msinger

HELP - THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY.

Sorry to bring up what must be the most over-discussed topic, but I can see a lot of posts but very few diagnoses. My 2002 AR (96,000 miles) has a strong burning smell after sitting overnight or for 8 to 10 hours. I drive the car to starbucks in the morning (about 1/4 of a mile) and I get out and I smell a strong burning smell from the driver side wheel well. Been to the mechanic twice (once for a timing belt replacement) and he cannot find anything that is leaking. He checked all the normal suspects but found nothing.

He did notice a slight leak on the cold side of the turbo, but he contends that this would not hit anything hot (especially after a 1/4 mile drive from a cold start) that would cause the burning smell.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Mike

gwos25

Either the valve cover gaskets leaking, dripping on the manifold, or, the cam cap seal leaking down the back of the head, landing on the cat, or the cam chain tensioner seal, however, on the drivers side it's on the front of the engine, so, less likely causing the smell. I just replaced all of mine, there was so much mess it was hard to say what the worse were, but the tensioner, and vc gaskets were leaking for sure, maybe the cam plugs too. NONE of these leaks were enough to show up on the garage floor, and NONE of them could be seen without taking the covers off the engine, removing the intake pipe, and getting a mirror and flashlight into the tight space between the heads and the firewall. I don't think the VC leaks could be seen until I removed the covers! It's that tight.
Gary

quickaudi:STFA

agreed

SLC18T

My cam cap seal, located directly above the manifold was dripping right on my manifold.

quickaudi:STFA

mine did that at least 3 times

thejulex

If it is not Valve cover/Cam tensioner seal (you are guaranteed to leak there sooner or later), it might also be power steering leak. Keep in mind that power steering rack sits right on top of rear of engine and something dripping from there will almost certainly hit exhaust piping and cause burning oil smell.

hail7783

I had a hairline crack on my expansion tank that would drip down onto the manifold and burn off a little bit at a time, coolant didn't all come out but over time burnt on G12 coolant became visible. Just ordered my expansion tank and new cover and will attempt to replace it this weekend.

:-/

quickaudi:STFA

yes

audiallroadfun

My 2002 Allroad is leaking from the Tiptronic output shaft seal (approx $32.00 from Audi). This is a common leak. It will gear oil (seperate from transmission fluid) onto the exhause near the cat. converters. However, I smell mine when it is running or after driving for a few minutes.

There is a small heat sheild at the back of the transmission where the driveshaft connects that acts like a small reservoir for the fluid before it drips onto the exhause.

Planning to replace this weekend.

See the following A8 description: http://audi-diy.blogspot.com/2007/11...on-output.html