I had a oil leak fixed in Jan 2006, and now suddenly its back. I took my car to dealer and dealer said that they cant figure out from where oil is leaking and its literally dripping from my engine and hard to drive like this. I also took it to pepboys but they were also not able to figure out. Dealer's suggestion was to get engine clean up and then use oil dye to find out about the leak, initially they quoted 4500$ for the fix ( , I am looking for a suggestion as what should be done now. Its 1999 A4 2.8 with 115K miles and I dont want to spend this much money on it and want to know if there is any local mechanic who can work with me to get it done at much cheaper price. Please provide information regarding any local mechanic in Orange County, California.

Thanks,

 

Get the engine steam cleaned then take it to an independent audi/VW shop. The stealership will just rip you off. And definitley don't go back to pepboys, they're clueless...Is there a noticeable lack of oil pressure? When you had it fixed before did they tell you what was faulty?

 

No way does it cost 4500 dollars. Unless you are losing huge amounts of oil, just put a drip pan under your car so you don't stain your garage floor and leave the leak alone.

 

What kind of advice is this? Ignoring the leak won't make it go away, I assure you.

I don't know how these guys can quote you $4500 to fix a leak that they can't find. I don't understand when people don't find this strange and question the dealer. What the F are they quoting to fix for you if they can't find a damn leak. $4500 is an engine replacement!

Clean up the engine and spray her down with degreaser. Go for a 30 minute ride. Hop under the car with a flashlight and search for your leak. You should find a drip or you will find some oil spray under the car as the oil sprays back under the car as you are driving. It depends on how bad/how much you are leaking. If the 30 minute ride doesn't show the leak, keep checking it for the next few days, you will find it. Also, park the car in a clean spot each night and look for pooled liquid under the car before you drive it off in the morning. This will show you what area to look for the leak in.

 

^^ good advice tdrill.

It cant be that hard to find. then, we can give you a better idea of how to proceed.

Remove the bellypan if you haven't already, to look underneath and find the leak.

 

This is practical advice. So the car is leaking some oil. BIG DEAL.

A couple of drops a day is not going to cause any problem. So you have a bad engine cam seal or timing seal. Is it worth "4500 dollars" or even 500 dollars to save 3 drops of oil per day?

Not that I'm proud of it, my car has been leaking 2-3 drops of oil a day for the last 80K miles. I had the engine cleaned to try to find the source. Wasn't the valve covers and was going to be $$$$$ to fix. I've left it alone, and other than mechanics saying "you have an oil leak", hoping I'll bite and ask them to fix it for lots of $$$, I have had no problems (now at 160K miles).

 

Someone gave me these links. They are very useful and I found a shop through the list. Hope this will help you.

http://www.audifans.com/mechanic.php

http://1.8t.org/tuners/?fs=ca&sd=desc

 

Sounded like more than a few drops. Oil is dripping from my engine to me means constantly dripping. What is wrong with trying to find the leak and fix it? Granted, if its a major repair, and not leaking badly, you could let it go. Would you fix your brake line if it was leaking? What about your coolant lines? Engine is a pretty important part of the vehicle, I say find it and fix it! What if the leak gets worse while you a driving it one day? Are you going to avoid long trips? I would want the peace of mind knowing that the problem is fixed.