VW & Audi Have This MAJOR Problem Way Too Often! 

30 plus years in the trade, I never seen that for a vac leak. Well done. All the Best.

To my knowledge, the rear main seals go out to over pressure caused by a bad PCV.

Awesome work guys, l would have NEVER thought a Rear Main Seal could cause a vacuum leak!😳 Thanks for the diagnostics 😊👍🏻

I bought my new Audi TT Roadster in 2013, great car, solid, wonderful to drive. In the 11 years i have had it i had to buy a new battery once and had to replace something in the cooling system but otherwise no major problems at all. Love the car,

This issue is pretty specific to the GEN 1/2 TSI engines. PCVs go bad on these which take out the rear main. Their will generally be signs of an oil leak after a new PCV when this happens. They have an updated rear main part which doesn't seem to have the same issues. Nice work showing the diag!

If you work on Audi all the time you should see that the air oil separator on the cam girdle is the wrong part and/or aftermarket. The Audi part should be white on the back side where the diaphragm vent is pointing and is not the same as the VW counter part. I work on these cars daily and see this all the time. Shops that "fix em all" buy parts from local auto parts store when they need to be buying OEM parts to make these car work correctly. Already on this car I see a white aftermarket oil filter, aftermarket coils , and the wrong air oil separator. Bad or aftermarket air oil separators are often cause the sealing flange failure. Check crankcase vacuum and compare numbers with OEM. You will see they are 99% of the time way off when part is not OEM.

Thank you for sharing this. I can confirm this can also happen on BMW m52 engines

Cool video Sherwood. You taught me something today. Thank you for sharing. Hope y'all have a great day! 👌🏼👍🏼

Wow !! That was a curveball I would have never ever expected. Great diagnoses and video content.

I found the video very helpful now knowing a bad rear main seal can cause a lean condition. Thank you

I wouldn't have suspected a rear main seal as a cause of a vacuum leak. Great video, thank you.

Good content, as always. That was a great, hard-to-catch find!

That's something you wouldn't think would cause that really good to know

i would have never thought a rear main seal could cause a vacuum leak large enough to matter. great info

great info !!! thanks i love the educational stuff , i am a tech also , and i am always wanting to learn more !!!! keep it up love the videos !!!

Lol that’s incredible thank you Sherwood!

Loved how you paid attention lowering the car car looking on both sides.... before lowering... My dad taught me to yell clear lowering and look at both sides before lowering when I was a kid....

Great video. A primary tool in my Audi kit is a bung with a tire-valve I clamp onto my TIP. I don't have a smoker, but I use my compressor, a spray bottle with soap and water, and a keen ear.

WOW great tip never would have thought of that being a vacuum leak 😳can you show rear main replacement

Honestly did not see that coming. Vacuum leak sure, but leading to the rear main seal..!! it's crazy what automotive is coming to. Cool video, thanks for sharing.

I knew about the pcv problems on these engines but didn't know about that, good find fella 👌👌

Good stuff , boss , wish I had a shop like yours near me

the rear main seal leak is actually not as common as some may think. the vehicle usually has to have had many issues prior to this that were not taken care of right away.

After 3 Audis over 7 years never again. Nothing but problems. Just bought a Lexus which I’m delighted with but RU-vid still serving me up Audi videos because I spent so much time trying to figure out what was wrong with one shit box on wheels after another.

This is an issue mostly on Gen 1 and 2 (Read very old on cars built between 2007-2014)EA888 TSI engines and corrected in the recent Gen 3 and 4 iterations. Also this type of failure has a chain of events leading up to this, meaning, those other side issues were not addressed and caught in time. New OEM part should remedy this for good.

Great 👍🏼 lesson ! Thanks mate . 👊🏼 🔥

Brilliant video, thanks for sharing. 👌🏼

Great intel. Would never think to look.

Wow, just when I think I've seen it all. Lol. Very good work.

Excellent video!!

I use a Laserpointer to see the smoke better. 😊 🙋‍♂️

common, a very good catch that many miss and are not aware of.

Rear main seal causing a vacuum leak. Interesting things on vehicles

Amazing wok and skill mate

I bought both cars new: a 1988 Camry and 2000 Passat. My Camry's gas and brake lines rusted out at 220K and the Passat is still going strong with 328K.

thanks for the heads up

Another good video!

