possible to remove balance shaft, turbo, aos without pulling engine?
 

Is it at all possible to remove the balance shaft covers, turbo and the AOS without pulling engine?

I've been at it for several hours, and it seems impossible to me...

Yes, but that lower balance shaft cover is a real pain. You have to remove the lower engine support and as a result must support the engine from above. At that point you minus well do rod bearings by dropping the crossover and the oil pan. The crossover is already 1/2 way removed with the turbo out. If you were doing one or the other, i would say just leave the engine in the car. But if you are doing both, i say it will be much easier to just pull the engine.

The upper cover requires turbo removal which can be done with the engine in the car.. not too bad a job but obviously much easier with engine on a stand.

This is one of those 'while your in there' type situations.

balance shaft plugs and vacuum leaks
 

Thanks. Maybe you people can help me decide what to do?
This is what I'm faced with:

1. Several vacum leaks.
2. Top balance shaft rear plug: The AOS has been leaking quite a bit through the top hose, so it's hard to tell how bad the rear plug on the balance shaft is leaking. The plug is loose enough for me to move it around slightly and make a metallic noice. I presume the o-ring has gone brittle. I presume it is leaking. Could you seal it from the outside with some goo?
3. Lower balance shaft rear plug: Some slight sweating of oil around it, but no real leak there.
4. I don't know if the AOS o-rings are leaking but I would like to remove and clean the unit if possible.
5. I need to change the camcover gasket.
6. The cranck seal is leaking.
7. The top balance shaft front seal is leaking.
8. The cranck case seal has some small leaks.
9. The power steering rack is leaking somewhat on the right side.

How many hours to pull the engine for a first-timer like me?
I can live with the small oil leaks, but not with the rough running that i believe is caused by vacuum leaks. How cruical are the rear balance shaft plugs in terms of vacuum leakage?

While fixing oil leaks is always a good thing, why not first try disconnecting the AOS top hose connection from the J-Boot and see if your rough running issue goes away since this would eliminate all these potential vacuum leaks? Plug the j-boot connection and leave the AOS top connection open. Don't drive around under boost in this condition.

Like I stated in the other thread, a lot of these seals aren't meant to handle positive air pressure in the crankcase. Some of the seals are designed to seal under negative pressure.

The balance shaft covers are a major pain to do with the engine in as is the AOS seals. You'll have to pull the turbo to get the top balance shaft seals and AOS o-rings. I've read about some that have cleaned the rear of the balance shaft covers and applied a swiped bead of silicone to seal the center plug to the cover with good results, but I don't have any personal experience with this. If you try this route, clean the back of the covers really good with brake clean and a brush to clean out the seam between the two parts prior to swiping it with the silicone.

rennbay has a rack reseal kit that isn't too bad to install and comes with good instructions.

I'm still toiling over going with the silicone sealant and/or pulling the engine. Would it not be simpler to suspend it so I can remove the crossmember and do it with the engine in the car?

The rod bearings and main bearings are quite expensive. Should I worry about them on such a low milage car?