Swes

Has anyone encountered leaks from the boxes on the intake manifold seen in the photos below ? Significant puddle found the day before .

Seems like an easy fix , is there anything I should know prior to messing with it?

Swes

Otherside also shows leaking , anyone think this indicates failure of something else ?

03_AR_CO

If you pull those off the intake they are supposed to be sealed to the intake with O rings, possible yours have become damaged, you can also pull the breather valve itself and clean them out with parts cleaner spray, I have done so with mine on routine plug replacement. Mine sure do not leak like that, looks severe, mine actually do not leak, but do gather some oil between plug changes.

MP4.2+6.0

There are a total of 4 plastic hoses, two on each side. You only really have the forward two in the picture. As already mentioned, issue is likely with those hoses. In turn two likely issues: cracked end fitting so it doesn't hold tight, or cracked hose. In addition, from pics there is a little blowback at the oil filler cap, but to be expected w/ adding oil over years. Also realize the leak on the ground is also in the general area of the oil filter above, so be careful it doesn't have a leak at the oil filter plastic hosing--in that case most likely it simply wasn't tightened enough, or someone didn't change the o ring that comes w/ filter for the housing.

The hoses are really expensive. Like $100 each expensive. You need to inspect system carefully to figure out which it is. And here's a pisser. Dealer broke one on mine and then hid it. Thank you Rector Audi to name names. Then covered it up with a duct tape repair. Found it much later when I pulled manifold and noticed hose twisted for no good reason and seemed to have some oil coming out.

Incident aside, most common way to do plugs for those of us in the know is to pull whole upper intake manifold assembly, which is surprisingly easily. In turn those hoses have to be CAREFULLY disconnected, or snap and then $. Doesn't matter but a guess is it could have happened then--or a temp or cam sensor change, or a thermostat change, all of which involve pulling same manifold assembly to open up upper motor area access.

Swes

Hmmmmm just turned 80k so spark plugs really need to be done , will probably remove the whole manifold then and solve the problem while doing a little PM.

Thanks for the help guys .

MP4.2+6.0

If you need those hoses, they will have to be ordered almost for sure. When I checked on mine, 2 of 4 were in US and other 2 in Germany. I was able to do a temporary repair by cleaning thoroughly w/ brake cleaner and then taping up w a quality electrical tape.

Order the riser gasket to pull entire manifold (only 7 pounds BTW) and get at plugs. Dealers often seem to have that, at least audiusaparts I usually use. Don't do it the Bentley way of pulling the wings off manifold sides--both harder and those gaskets cost like $150 EACH while the single riser one costs very little, like 1/10 that. FWIW too, the online dealer price for tune up parts--filters and plugs is about as cheap as you find anywhere else if you buy OE like Mann, Hengst, NGK, etc. 12 plugs add up--but having shopped the NGK (OES) most places are more expensive actually than the online dealers who discount. Sort of upside down from what you might think for tune up parts. The oil vapor hoses and the manifold related gaskets are all dealer only.

Swes

Alright ! Sounds good . Knock on wood but it seems not too bad for parts for these cars . Sure doing oil changes for $80-100 gets old but there's people getting their A4 serviced for that seems very reliable except the front bushings which have started to fail.

First sway bar links went now front upper rear control arms are creaking when it gets extra cold outside. They will get replaced soon as weather permits.

17K miles so far since July and been awesome drive for every one of them.

I may have to delay repairs a little bit but I'll post what the point of failure was once I start dissecting.