I found oil on the ends of my spark plug wires in my 01 2.8l A4, so I am assuming the valve cover gasket needs replacing.

I am confident I could do that myself, but is there anything else that should be done along with that? Or is replacing just the gaskets okay?

I dont currently have a garage, so if there is too much "extra" that needs done, I might have to take it someplace...any idea what that would run?

Thanks for your help!

 

Get the kit from Blauparts and do it yourself. Search on this forum for tips.

Tips:

+ Make you you scrape away all the old bits of gasket
+ Let RTV cure a few hours at least before firing up the motor
+ Invest in the smallest 10mm swivel socket you can find -- you'll need it for one of the 10mm bolts on the driver's side closest to the firewall
+ The breather tube has to be disconnected for a VCG job -- these things are very brittle and will crumble if you're not careful. Either use electrical tape to fix a busted tube or get a new tube off eBay.
+ There is a vacuum tube on the front of the driver's side bank. These tend to break when doing VCG's, so be careful.

 

Might not be a bad idea to also do the cam tensioner seal & gaskets while you are in there.

 

^ what he said. those tensioner seals and half moons leak like a siv. but look up the procedure first. im doing it right now, and its a bit more involved than just replacing a gasket. you need a special tool, one cam (at least) needs to be removed if you want any decent amount of room to work and clean under the tensioner before installing the new seal.

theres also a cup on the rear side of the head that tends to leak also, theyre cheap, and easy to replace once you have the vcg's off already

 

There is no need for swivels, rtv or special tools for any of this. The gasket is full rubber and seals fine. Only time you may want rtv is to hold the half moon gasket in which isn't needed either. To do the cam gasket all you need to do is undo the 3 torx bolts and lift. You can slide out both gaskets and replace them. Only takes a few mins instead of locking chains and removing the intake cam which can ruin a head if you mess up.

 

RTV is optional, but if you do use it as recommended by the Bentley manual, let it cure.

That one 10mm bolt in the corner by the firewall on the driver's side is a hell of a lot easier to get at with a small swivel socket, unless you have tiny hands.

 

I have 1/4" deep sockets and magnetic stick that make life easier

 

i'm about to do this... doesn't sound like a good time lol

 

any specific directions on how to take the breather hose off? i was looking at it but its covered in grime and ****... does anyone have any pics or a diagram? i don't want to break them so i don't watn to try to force it the wrong way

 

They are a pain on the 12v. All those clips are the same, push, squeeze, and twist and it should come free. It does take some time.