Drilled intake manifold BAAAAAADDDDDD!!!

[Pimped up vario]

Folks firstly the car is an audi a6 1.8t, although I do still own a seat cordoba. So being a turbo I thought here was the best place to post. Although audi???? I know.

Secondly as a post with content I'll let you decide as to it's relevance and where it should have been posted.

Down to business. I got autogas fitted to this vehicle, not mention names till the verdicts delivered, and it's not exactly sweat and I'm in the process of testing sensors and other things. I went to investigate the oil cooler to put in a mechanical oil pressure gauge to give an indication of whether the cam adjuster is getting sufficient pressure. I witnessed a stray, dropped, gas nozzle on top of the oil cooler. The exact same as in the intake manifold. As well as this I observed swarf on top of the oil cooler.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong and I hope I am but does this not suspiciously reek of the intake manifold being drilled and tapped whilst on the engine? Also what could a fella do to confirm either way and depending on the prognoses what action could be taken and applied with sufficient irrefutable evidence?

Muchas gratis for input/consolation/commiserations/I told you not to get autogas so.

 

[csd_19]

Has the car been driven yet?

With that sort of evidence I'd be looking to pull the intake mani off, taking plenty of pics as I do.

Does sound like its been drilled on the car - are there any signs of the manifold bolts being disturbed recently?

 

[Pimped up vario]

The gas was fitted at the end of Jan this year. So I guess if there was any damage to be done then it has been done and all.

I phoned the fitter this morning and asked the question in a manner which I hoped would extract the desired information without arousing suspicions or raising heckles.

It's hard to tell if the manifold bolts have been disturbed or not. It's not really obvious, like scrap marks at the bolt heads or fresh metal behind the bolt head as though it had changed position slightly.

He informed me that they take the intake manifold off the car to fit the nozzles. He suggested that the stray nozzle and swarf could have been resting on a recess and been disturbed when fitting back onto the engine. It still causes concern that stray swarf is free to wonder it's way around my engine bay. It also makes me think why the nozzles would be fitted with the manifold back on the engine and not with it on the bench. That would be the only explanation I could think of for a fallen nozzle.

Needless to say I think a boost gauge is now in order and upon removal of the manifold to facilitate the fitting of the tap then I shall inspect the inside of it for traces of metallic fragments/swarf. I'm actually hoping that there is a bit of gunk build up that has the possibility of catching any bits.

To be updated as and when my wife stops spending all our money and one of the grandparents minds the kids and the cousins stop asking me to fix their cars. Right, now to resist the urge to swallow large amounts of alcohol. Only joking, I just kick the dog for stress relief. He jokes again.