I’ve finally reached the point of starting to put parts back onto this engine for the Silver S4 that I have made some upgrades to and have been performing maintenance on.
The XS-Power turbo inlets fit poorly so I cut the ends off near the compressor housing and fit silicone couplers instead.
B5 S4 Engine
The XS-Power downpipes fit well so far.
The same cannot be said for the XS-Power Bipipe that fits poorly. The pipes are in contact with the cam covers but there is still another eighth of an inch or so that the bipipe needs to seat further onto the throttle body.
May be time to look into a better quality bipipe; i.e used APR Bipipe.
With the engine out of the car I’m taking the opportunity to install some new seals, gaskets, and o-rings with the rear main seal being the biggie today.
First up were the valve cover gaskets and cam chain tensioner gaskets.
After run pump
Then I moved to the back of the engine to replace the rear main seal.
Audi B5 S4 Rear Main Seal – RMS
After a couple of tries I had the seal on with a good fit, only to realize I didn’t know where I had placed the bolts to tighten it down. With stuff strewn throughout the garage it took a few minutes to find the misplaced bolts and get the job finished.
Note: The two bolts in the bottom of the RMS are not installed in the picture, but I did not forget about them.
The Silver S4 that is in to be made healthy is now starting to see some upgrades added. I’m starting at the rear of the vehicle and plan to make my way forward. First off was the stock sway bar to be replaced by the 034 Motorsport swaybar and 034 adjustable endlinks. The first step of this upgrade is to install the subframe reinforcing brackets.
034 Motorsport Swaybar Subframe Brackets
Next I moved over to the driver side brakes to replace the pads and rotor along with upgrading to the 034 Motorsport brake lines.
034 Motorsport Brake Lines
While I was underneath the car the rear differential fluid was changed out with some Liqui Moly fluid.
The stock suspension was removed and a Vogtland coilover was installed in its place.
Vogtland Coilover
(Note: The rotor was swapped with the other after the picture was taken so that the slot angle is the other direction.)
The wheel bearings are also going to be replaced, but the rear axle bolt has been putting up a good fight against my breaker bar.
Breaker Bar Torque Rating
The bolt is going to strip before loosening, so I’m holding off on trying any more so I can get the car to a shop equipped with an impact wrench.
