old96A4

the pr0oble is the breather going into the back of the enginee is plugged and the moisture and oil in the tubes is leaking out the breather tubes in the back of the engine, only way to clean it out I guess is to take the manifold off, which I tried but there's something connected back there that I can't see. Had the manifold rocking but couldn't find what was attached not letting the manifold pull off. I did see a few hoses but those were on the right side , it's catching on the left side when you look at the engine from the front. so I put it back on , may let some one else do the job. there's a youtube video of the water tubes leaking under the manifold, could be some of that too. what a pain this is. I can;t even get my hand back there enough to change the coollant temp sensor. hands to big, I'll have some one do that too. I'm beginning to hate these cars, but what do you expect for 12 years old.. starting to rust real bad too, top of the front fenders.. I need pictures of what's back behind there so I can try to disconnect it. you can't take the air intake off without first taking the manifold off.

SloopJohnB@mac.com

Good luck, as my dad used to say.

old96A4

From what I've seen the manuals aren't that useful either for stuff like this.. I'd hate to pay $$$ for manual and have it be a waste. What would be the recommended manual Bentley ?? getting closer to winter , have to do something ..

SloopJohnB@mac.com

As I understand it from Bentley Publishing Audi gives the info to Bentley and Bentley puts it in printed manuals and their (currently beta testing) eBahn. The older eBahn was CD/software that only worked on XP. When I dumbly upgraded to Vista I had to do a virtual PC in XP, same with Windows 7, but fortunately Bentley gave me a user id and password for the beta test online eBahn. It works well, with of course the limitation that the information is from Audi and no one checks it for usefulness, unlike the old Motor Manuals from the 60s and 70s where the publisher actually had mechanics DO the repairs and activities in the manual!
The audi manual more or less tells you what needs to be done and very limited information on how to do it, but it's the only game in town.

old96A4

after putting the car back together , it runs good but doesn't start very well on a cold start.
No sure what it could be , Coolant temp sensor? , but I bet it's getting to much air in the manifold. because I couldn't get the manifold all the way off I had to put it back together because I'm driving the car. I'm taking it to a local shop that's pretty good and let them deal with it .. I don't mine paying if they can fix it .. they maybe able to do teh manifold job. just one more year ...

old96A4

I replaced the coolant temp sensor , little bit of a pain in the ***, Now I have oil leaking from under the manifold coming out the back. has any one taken the manifold off a 3.0 engine? I'm not sure how all the blow system works under there Maybe the plastic housing cover is cracked. Until I get it open we're not going to know what it is. All I know is it's not water. it looks like oily spit on my driveway. something must be plugged some place.. I had it most of the way off and couldn't get the one side off in the back. but even if I can get it off I'm not sure how that stuff work under there. My local shop doesn't really want to deal with it I don't think I'll call in the morning. Nice weather this week, I maybe trying it again myself.. any information would be helpful..

old96A4

I think I figured out what my problem was the valley pan gasket was leaking under the manifold. so I had to take the 3.0 engine apart to fix it. took me awhile but I figure out the the trick to get behind there. Take the air scoop off with one bolt and a clap and the think falls off. I was fighting to get my hands back there until then. pretty easy once you figure that out with out a manual or any help. anyway you can see in the picture what the problem is, the gasket got hard as a rock and was leaking out the back. I plan on making two write ups, one to take the manifold off and one to replace the coolant temp sensor. I'll make two new threads when I get them done.

Prospeeder

Thats good to know, I bet more and more will start leaking from here as they get older.

MinneapolisJeff

newbie here, about to embark on a similar journey as this thread on a 2004 3.0 that my stepson bought last month and then decided he didn't want anymore after a month...I'm aiming to fix a few things before trying to resell

was attempting to change the coolant temp sensor due to engine code being thrown, and in the process I cracked the breather tube significantly; then while I was assessing the damage, I noticed tons of leaking from the PCV valve so here I am looking for DIY write-ups and trying to figure out how many parts to replace while I'm in there with the manifold off

MinneapolisJeff

@old96A4 if you're still active, any advice would be appreciated!