Yep that’s what happened to me yesterday. This was accompanied by the pungent smell of burnt oil.

Since I was driving at 80 MPH and at an exit ramp, I turned off the motor and rolled into a gas station. The smoke that poured from the vehicle when I lifted the bonnet (hood) confirmed that I was in trouble. Pulling the dip stick revealed a serious lack of oil, so I promptly added four quarts. With my fingers crossed I turned the key and it immediately started with the oil can light off.

Since I’m a daring type guy, re-entered the highway heading towards home followed by a blue cloud of smoke. About 20 miles later I pulled into an Autozone, purchased another gallon of oil, and added two more quarts.

I called my best friend mechanic. He laughed and said that he was very busy thru the middle of next week so I drove another 5 miles home. I put it in the garage, change my cloths, and crawled under the oily –smelly beast. I’ll leave out the part where I began swearing about the belly pan, the mess, German engineering, the economy, the cold weather, and Christmas.

To use a Christmas phrase – “What to my wondering eyes should appear but a bunch of oil dripping from near the oil filter.” Upon closer inspection I found that the damn O-ring behind the oil cooler had decided to stop acting like a seal. After $5.71 for a new O-ring from Audi (I know - I could have gotten a 58 x 5 mm O-ring for $1.00 from NAPA) and a bit of oil and antifreeze, everything is fine.

Lessons learned.
Billowing smoke and a flashing oil can in an Audi is bad news.
If you stop right away you will not ruin a motor.
Best friend mechanics can be cruel at times.
It does no good to swear about the weather or Christmas.
Audi dealers charge a minimum of 5 times what a part really costs.

Next time I’m working on a 2.8, I’m changing the O-ring!!

 

I bet that was not a fun experience. I had a similar situation when my coolant hose to the heater core gave about a year ago. Water steam blowing everywhere... Luckily I was about 1/4 mile away from the house coming off ramp. Water temp never rose.

Anyways, Better than spending $850 on all four O2 sensors recently... Merry Christmas.

 

A friend told me today, after buying a used Audi;

he once had a co-worker who bought a used Audi while all his friends bought 4X4 trucks. When asked why he bought the Audi, the Audifile replied,

"Can't you tell I love the Audi, I'm working on it all the time!"

Thanks for the lesson of the 'O-ring.'

 

LOL...I missed this anectode!! Thanks for sharing it, Fred. With your indulgence I'll just quote you:

 

My 1996 Audi A6 Quattro is waiting for that very same oil cooler seal to be replaced. It suddenly started leaking a few weeks ago as though the seal had ruptured. The oil just got on the plastic belly pan and then on the ground.

 

It's an easy fix -- I sugest ya all consider doing it as a part of the second timing belt change.


Why do these things always happen when the temp goes down and there is snow everywhere??