I've tried posting this in the A4 section but I'm not getting much luck, I'm hoping someone can give me some insight.
I have an 2007 A4 2.0T quattro w/ tiptronic tranny and it has 33,000miles. This past winter I noticed my car leaking oil when it sat outside in the cold weather all day, below 35 degrees. It would not leak just sitting there, when I parked it and it sat all day and then drove it I would frequently notice an oil burning smell. I would then park it in my garage and notice oil dripping down on my floor, a fairly good size puddle at times, it varied in size from one day to the next. I figured it may have been coming from the rear part of the engine, or the front part of the tranny. I took it to me closest dealer which isn't so close several times, 4 to be exact. At first they said it was a seal in the tranny, they said they replaced the seal around what I think they described as a breather/pressure tube. They also said they noticed the tranny had 2 qts of oil and it should have had 1.5 qts, so they took some out. They also said they talked to Audi USA and it was claimed that this leak is normal. They said the oil was thick when cold and caused there to be more pressure in the tranny and that was why it was leaking. It kind of made sense a bit, but my car has never did this for the last three winters, it started this past (4th) winter. It mostly did it when it was in the 20's but sometimes would even do it in the 30's and low 40's. I told them this and they said " you probably never noticed before" I explained it's always garaged and I would have noticed it, they had nothing further to say.
Anyone know what's going on? Is it a faulty seal or bad oil? Is it really the cold temps? Or is the dealer talking crap because the car is going to be out of warranty this coming fall and they just see dollar signs for the future?