Okay guys, thank you for all of your help. For this particular car, it is the cam tensioner gaskets. I found a gasket kit online for $65 that also includes the valve cover gaskets and everything else. I am wondering if it would be safe to drive the vehicle close to 200 miles so I can get it to my house where my good friend is going to help me fix it. The car smokes pretty good once it's heated up, but the oil pressure gauge and the oil level stay within normal range. The guy at the Audi dealership my mother took it to told her the vehicle is at risk for catching fire. I thought that was a bit ridiculous and they just wanted her to pay the $1,600 they quoted her to fix it.

 

That's a good price and it's pretty unlikely that you're going to catch fire based on how many of these cars have these leaks. My bet is you're perfectly fine with the drive.

 

Your cam seals should be replaced at the same time. They always seem to be the real leak

 

I just had mine go the opposite way - pulled it all apart planning to swap out the cam seal (just replaced a few miles back). No evidence of a leak from the cam - it was coming from the front corner of the valve cover, just to the side of the cam...

Good luck!

 

If you wouldn't mind, let us know how it went, and what was different from the 1.8 guide as some of us (definitely myself) will eventually be doing this on our own 2.8L's.

Thanks!

Best of luck!

 

I tried another brand of VC gasket and gooped the whole thing with RTV (lightly), with some emphasis in the corners. Started up and the leak is gone!

 

I have the same problem. from reading the forum, I found out that this leaking is caused by clogged or broken breather hoses. it builds up pressure in the oil system and has no where to vent, so pressure pushes oil out of the engines weakest seals.
you say that the car has lots of service history so the breather hoses have prob been replaced at some point, but to be safe, you should inspect them. its the accordion shaped hose running across the engine under the plastic engine cover. take the whole thing off, blow through it, look for cracks etc.. if it is clogged, cracked, or brittle at all replace it. also there is another breather behind and sort of under the intake manifold/TB. replace that as well. this will ensure you that the oil has somewhere to vent, and will protect against the same problem with your brand new parts.

and I 2nd that. replace all the seals that come in the kit plus front cam seals and you should be good.

 

How much more difficult is it to replace the cam seals along with the VC seals? I have the same issue and im not sure if its the cam seals leaking or just the VC seals. If its not much more work then ill just buy the kit and do everything. I saw the writeup for the VC seal reaplace and it doesnt look to difficult but if i gatta take off my bumper and start pulling belts off and such to redo the cam seals thats probly out of my league.

 

I'm in the same boat. If I can change the VCG's without taking the bumper off and all that jazz, I'm definitely going to do it myself. But if I have to take everything off like in this video, I may have to have someone else do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYmYBvuX6Lc

 

check this link out, informs you how to diagnose the problem

http://www.blauparts.com/audi/audi_o...il_leaks.shtml