bradpederson85

2001 A4 1.8T Quattro

Just had my oil changed before a trip this weekend by a shop. Did not check oil levels after the change. During the trip I noticed the car felt like it didn't have as much power, wouldnt accelerate very quickly on the interstate. Gas mileage seemed to be quite a bit less than normal as well.

On the way back after driving about 700 miles it started to sputter and the oil pressure light came on as well as a flashing cel (misfire). Huge plumes of white smoke started coming out of the exhaust. Pulled over and checked the oil level and it appeared to be an 1.5" to 2" over the full line on the dip stick.

Scanned the car with my vag com and received p0300, 301, 302, 303. (misfires, could be coils or plugs) also received p0135 (o2 sensor). Ive had the misfire code before and it was just a bad coil. Replaced it and has been running fine since.

Here is what I have found regarding oil overfills..

"While there is too much oil in the engine, high pressure may develop in the crankcase, you can get oil leakage through the oil pan gasket and other engine seals. You might have noticed reduced gas mileage while the oil level was too high - it's possible that the crankshaft was splashing in the oil, which made it work harder. And that splashing could cause the oil to foam up, which could cause the oil pressure in the crankcase to drop and perhaps lead to premature engine wear or even damage."

"The action of the crankshaft whipping up the oil also robs the engine of some power; it takes effort to push the crankshaft through all that extra oil."

"When you overfill an engine with oil, the oil capacity of the engine is surpassed. This means that the pressure of the oil pump is now increased, putting more pressure onto the valve stem seals, oil rings and head gasket sealing areas. The engine was designed to operate within a certain pressure range. When the pressure is increase with the case of to much oil, the oil trys to find atmospheric pressure and the seal areas are the first areas it will try to "squeeze" its way out of. Its very common to experience smoking when you overfill an engine, the oil was to go somewhere"

So my question is...if it was severely overfilled would these things happen because of an overfill? If so this is something I would have to take up with the shop? And how would I prove that they overfilled and caused this damage? I have to go get the car with a trailer some time this week. Had to leave it about 250 miles from home because nobody was open on a sunday in the small town I got stranded in.

Sorry for the long post. Just trying to gather as much info as I can.

Brad

4Driver4

Just drain some oil out, reset the ecu and see what happens.

bradpederson85

I'll try that when I get the car back. Going to go get it on my trailer tomorrow..But should I take it to the shop that changed my oil to show them it is overfilled before I remove some oil myself?

Does what I said in my original post seem logical that an overfill could casue these misfires? I'm aware that the coils could have just happened to go bad ad the same time. While i'm replacing the coils should I replace the plugs at the same time?

http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...ion/ES1876879/

are the above coils from ecs decent? They are only $80 for a set of 4. I also need to replace the cooling temp sensor. So is the green top the one I should pick up? http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...Sensor/ES1484/

4Driver4

I think it's all related. By taking it back to the shop, what are you hoping to accomplish? The only benefit I can see is to get them to take ownership for the problem in the event that the low oil pressure caused issues.

If you are trailing, I'd probably haul it back and let them deal with getting the oil level right. I think there is about a 95% chance that the misfires are related and will disappear once the level is set right and the car is driven a little.

bradpederson85

If there is extensive damage to the motor I'm hoping to show them that it was all casued by them putting to much oil in.

So your thinking that the coils and o2 sensor could really be fine but the codes were being thrown because of possible high oil level?

And id appreciate any advice on the coolant temp sensor and coils i should purchase.

4Driver4

Yup. All related, IMHO.
To me, the only question is if you ran it long enough with the oil light on to damage the engine. If so, good luck getting them to take responsibility. :-/

bradpederson85

Yea I know. It didnt run more than a minute or 2 after the oil light came on. If they tried to say its my fault for running the engine too long does it just come down to he said she said? Is it not their fault in the first place for completely overfilling my engine? Not sure how this process works...but it sucks.

bradpederson85

Got the car today..appears to be gas in the oil..most likely from having the misfire. May have let the engine run to long after the misfire came on. I changed the oil and filter just a bit ago. Cylinder 2 is the only one that comes up on the scan.

I have tried different coils in different cylinders as well as switching some plugs around. Each time the scan pulled cylinder 2 as not firing. After I turned the car off the spark plug in 2 was soaked in gas. So it was obviously not firing. Also noticed that the plug was sparking from coil pack 2 when i pulled it out once and barely turned the motor over.

Tried turning the motor over with no plug in 2 and just barely turned it over and a lot of gas came shooting out of 2. Not any idea of what is going on..

Thanks.

turbo510

This whole paragraph is dubious to me. The oil pressure is regulated at it's output, can't increase because of too much in the pan. Plus, the valve stem seals, oil-control piston rings, and head gasket arn't supplied with pressurized oil anyway, nor the seals for crank or cams. It might well smoke, but probably because the crankcase vent system was getting an oil mist from the crank splash. The crankcase breather pipe that wraps around the back of the head to the turbo area probably is wet with oil, you could check where it connects by the turbo. Next, pull the big hose from the throttle-body. I would expect there is plenty of oily residue in the hose and throttle.

Regarding cylinder #2, if it sparks but is flooded with gas, I would suspect the fuel injector isn't shutting off.

4Driver4

Bad POS (aka ignition module)?