Just purchased a 2001 Audi a6 2.8 Quattro for our son..... Drove it around our neighborhood and noticed a burning smell...when we popped the hood there was smoke coming out. I am a woman that knows zero/zip about cars, so don't laugh too hard...the engine is all encased and the smoke was coming out from somewhere between that big box and a plastic bottle with pink stuff in it. I have an appt at a recommended mechanic but its a week from now.....any ideas what this could be? Should I be worried?

 

Hi

Congrats on your purchase, sorry to hear you have an oil leak.

Yup. I too just bought a 2001 A6 Avant 2.8 a while ago, at it wasn't as bad as yours but here is what your are probably up agains.

Your Valve Cover Gasket(s) and cam seals are probably leaking and the oil from the engine is leaking onto the exhaust headers and thus the burning smell.

Take a look at my link here, it will give you an idea what you are up against for the repair
(https://www.audiforums.com/forum/aud...-8l-v6-193073/)

This isn't nessesarly a deal breaker for the car. Make sure the oil level is good, if not top it up ASAP.

As for the repair, here are a couple things you could do ahead of time. Take of the black shrouds covering the engine, its just asthetic stuff. Again, look at my link above and you can pull out the spark wires on the passanger side fairly easily, driver side you have to move a bit more things out of the way. Are the spark wire plugs covered in oil?

A competent mechanic can do the Valve Cover Gasket job in under 3 hours with another 60 for parts. The Cam Seals are another story, I've not replaced mine yet, it is roughly a 6-9 hour job from what I've heard because you have to get a chain tensioner tool etc.

Hope this sheds some light on this. Give us some feedback. If you aren't totally familier with this car, pay attention to any flashing amber signals on the drivers dash, read the manual for what the symbols mean.

 

Jeez, ok, that doesn't sound good. On the dash there isn't anything flashing.....but I will keep an eye out. I did not want to sink a lot of additional money in to this car, but I'm finding every time I get in the car I'm finding something else that's wrong with it. The blinkers are also acting funny...blinking weird.... But I've read that could be just a relay switch that is easily fixed.... Hope so. The guy we bought it from said the O2 sensor would need to be replaced but then he gave us paperwork for the catalytic conv...??? Thanks for your help....will check out your link!