17 Jun Repeated Throwout Bearing Failure on an Audi R8
Here at Fluid MotorUnion, we have a passion for solving weird issues, the ones that confuse most everybody else. our latest bit of Sherlock Holmes activity centered around a customer experiencing repeated throwout bearing failure on an Audi R8.
This is a V8 Audi R8, a fun supercar in its own right. However, the owner of this specific R8 decided to add a bit more power by way of a Stasis supercharger kit. After the supercharger was installed, the car blew out its throwout bearing. The owner figured the additional power was to blame and went about upgrading his transmission with an R8 V10 clutch assembly and throwout bearing because those parts should be able to handle the increased power. Sadly, that didn’t fix the problem.
After the owner upgraded to the V10 clutch assembly and throwout bearing, the problem didn’t stop. The car went through two additional throwout bearings, each lasting no longer than 1,000 miles. Repeated throwout bearing failure on an Audi R8 is not a common issue. Since the owner wasn’t purposefully destroying his bearings, he took it to the Audi dealer. They had no idea what was causing the problem. The only thing that LOOKED wrong was a small puddle of fluid on the owner’s garage floor.
And so the owner brought his R8 to Fluid MotorUnion…
We, too, did not find any immediately obvious problems during a visual inspection, so the owner wanted us to dig further into the engine to determine the issue at hand. He wanted us to drop the transmission, but right before we did, we noticed a fair amount of fluid atop the transmission, not where it would be if it was related to the throwout bearing. But with how serious this repeated throwout bearing failure issue was we did not want to dismiss any clues
We checked the crankcase to see if there was a problem there, and there wasn’t. So we reverted to a more traditional inspection of the vehicle, and during our inspection, we noticed the R8 had its engine oil overfilled by about 2.5 quarts. Seeing as how overfilled engine oil can create all sorts of issues, we drained the excess oil, cleaned up the leaks, and monitored the vehicle over about 100 test-drive miles. So far, so good; we have yet to notice a single leak or transmission problem since removing the excess oil. For that reason, we’ve sent the car back with its owner and have asked him to keep a close eye on everything, so that we can be certain that our fix solved the problem permanently.
If you have a strange issue with your car, something that other shops have been having trouble with, give Fluid MotorUnion a call at 815-230-2900. We’ll inspect the vehicle and use our wealth of automotive knowledge to solve the problem and give you a worry-free ride! We are located in Naperville IL, near RT 59 and i88.
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