-99 a4 2.8 manual

Noticed lately that there is some smoke/steam comming from the right side of the engine bay. I cant seem to locate the source, it seems to be rising up from underneath the engine coolant container. Smoke kind of smells like plastic is burning or something. Checked all fluid levels and they seem to be fine. Not sure whats goin on, any thoughts are greatly appreciated thanks.

 

hard to tell but maybe valve cover gasket leaking oil down? do u see any oil in the valve cover area?!

 

Could be a small leak from one of the coolant hoses.

 

When you say "right side" do you mean to your right when you're sitting in the driver's seat or to your right when you're standing in front of the car looking at the engine bay?

 

Right side looking at the engine bay, he said under the coolant tank, which is on the right.


Noob.

 

lol i hate you. missed that the first time i read the post though, thank you. I vote burning oil.

 

ill check for oil around the valve cover and any coolant leaks tomorrow. How bad is a valve gasket leak? In terms of damage it may be causing if i dont get if fixed right away. I wont be putting many miles on at all till im outa school in december. Thanks guys

 

my 98 is doing the same thing but is on the right side i noticed it when i changed oil for the first time in my new car. im pretty sure its the valve cover gasket leaking and the exhaust is burning it. how hard are these to reseal on the 2.8s

first post love the forum btw

 

valve cover jobs aren't bad, and if its a small leak you can wait to take care of it. just make sure you keep a close eye on the oil level.

 

Ok so i took off the right plastic engin cover (the one that goes around the oil cap) and noticed that there was oil around the base of the spark plug area, the other two looked clean aswell as the other three on the left side. Would this be a valve cover gasket leak issue or something else??