AntwonJenkins

Hi all,

I have a 1998 A4 2.8 and for the past few weeks the temperature outside has been well below freezing (and for the past few days below zero) when I start my car early in the morning to go to work. Now here's my problem, whenever I start my car in this extreme cold I am accompanied by a large plume of foul smelling bluish white oil smoke coming out of the exhaust as well as a harsh grinding sound coming from the engine bay. This noise and oil burning only occur when the Engine is extremely cold ( Ex morning starts) as they do not return during the rest of the day. Typically the noise stops after a few seconds and there is no more oil burning after the initial start up, but when the temperature is below zero the grinding noise is louder, and doesn't go away until the engine is completely warmed up. Also, at below zero temperatures, the noise is much more pronounced when I turn the wheel at low speeds and while accelerating. So my question are...

1- In this extreme cold is it normal for an old 2.8 to visibly burn oil when starting up?
2- what in the world could this grinding noise be and is it a result of the extreme cold as well? Could this noise be a part that's about to fail?

Other things to note:
*The car runs and drives normal
*I am using mobile 1 5w-30 synthetic oil
*I have replaced any burnt oil
*The car has never burnt oil or made this noise in the past

Any info, or suggested causes/ fixes would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!