2000 A4 2.8 Quattro, I notice a burning oil smell when i put on my heat on but can't locate where it's coming from. I ran my fingers along the valve covers on both sides and didn't notice any real wet spots. I checked visually and don't see smoke coming from anywhere behind the engine and firewall but it does have a faint smell of burnt oil.

My car does not drip any oil on the floor so I'm not sure if I should be concerned about the possible leak. I brought it to a shop yesterday and the guy said it was the valve covers and wanted 500 to change them with out even looking at my car, needless to say I'm not going to him.

Is there any easy way to check where leaks are coming from, someone mentioned a dye i could use and put it in where the oil goes and check it with a blacklight .I'm a big guy and its tight to get my hands around areas on this engine to check.

I've done some searching on this site and it could be anything from a valve cove to something simple like a rear cylinder plug.

Any ideas welcomed

 

On the passenger side of the car is where the fresh air inlet for the cabin is and directly below is the valve cover and hot exhaust. This is a common problem as these cars age. Have you looked down any of the spark plug tubes to see if there is oil in any of them? Another common place to leak is the cam plug at the rear of the head or the cam chain tensioner. Just get yourself the kit from Blau, ECS, FCP... and DIY it. It's not bad at all. Probably ~$100 in parts if you do both sides.

 

Here is a link to popular mechanics. I think this is the article you are looking for.
Finding Oil Leaks - Popular Mechanics

I was actually going to do this for a power steering leak, but I found it the other day when I heard hissing and found that the hose from the return, rack to pipe hose had ruptured near the front of the car, spitting out almost 20$ of PS fluid. lucky break for me I guess. Now I'm just hoping it get's here by Friday.

Tracer dye:

Just make sure you get the right UV trace dye. You'll want to get Part # 374CS or "Interdynamics - Flourescent Leak Detector Dye " The maker is auto pro. you can find it at O'Reilly's, Nappa, and probably Autozone(as a last resort) for about 8$/a 1oz bottle.

I threw way too much money at my truck, I'd rather not throw money at my car, and find out it was just a seal, or a gasket. Both of my 2.8's I've owned have leaked in one way or another. my A4 2.5TDI which I don't have anymore(the one in my sig), blew a head gasket and just smoked like the dickens. Of course, the Germans don't believe in doing a head gasket job, and without the tools I have now, and know-how at the time, I lost a great car to the scrap yard.

Sorry to get off topic there, but what you are asking, involves detective work on your part. Get the car in the air, and just start tracking from where you find oil to where it could have originated. Use your leak detection dye, and see if you were right. Then go from there. If you smell burning, chances are there is smoke. That UV dye will light up where it's coming from. Hope that helps.

 

make sure the gasket under the hood between the engine compartment and the battery compartment is securely in place. Also, I smelled oil when my PCV system under the manifold was broken at the engine block.

 

+1 on the pcv sytem, leaking oil on the hot manifold. this would give you a buring oil small in the cabin, if you don't press the air recirculation button.


I just had my PCV system replaced with a upgraded silicone version from motorosport043. I also upgraded my billet PCV check valve to a more, sturdy one.


034Motorpsort's billet PCV check valve serves as a simple, elegant, indestructible replacement for the problematic OEM Audi/Volkswagen plastic valve (035 103 245A).

The 034 check valve is a high quality spring-loaded ball-style unit designed for simple bolt-on installation for the Audi AAN I5 20VT, Audi/Seat/Volkswagen 1.8T, Audi 2.7T, and many others. Features a CNC-machined billet aluminum housing with stainless steel ball-bearing and spring.

Can also be used in universal applications where you'd want to keep pressure out a specific hose or chamber, pressure side features a 1/2" nipple, vacuum side a 1" OD. Suitable for applications up to 100PSI or more.

 

Thanks for the replies, I did notice that I don't have the hood gasket so that may be part of the issue. I will hopefully be able to get under the car this weekend and check the tracer dye.

Does anyone know where I can get the hood gasket?

 

without that five foot piece of rubber gasket you are constantly going to smell motor functions. Even brake functions. and dead birds in the grill.

 

I installed the hood gasket and it resolved the smell inside the cabin but I did find a two leaks, one behind the head which I believe is the cam plug and a vavle cover leak.

I will replace when weather warms up. Thaks for the help.

 

So I have a similar problem... my car (99 2.8l) has been blowing white smoke out for quite awhile and has I've also noticed some under the hood from either side of the engine. This morning was the coldest it's been in awhile (around -5 F, down from ~30's) and the smell in the cabin was a lot worse than normal as well as considerably more smoke..

I bought the car last July, the dealer listed new valve cover gaskets which he had actually installed himself in the last month... Would gaskets this new be prone to failure or is it something else now??