i posted the smoke coming from front wheels post. I checked my oil after seeing a nasty spill on my driveway and there wasn't any registering. so I took it over to where i get my oil changed and they removed my belly pan and there was a alot of oil on the pan and under the car. i looked under the car and on alot of hoses and such the oil was kinda everywhere. they didn't have time to really check it out. so they filled me with oil and sent me home. does anyone have a suggestion of where to look first? have a great night and any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
-marsh

 

Probably cam adjusters. Check to see if theres oil on the bottom of the cam gear covers.

 

1,8 OR 2.8??

 

2.8
i am being told it is the valve covers? sound good Dankhound?

 

For what its worth - I had the same thing happen to my 2000 A-4 2.8. One cold day last month I had oil leaking everywhere. What I found was my crankcase ventilation system was clogged up. I found out by removing the oil filler cap while the engine was running. It vented off ALOT of preasure.To temporarily remedy the problem ,I obtained an old oil filler cap and drilled a 3/8 " hole through it to which I inserted a piece of 3/8" steel fuel line and a legnth of hose. I ran the hose over to the air intake duct on the radiator support to resurculate the fumes through the intake. Over a month now and no more leaks! Of course I will make proper repairs to the vent system when the weather cooperates!

 

Ive seen few valvecover gasket leaks but its also a possiblity. Cam seals are seen much more often and leak in the same areas as cam seals. A crankcase ventilation clog will cause a leak in the weakest part of the system which is most often the cam seals. Using the method metionded above will relieve the pressure buildup in the oiling system and may prevent oil leakage.

In any case if you are quoted a price to fix a problem by a tech and their fix doesnt solve the problem they should remedy the problem for free. Youre paying them to fix a problem and if they dont fix it what are you paying for?

 

I realize this post was started a year ago, but this sounds like what might have happened to our 2000 A4 2.8 Quattro. The high today was about 10 F and the car sat out all day at work. The interstate is not too far from work, so the oil was probably pretty cold. I dropped the plastic tray and there is oil just about everywhere.What does the crankcase ventilation system consist of and how do you properly clean it?

 

i had a similar problem on my honda, its either the valve cover gasket or the oil pan gasket, which is what im going to go wth, try this, lift up your car, remove the belly pan and spray everything down with brakedust cleaner, that should take off most of the oil and clean stuf up, after that run the car and see where it leaks, it may just start leaking right after you spray everything down.

 

did you check your valve cover breather hose(s?)? I had one that deteriorated on me. smoked like a $10-hooker until I replaced it. Belly-ban full,just like yours, too! For mine (a 4.2 V8) it was the rear-breather-hose.

 

I removed the breather hoses and they do not look like they were clogged. A little dirty, but nothing major. I think the leak is coming from both sides of the engine. On the passenger side it is getting on the exhaust and burning and on the driver side it is running off the filter (the filter is not leaking). I think it could be coming from the end of the valve cover where the chains connect the cams together (which I think is on the front of the engine on the driver side and the rear on the passenger head). Not sure what seals there are on the cams. Even if this is the source of the leak, I do not know what caused it, so it could reappear.