Hi

I have an issue with my A6 2.7bi-Turbo. I have begun to notice that whenever I get out of the car I can smell what only seems like oil burning. I popped open the bonnet for the last two days to see under the hood and noticed white smoke coming from the left hand bank of the V6. This was to the right of where the air filter box is. This only seems to happen o anything other than a shot journey....

I pulled off the cover and looked down as far as what appears to be exhaust shrouds and cannot see what is causing the burning/smoke.

Any ideas?
Thanks for any help!!

 

valve cover gasket could be seaping or leaking onto the exhaust manifold, also leaking into the spark plug holes.
easy things to replace is it dirty oily around the valve cover?

 

Should I be able to see the valve cover gasket without taking anything off?

Thanks for your help! I have recently brought this car and it is in pristine condition and as soon as I noticed this smell/burning my heart sank! I just hope it is like you say nothing major!

ps. this is my second Audi with a gap of over 18 years and I love this one and it has brought back good memories of the first. Dont know why I did not stick with them!

 

Its that or cam seals. Or both.

Scary part:
Its costly. Audi will want ~$900 to fix it for you. Hopfully you are machanically inclined, and you could do this your self for a 1/3 of that price, or less.

Not so scary part:
Good news is though, you can drive it the way it is. If you can get past the nasty smell, then that is the only major issue. Just check you oil regularly. And actually a plus of the leak, from my experience, has been leaking for like 9000 miles now, there isnt one spec of rust under the front end. Some small spots on say rear sway arms, where paint chipped off. Not on the front

For your Q, seeing it is a luck of the draw kind of thing. Once, I was poking around and had the perfect timing to watch a drop roll off the rear outside corner of my pass side valvecover. Then fall onto the manifold heat shield, and get a face full of smoke.

 

I just had the valve cover and the cam adjuster seals replaced at a shop in charlotte for 220 a side. they charged 69/hr plus parts, and took 5 hrs to complete.

However, in my case, the smoke was not the oil, its a rubber hose burning up somewhere behind the engine slightly to the left of center. anyone have this same issue?