I am new here, but not to car forums. I have a Mazda 6 and had my Audi A6 for a while. My car has 200,600 miles on it. Yes 200,000 miles on the original engine. Well the Audi is my wifes driving car, and recently in driving I noticed a burning smell. I know one of the cams leak, I just dont have the money to pay for seals and all that. Is the smell most likely just the oil hitting the exhaust and burning? I just want to know if I should be alarmed or just deal with it. Please let me know.

 

It helps to know what year and engine we are talking about, but if it is a burning oil smell, you are right on with there being a leak somewhere. If you are smelling it in the cabin the source of the leak is probably on the passenger side of the car. Valve cover gasket and cam chain tensioner seal are likely candidates. Do you have noticeable oil loss? It is probably a good idea to get it sorted sooner rather than later.

 

Actually the seals and the valve cover gaskets are pretty cheap. The time needed to put aside for the job and the amount of work involved are the actual "costly" or taxing elements.
I would definitely agree with Beau. Since the cabin filter is on the passenger side, if oil drips on the downpipes then is very likely you'll get the burnt oil smell in your cabin rather easy (so this would be most likely a rear cam seal/cap leak)
Also, because of the head's angle, a valve cover gasket is more prone to leak outward, hence toward the sidewall. Immediately downward there's a heatshield which gets pretty hot... If you have a valve cover gasket leak, then the oil would most likely drip onto that shield.
You should be able to discriminate what type of leak you have.
Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks guys! Sorry I forgot to say its a 2.7t. I do lose oil, but not a ton. I just kinda have been puttin the royal purple in it as needed checking it every week or so. Like I said with 206,000 miles on it, Im not surprised in the leak. I kow lots of people have had the issue, and I am 90% sure its on the driver side. I live in Idaho and dont feel like laving on the ground to find the leak. its like 0 degrees outside.

 

RP likes to leak past the gaskets. I just changed oil and put RP in and, sure enough, burned oil smell! Like the oil, though! But, it might be back to Mobil 1.

Bob

 

your problem might be a clogged breather hose. builds up pressure in the engine, forces oil through the gaskets

 

Totally agree with this. I would buy this kit:
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-C5_A6-...sket/ES259658/

this tool:
http://www.blauparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=GH29000
and one of these breather hoses:
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-C5_A6-...mission/Hoses/

Follow this procedure:
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/eng.html

I would do it soon because you don't want the cam tensioner to fail, it's a $650 part and you will still need ALL of the above.

 

I just wanted to say that at 206k, you are my new hero. My baby is only at 184k. I do occasionally smell some hot oil, usually after a long highway run and immediately after pulling it into the garage. Since I was told I have a slight turbo oil leak, I am sure that is the cause. There is no oil loss between changes. I can live with a little smell vs replacing turbos.