Hi,

I have 2000 A6 quattro 2.8 L .
recently I started seing smoke comming under the hood. it increases especially when the car stops uphill. i have checked tos see where it is coming from. it comes from left and right of e engine. my mechanic had a quick look , he was very busy at that time and said it might be the flex pipe leaks. i know my left and right flex pipes has smallleaks but do you guys know whether thesecan cause intense smoke ?
thanks a lot!

 

If it's a lot of smoke, and you only see it when stopped, it sounds like oil dripping onto the exhaust after it warms up. If it's from inside the engine (hence leaking out of the exhaust) you would also see it coming out the tailpipe. A lot of smoke in the exhaust should also throw CEL errors since it would mess up the O2 sensor readings.
I'd look for valve cover or cam seal leaks.
Jim

 

Hey,
Thanks for the response. I don't seem to br losing any oil though. Plus no exhaust smoke it is just left and right of the engine.

 

I'm with Jim on this one. Valve cover gaskets or cam caps. Slow oil leak drips down on hot exhaust and burns off. Might be oozing out slow enough that you really don't notice your oil level drop. Doesn't take much oil to cause that kind of smoke. Other possibility is a slow coolant leak doing the same thing but my money is on oil. Does the smoke smell like burning oil?

 

I am having the exact same problem smoke coming from the right side of my motor from oil dripping on my exhaust manifold! i have a 2001 2.8

 

btw, I had the valve gaskets changed couple months ago. does it rule out that or there is still a possiblity they are bad again?

 

Mine was caused by a valve cover gadket leak? After looking carefully i saw it on the passenger side. Thanks for tge replies