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I've probably done about 200 miles since I replaced it but yesterday when the car was on the ramps for its inspection I noticed a drop of pure clean transfer box fluid about to drop off the heat shield. FFS.

Maybe I didn't install it right. It wasn't a very satisfying fit. It wasn't obvious how far to push it in. Or maybe it was a duff seal.

So, I'm think maybe I should fit the modified flange and seal, but I've heard reports of those failing prematurely, too.

Or maybe I should try another original seal first.

And here I was thinking I'd finished faffing around under the car for a while...

Any thoughts?

/also spotted some corrosion on the roof by the channel which has pished me off. It's pretty poor for a car that has spent its entire life in a garage. It's got to be a chemical reaction rather than simple rust.

I have the same issue, had the seal replaced and drove it home 25 miles. Came back to the car after 3 weeks away and there is definitely a trace of clean fluid coming from the heatshield. When I get chance I'm going to check 'play' on the shaft as the fluid only seems to be present after the car has been driven. Rather annoying as I park another car under the RS and the odd drip of fluid is not good for the paintwork.

I also have the rust in the gutter at the rear though has not got worse in the 3 years I've had it, yours isn't a 52 plate is it?

Yeah, it's a 52 and I'm pretty sure Daytona is the worst colour for the corrosion. I'll keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse or not, but it not in the gutter. It's on the roof panel edge, adjacent to it. Means it'll be a bugger of a job if it needs painting.

I'm going to put a plastic tray under the car and leave it for a couple of weeks to see if it continues to drip when not being driven.

Mince.

Here's a link to the speak and swear machine

That's unfortunate about the seal. Not much advice I can offer, I guess it's just bad luck as the seal I replaced a few years ago on my RS6 is still working fine. Did you clean and polish all corrosion from the shaft when you fitted the new seal? I remember spending quite some time removing all corrosion with a scotchbrite pad to ensure the area in contact with the seal was perfectly smooth..

As to the roof corrosion, you may or may not be aware that it is a big problem will all C5 A6 Avants. My other car is a 2001 allroad 2.5tdi and last year I had to re-paint the roof due to the corrosion. A lot of lucky people have managed to claim a roof re-spray through Audi with the paint corrosion warranty, but my claim failed as I was simply too late in reporting it – I was about 6 months past the warranty period….. Anyway, I painted the roof myself - it was not particularly difficult (I spray paint as a hobby and have a booth in my shed ), but the roof rails need to be removed which involves stripping a lot of the interior trim off to get to the bolts that secure them. When the rails are off you get good access to the channels each side of the roof. On my allroad there was a lot of corrosion inside the channels at random locations, and in places it had spread up to the roof panel and had blistered the paint off. I used various acid based rust removers to take all of the corrosion away before epoxy priming the whole roof and channels, then finishing it off with 2K satin black. It looks as good as new now and the rust is not likely to return for a very long time. I would imagine a bodyshop would charge at least £400 (better bodyshops will be £800+) to re-paint your roof, but in my opinion you would be better getting it done sooner rather than later.

When I am on my laptop again I will try to upload a couple of pics of my roof re-spray if you are interested.

I've not noticed any corrosion on mine, but mines had a fair bit of paint work done in the past. Removing the roof bars is no biggy at all, takes around 1 hour. Try taking to Audi and see what they say, think bam was told no on the mental manual.
As for the seal, what did you use to knock it in Shopp? Seals can be a pain in the knothole if not fitted square.

Sweegie: Nice. I am a <beep> burger.

Skyegtb: The part of the shaft in contact with the seal was in excellent condition, IIRC. Only the protroding bit was corroded, but now I'm having doubts. I should have cleaned the whole thing.

Was it definitely rust on yours then? Nuts. The only time mine gets wet is when I wash it, but I guess if the paint isn't making a seal it's enough for the humidity to get under and start the process. I don't care what it costs to get the roof painted, but I *do* care a LOT about the quality of the job. I know a guy who does high value cars (last time he was completely redoing a Porsche 2.7RS matching numbers) and he's done some stuff for me before but not on a big panel like that. Definitely interested in seeing you photos though.

Chunk: I pushed it in with a plastic cylinder that was just the right shape, but maybe it didn't go on straight. Like I said, there wasn't a satisfying definite end position that I felt so maybe I borked it. It's not easy doing the job on axle stands to get into a good position to knock it in. Suspect it's too late for me. I tried talking to Audi once about a spot of bubbling paint on the roof channel itself, but they were of very bad faith so I gave up. I don't mind paying the money if the job is good. Seen too many bad paint jobs, though, and I want factory finish.

Shop, here are some pics of my DIY re-spray. Unfortunately I didn't have any pics of the corrosion before or after, but these show the painting process. After removing the rust with acid I applied thick 2K epoxy primer in to the channels with a brush and over any areas of the roof that were bare metal, then after that was dry I applied a skim of body filler on any roof areas where the rust was to bring the level up. Then, it was sanding and more filling and sanding, followed by a coat of sealer (the yellow paint) which helps prevent any paint reactions from happening when applying top coats. That was followed by a couple of coats of sprayable epoxy primer (grey) which when dry was blocked flat. On top of that went 2 coats of 2K Satin black. While the roof rails were off I re-painted them as well.

Reeeespekt.

Not a very good colour match, though, is it?

You may well shout at me for my ignorance but if the channels are so problematic has anyone thought about filling them in and respraying the whole roof? Seems to me that they are a constant problem area for rust and on mine in particular the strips have a tendency to ping out at the ends.

This would give a much cleaner line to the car.

Radical thought... I wonder how my Daytona would look with an anthracite roof like skyegtb's...

Anyway, having researched the leaking seal a bit further, I have come to the conclusion that I pushed it too far in. It's supposed to be pushed in 1.7mm below the top of the housing. I'm pretty sure I just pushed it until it wouldn't go any further. Spaz.

I'll have another go with the correct seal and do it properly this time. If only I'd bought 2 the first time round. I actually seriously considered it.

I might make a tool up to get it spot on.

Shoppinit wrote:Radical thought... I wonder how my Daytona would look with an anthracite roof like skyegtb's...

Anyway, having researched the leaking seal a bit further, I have come to the conclusion that I pushed it too far in. It's supposed to be pushed in 1.7mm below the top of the housing. I'm pretty sure I just pushed it until it wouldn't go any further. Spaz.

I'll have another go with the correct seal and do it properly this time. If only I'd bought 2 the first time round. I actually seriously considered it.

I might make a tool up to get it spot on.

Thats what Audi probably did wrong with mine, but probably doing it this way was the most logic, because the location (how far it has to be pushed in) of the old one couldnt be seen...

Reading the diy over here, it mentions "tap it just inside the hole."...
Thats worth to adjust/mention this the right way in the diy...

if you look at the shaft that goes thru it you'll get an idea of the range of distance it can be driven in and still make a seal. maybe 1-4 mm. But i think all the way is too far.

Try packing the new seal with some grease, where it fits around the shaft. Audi will sell you some special blue stuff just for that.