Hi Everyone,

I hope that this is the right place to post this: I have an A6 2.8 Quattro Avant Auto 1998 and today after driving it briskly I pulled up at some traffic lights and noticed some smoke coming from the engine bay. I pulled over and opened the bonnet and as I looked in there was smoke coming from behind the dipstick on the LHS of the engine as I looked at it (RHS if you are sitting in the car). There was a clutch type smell but it wasn't particularly strong. The only thing is that the oil level was on the low side last week and I put 1L of new oil in as a top up. I am now wondering if either the clutch has gone or going (if it has one?). Or if I have overfilled the oil and a seal might have gone. I have tried putting the car in D and pulling away with the handbrake on and the car just drives off with no slipping.

Can anyone help me please as I am getting worried that this could be very expensive - something I could do without at the moment.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance to anyone who might be able to help.

Cheers,

Stewart

 

I have the same problem and it has run me $1000 and its still gay... im never getting an old *** car again

 

hello!
let me guess.. tha car has run around 90-95000 miles?
I dont know if audi has the same problem with the automatic,but i know wag had a problem with there cars around the same age.. they went bad around 85000+
if i remember right,there was 4 clutches in the transmision that was updated to 5.

with my little experience on the field i can allways be wrong!
i know for a fact that i had a 81 model chevy citation automatic.. that car had a problem with the transmision. the clutch was not good,but if i had a little more oil i worked fine(atleast fore a while) :-P the burned clutches made the oil smell like catpee!!
so if the smell on yours is smelling like that its more or less done,if it smells like oil should,you ar probably fine..

another thing.. how did you chek your automatic oil? if i dont remember wrong,there was some thing about checking the oil when it was real warm(the heated oil expands),and car running? ( someone other inn here can probably say more about it) so if thats right, and you did the oposite,you probably had put to much oil in it..


Sorry,cant help you more with that one..(manual 4 ever):-P


hope someone can correct me if i'm wrong!!

 

I have never heard of a burning clutch smell from an automatic. Considering all of your "clutches" are submerged in oil inside a sealed unit. If you can smell that I hate to see your face when someone farts

Sniff again Most likely it is the valve cover gasket. They are made of rubber and fail around every 50k. They Just dry up and crack then leak oil onto the exhaust manifold. Easy to replace them. Adding the extra oil would create more pressure and open the crack further.

Also have a look for wires or broken vac lines that have fallen on the manifold.

 

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies. The car has indeed done around 95/96K, so I guess there will be a few more bills to be expected!

I took the car out this morning and within about 5 mins the smoke had appeared again, so I think it is probably the the valve cover gaskett that has gone on the RHS as you sit in the car (driver's side in the UK). I have tried looking for a leak, but I can't see a thing in there.

Can anyone tell me how long a garage should take to replace this gaskett please? Or if anyine knows a rough cost in the UK that would be great.

Many thanks again.

Stewart

 

Valve cover gaskets take about 2 hours for both sides. You might also want to have them look at the cam chain tensioner seal and gasket, plus the rear cam seals and plugs. The rear cam seals and plugs are pretty easy to get to compared to the front ones.