Hello Members, Got off work this morning started car in -2 degree temp, car sounded like running hard. Got on highway and noticed smoke in and out, by the time i got home noticed oil leaking. Waited for things to settle and checked oil and its empty. 2000 A6 2.7T only had a couple of weeks, any ideals???????
I had the exact same problem yesterday (-10F in Chicago) with my 2001 2.7T. I drove straight to the Audi dealership when I saw the smoke. The seals around both camshaft tensioners had failed due to the cold. They think the tensioners may have to be replaced too. The service rep. said they had three other A6's with the exact same problem the same day (two 2.7s and a 2.8). They say it'll be a three day job to get it fixed, and many thousands of dollars if it's out of warranty... Good luck hbscott35.
talk to Mr.Lee mechanic and they had a VW there with the same problem, weather warmed up a little they put some oil back in and no leak, i did the same thing and its not leaking. Will keep you posted
I hope that works for you. Apparently in my case the camshaft tensioner seals were dislodged and damaged, so I had to have new ones. I've got the car back now and everything seems fine, although I’m reluctant to drive it in sub zero temperatures!
Just for a point of reference... we've had unusually cold weather this past month as well (Durango, CO) with the temps in the morning hovering around -10F when I get in the car. No problems at all, but the cam tensioner seals were done about 20k miles ago so they would be fairly new and soft.
Up here in the frozen tundra (Green Bay) my wifes 2001 A6 blew out about a quart of oil. Hauled to the dealer who had 3 or 4 other Audi's ahead of me for similar problems. Cause was the sudden drop in temperature from 30's to -10 in a short time. The PVC or another part of the engine breathing system froze causing a pressure build up in the engine. Before engine heat can melt the blockage the pressure builds up and must be relieved. Therefore, the weakest part/s fail. In my case it was the cam adjuster seals and cam shaft seals. Since they are going to replace the seals I am also doing the timing belt and water pump work. The whole job will be about $1300.00. We only have about 85,000 miles on this car so we should be ready to go another 80,000 miles.
Thanks for the input and the explanation of why it happened. My dealer wants me to bring it in for him to check it out. timing chain and water pump is 1275.00 alone.
I changed out my vavle cover gaskets about two weeks ago but I left the cam chain tensioner gaskets alone. Maybe that was a mistake. It's been cold here as well and I noticed today some oil leaking on the garage car port and now my wife says the heater smells of burning oil like before when i changed the valve cover gaskets. I guess I'll have to redo the job again but this time with the camchain tensioner seals. Is there anywhere else oil might be leaking?? the leak seems to be coming from high up in the engine closer to the firewall.....
ok, are you talking about a gasket under the alum. blocks or a round rubber seal? got the same thing going on here in southern wis. 99 a6 2.8. did valve cover gasket. still got a leak. burped out 1 qt on a cold day last week. now i'm lookking for next step to fix,but i'm lost to location of suction pump. love car but this is getting bad. is this a normal thing in winter? or just higher mileage car?
now another ( im so lost ) on a 99 a6 2.8 where is coolant temp sensor? temp gage on dash isn't working and auto on heat setting doesn't work. are these all togather?
Add my 2001 2.7t to the list. Sub-zero here in WI last week and it started blowing oil. Spider hose (PCV) froze up as far as I can tell and it pressurized the hell out of the crankcase. At 85K I'm due for for TB, Cam seals, VC, and tensioner seals anyway. I'm going to get the Bently an tackle it myself if Winter ever stops......
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Joined: 9/8/2006 From: Holland MI Status: offline
This is a scary thread. I've been running my car regularly in sub-zero weather (including visiting Chicago back in December when it was -7 on both mornings). I don't rev my engine when I start it and let it idle for a couple minutes before taking off slowly. BUT...is there anyway to prevent these seals from blowing? Does the PCV valve have to be changed (and I'm not sure I even have one in a 2003)? I'd like to avoid the problem rather than having to spend a couple grand to fix it.
You should have BEL engine? Pcv is an assembly (spider tubing) named "breather hose" (+ pressure regulating valve). There are applications for cold climate, non-cold, regular, etc. Dealers carry the proper model ($210 can), Labor more than 1h, as everything breaks.
Other engine codes have different pcv applications, some have suction pumps. The information from Bentley is not confirmed by the dealer’s sources (usual mess).
Audi manufactured 2.8 and 2.7 engines for 15 years - leaks were never fixed. If you do search on oil leaks... there is a plenty of information here and on other forums.
Nothing scary... just $$$ to have the pleasure driving an Audi.
“Audi gods demand sacrifices”
< Message edited by nemohm -- 2/26/2008 2:16:45 PM >
Add mine to the list as well... 03 A6 Avant w/ 3.0 70K miles.
It first happened when it was about -10 here in Syracuse a month or so ago, then again today at 0 degrees. Guess I will just not drive it in the cold until I can get around to fixing it.
Is it best to have it fixed at the same time I change the timing belt/water pump?
SoCal Crew Member Posts: 511
Joined: 12/21/2007 Status: offline
So Im on my 3rd audi. Ive always been a fan of the 2.7t but when you buy one you expect certain problems to come up. These seals are def common problems. I have never replaced them but I do know the stealership likes to rape people on the labor cost. Its not a 3 day job. Its a 2.5 to 3 hour job. The cam adjuster seals on my A6 are leaking along with the VC gasket. Its a do-able job. Here are the parts and DIY. Wish me luck guys. I'm gonna tackel this project when the parts come in . . . like 7 days.
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