of the whole thing.

Yep. Then just fill it up with coolant, and do a quick pressure test. You might find that you fixed the big leak, but that you now have found 2 more leaks at the rear coolant flange, and another on one on the upper radiator hose. Wouldn't that suck? lol