ozgur.ogut

I'm the proverbial long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been using Audiworld to stay on top of issues with my 2001 S4, but have come to a crossroads. My car has 75K miles on it and in the last year has had a timing belt change and a repair for leaking valve cover gaskets.

However, I've now noticed an oil leak and I would greatly appreciate a diagnosis. The leak is towards the front, middle of the car and is a dark brown oily substance to the touch. It leaks at a rate of about 2-3 drops per day. I've attached some pictures to show the area of the leak, and a few accumulating droplets can be seen.

When I pop the hood and remove the various covers, no leak can be seen from the top of the engine. I suspect that it is a new leak unrelated to the valve cover gasket issue I previously had.

Any idea on where this leak is coming from and what I may expect insofar as repair scope and cost? I love this car but realize that it is coming into its 15th+ year of ownership. At some point I need to decide if I need to part ways and send it to a more mechanically astute owner.

Any comments and diagnoses are welcome.





Front of the car is to the right; the oil drops on the garage floor can be seen to the right as well.





Clear view of the drops accumulating prior to their fall.

SnyperBob

Hmmm, it's hard to tell from the angles of the pics. Just a wild guess, but is it coming out of your dipstick tube, where it mounts to the oil pan? Only other thing in the front middle I can think of would be the crankshaft seal

ozgur.ogut

I appreciate the reply.

I got under the car again today and can see a small drop accumulating on the plastic cover underneath the front bottom. It's just to the passenger side, but basically the middle.





The oil drop can be seen accumulating on the bottom cover, just to the left / passenger side.

wilson94t

Also this depends on how much you care. if the leak is really slow you can continue to drive it without issue. If you sell it, given the value of these cars today, it is not likely that the next owner will fix the leak if it's not causing a reliability problem.

Some S4's have had leaks like this for 100K+ miles and never leak enough to disturb driving pleasure or reliability. How about taking the car to a local mechanic and get a proper assessment?

Also, i see the belly pan screws are in place. Do you have the belly pan? if you do the oil drops might be caught by the pan and not end up on your garage floor.