Hey guys,

I'm not well versed in Audis at all considering I have never owned one. My mother recently purchased a used 2001 A4 Sport with the 2.8. The car has about 170,000 miles and the previous owner has done a lot of work to it. Unfortunately, once my mother brought the car home, it started smoking. Naturally (knowing nothing about cars) she freaked out. I had a chance to look at it this weekend and take it for a ride. First off, the car is incredible. It runs and drives great, handles well and has obviously been taken great care of. After about 10-15 min of cranking through the gears and getting it warmed up, I started to smell burning oil slightly. Once I got the car home, I popped the hood and the smoke was pouring from the left side of the engine under/behind the intake. I removed the intake and air box to get a closer look but I really can't find a definite source of the smoke. The oil level in the car is staying at the normal level and there is no apparent oil leaking. The car has a pretty decent amount of residual oil underneath and I'm wondering if the leak was near the exhaust manifold and that would be causing it to smoke still. However the car has been 'fixed' and this is all still occuring. I know Nissans through and through, but I don't know much about the Audi. I figured I'd ask some questions on here for ideas before I have her taken to an actual Audi tech to have it looked at. Ideas? Has anyone had this happen before? I snapped a few pics of where the smoke is originating from as best as I could.

Any help would be great.

 

I don't see any pictures.... did you have any warranty from the stealership you purchased the car from? or was it a "as is" deal?

 

Yep that's typical of the 2.8 motors. It's coming from the valve cover gasket dripping down on the exhaust manifold. I had the same problem. Easy fix.

 

i think that i have the same problem. do i need to replace the thick rubber gasket? ohh and through out 3k miles between my oil changes i have to add like 1 quart of oil because it just leaks from there and gets burned up. my mom always complained that she smelled something burning while driving with me but i could never smell anything haha

 

Second the VC gasket - very common on the V6 cars. Do both sides ($50 in parts from ECS). You'll be fine.

 

is there a DIY on replacing the gaskets? and how long does it take to do it?

 

Follow this guide, it shouldn't take you too long. This is for the 1.8 but it's essentially the same procedure except there's a cylinder less on each 2.8 head and a different coil setup.

 

Yup +what ever we are at for VC gasket my 1.8 did same thing same place VC took care of it wonderfully and full job should be <$50 if DIY! And it is pretty easy took about 35mins

 

thanks guys, i will order both sides to be safe and get her done hehe
btw should i order the whole kit: http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...sket/ES259658/
or do i just need 2x http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...9658/ES259936/

 

Do the whole kit. That way, you wont be doing this all over again anytime soon for the other side.