Funny how some things come back. During the 1980s in Australia Ford released the first fuel injection on the 250ci 6 cylinder engine it was analog so no 02 sensor idle mixture was achieved by manually adjusting air flow correction at the intake flap & the pcv gave full vacuum to the crankcase . There were no smoke machines then so our risky test was to feed LP gas into the bell housing & note the improvement in the idle. Incidentally I have come across this problem with a VW Amarok . What goes around comes around.

Great diagnostic video thanks for sharing this.

Great information 👏

Thanks for the info ❤

Sometimes the leak occurs through the PCV valve, but the membrane remains intact and there is no visible leakage outside. The intake manifold continuously sucks crankcase gases from the engine and strongly pulls the oil filler cap. It's easy to detect this by removing the PCV valve cover. Thanks for the awesome video!

Thanks for sharing.

1st and 2nd gen EA888 were prone to rear main seal failure due to PCV over pressure as thegrimmpersective said . That problem has been pretty much resolved with the 3rd gen EA888 although the odd one still has that issue . I have a 3rd gen 1.8 TSI in my Alltrack and have had no issues .

Very helpful.

Thanks for sharing

Great quality video. New subscriber here. Thanks!

Good info

Thank you for the video

SUPER interesting TY

Wow. Yet another great video! Thanks guys!

Thank you sir for that info

me W/2011 VW CC EA-888. thanks for the heads up

This is a great "mechanicing" channel. Very interesting, even to a layman

Years ago the owner of a German car shop I worked at said ( repeatedly ) "We don't fix Audis we just work on 'em". People who own them deserve them.

Great to see

Thanks for posting. Question what’s labor book time replacement of the rear main seal?

I've had my coffee can Redline smoke machine for 25+ years. Finally crapped out and now I have to get a new one. Is the Snap On smoke machine a good one? Be super convenient as the Strap On man comes by once a week selling his crack, but I am used to the features on my old smoker. My old smoker has an adjustable flow control. Nothing electronic. Twist knob for a valve that had infinite control. Comes in handy in which you find the leak but dialing it down gives just a trickle to really pinpoint the location. The only thing I didn't like about my old smoker is that the ball in the flow gauge would sometimes stick giving false values. Ha ha, I would have to rap on it w/ my leathermans pliers. Love your videos.

Love the channel and your shop is top notch! I’ve never seen a bladder like that for the air intake tube for the smoke machine, who makes that?

Excellent

When you worry about reliability you have to understand that the term "reliability" can mean several different things to different people. For example my 03 e55 amg is the most reliable car ever made. Why you may ask? Well due to the engine not using variable intake or exhaust camshaft phasers. Cams are fixed so no timing components related to advancement and retarding available. To a mechanic like me this means reliability. I dont consider oil leaks from valve covers, oil pan, timing covers leaks etc part of the reliability of a vehicle as those are maintenance items. A cars reliability is determined on how many miles that long block internals can last before throwing a rod or failing lifters/camshaft, timing chains, not the attached ancilleries that are failing outside of the engine. People that want a cool or fast car and then talk down on said car because they were ignorant to the fact that certain brands leak more than others is usually a sign of vehicle ignorance. You cannot have more power and torque from an engine and expect it to last as long as a toyota that is producing only 200hp as heat is the enemy of all cars. Heat from turbos amd superchargers, even high pressure fuel pumps will create heat cycles within the engine causing sealants and gaskets to leak. Audi /vw is not a ubreliable brand, its that it has many unknowledgeable customers. Many audi models use a bedplate as a valve cover so its metal on metal surface between a sealant. With more rigidity from the heads you you sacrifice propensity to more leaks. So in the future know what your getting into and remember reliability means short block/ long block strength and longevity not how many times your car had to go to the shop cause your car is leaking oil and throwing check engine lights for evaporative emmisons. Many of which are "add ons" required by the epa to reduce emissions regulations on vehicles. Your welcome.

