Bought the car six months ago and it's been nothing but a pain in my butt ever since.

Took the video this morning. Does it look excessive? If so, is a total rebuild in order?

Audi 1.8T Engine Blow By - YouTube

 

Send me that bill & i will give you the answer.
What problem are you actually experiencing besides the dollar bill flapping in the breeze?

 

1. The car feels down on power to me. It really seems like it's not building boost on the top end.

2. The transmission is shifting weird. It keeps hunting for gears while accelerating.

3. I am getting massive crankcase stink inside the cabin of the car.

I talked to a local tech yesterday and he said that all of those symptoms may be related to a leak in a vacuum line(s).

I still don't see how that much blow by can be acceptable. I've never seen a healthy engine that did that. The weird part is that the engine is not burning any oil.

 

Are there any fault codes stored in the ECM or TCM?

Bad vacuum lines will cause lean codes.

The transmission is electronically controlled , vacuum is not directly used for transmission functions.

The massive stink is probably oil leaking on to the exhaust somewere (valve cover , cam tensioner , cam plug).

 

youneed a compression test to determine something like blow by. if you wanted to really see what kind of blow by you have out a catch can setup in it. most of the vacuum lines in a 1.8, especially 2000+, are really unnecessary. there a few systems under the hood that audi added to be overly environmentally conscious. the whole evap system is not need, the secondary air injection system is not needed, the n249 valve is not needed, and the pcv system can be simplified with a catch can. all of this can be coded out of your computer as well so you dont throw a cel. BTW this diy is amazing and if you want to really makes things simple under the hood, do it all.
*DIY* - B5 1.8T Vacuum/Check Valve/SAI/PCV - Delete & Simplification

 

You should start with getting a boost gauge, scanning for codes, and go from there.

 

I just got the car back from a reputable shop. In all, they found seven vacuum leaks. While I can't remember the proper terminology, there is a vacuum line running under the throttle body to the turbo which controls the vane pitch, that line was completely disconnected which explained the total lack of top end boost.

There is a night and day difference in the performance of the car now. The car launches great, shifts great and pulls hard through all gears.

As far as gauges go, would you guys recommend a combination boost/vac gauge? I hate to sound uninformed here but I've only ever dealt with diesels when it comes to performance.

 

Most go with a combination gauge, its nice to see your vacuum too.

 

ECStuning sells a very reasonably priced kit with a VDO vac/boost gauge and all of the tubing, fittings, and hardware needed to mount and plumb it. All you'd have to do then is find a place to put it. Popular spot is to replace one of the HVAC vents on the dash