I had the same issues on my mk6 GTI ( same Engine EA888 ) but at the same time I had 2 other issues PCV and High pressure fuel pump The idiot I bought the car off tried to mask the HPFP running bad ( the O ring had split ) and they tried to lube around the Fuel pump. Clearly that didnt work so I replaced it with a 034 motorsports one ( going performance on engine ) I also replaced Rear main seal and entire PCV system. Literally 10 minutes later the Coolant expansion tank started to leak ( common for all VW/Audi cars ) so I got hit all at same time. Was ok since I was replacing all fluids anyhow, I was doing all the work and now car runs great! I replaced the following in 6 days total work ( I did work after work ) Put a leather interior in the car replaced Spark plugs and coil packs from a R8 flushed oil 3 times as with HPFP fuel was in the engine oil. I now use Liqui Moly 5w40 purple bottle Rear main seal replaced HPFP with 034 motorsports HPFP MoS2 DSG service Coolant replaced Brake fluid changed added Bilstein B6 shocks all around as old ones were gone Put new brakes and rotors all around Got new PS5 Tyres and put mk7 Gti wheels on the car changed every single filter on the car and gave it a MASSIVE detail ( I am OCD so the car was not up to my standards and spent 2 days polishing and it came out great ) I bought the car for $5000usd and I have used it now for 12 months. After doing all this work I Have had no issues with the car

Nice one

Perfekt!!👍👌

I'm glad your 'blood pressure' pump was leaky. Allowed me to understand how that smoke machine works. Now makes sense, needs a good seal to push smoke in system. Thx. I've learned something today! (I'm not a mechanic, but like to know how things work)

That thing has to be dumping oil out of the rear main.

Love the hair do ❤

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on that engine isn't the rear main seal also the crank position sensor?

Does the Rear Main Seal need to be replaced or just the PCV Valve or both? GREAT Video! Thank-you once again!

At least the rear main oil seal is a dead easy 10 min job to fix! . . . . . . . . . . Just makes me want to rush out and buy an Audi! 😆

My first guess was PCV bad. Dang!!also, I’ve seen lean codes in the 2.0T because of low fuel pressure causing a lean condition. Just something to think about.

I've never heard of a real main seal causing a vacuum leak. I guess that is better than GM's 2.4 engine blowing the rear main seal due to condensation & over pressure in the winter blowing the engine due to lack of oil.

Same thing on the Chevy equinox too

ive had a few and they were caused by bad pcv valves over pressurizing the crank case

A very interesting!

Nice.

Just like BMWs front crank seal behind the main pulley/dampner…

When the pcv system malfunctions in TSI engines, it causes excessive crankcase pressure which will result in the rear seal to start leaking.

How much will changing the rear main seal & PVC valve on this engine cost?

Wow, i was betting on the Breather - only had the rear Seal on one Car, didn´t expect that on this one..

have you guys seen this on the MQB engines in the A3 and S3's? same engine in the golf R's and GTI's? I know PCV stuff can be an issue for them but i've never seen rear main seals on those. cool video though and something to look out for.

Where did you get your tool and flashlight holster from?

That's a first for me.

Plastic intake manifold? Plastic radiator? More plastic under the hood and on the car body than ever before, yet the car prices have never been this high. What a pathetic, crooked industry.

i was like its going to be a rear main seal. i actually just did this last week on a mk6 gti. The seal is basically a piece of paper. Companies like Iabed Industries make a billet rear main cover with a normal style seal it. well worth the money.

Had an old Volvo 240 D did the same thing

Will it show fluid or oil leaking as the vehicle sits dormant?

Think I'll stick to my Rover 75 with M47 engine. 250k miles Original rear main seal and timing chains and 50 mpg 😅

What would be the cost to replace that?

Of course the smoke machine gotta be SnapOn 😄

How many hours of a job is replacing the rear main seal on this vehicle? Final cost to the customer? $1000-2000 range?

PTFE type seal on these right ?

So before this misfire problem occurs - does Volkswagen /Audi have a recommended service interval for checking or just replacing the pcv valve? Better yet, what do you, at Royalty, recommend? And is this issue only confined to 2.0 litre or does it effect 1.8 Volkswagen engines also?

More VW content pls

Wouldn't have guessed it.

When it takes more complicated things to fix it there something wrong never had these problems back in the 60s and 70s easy to work on cars

neighbors was leak vis rust hole on bottom on brake booster. smoke stayed in canister

Hi, I didn't understand it so well, why the rear main seal cause a vacuum leak?

My father warned me about all these failures in Audi vehicles. They are simply a symptom of planned obsolescence and forcing ppl to go to a garage vs. fixing your own.

Maybe I missed it, but what was the the reason - original complaint that the customer brought this Audi into the shop for repair? Thank you.