peshkis06

1999 2.8 b5 a4

i bought this car not to long ago, the owner used non-synthetic oil. i recently changed my valve cover gaskets. it was fine for several days, till i put synthetic oil in. it now leaks oil from the valve cover gaskets, specifically from the rear of the engine, on both valve covers. drivers side leaks much less. Double checked that the valve cover gaskets were on properly. i am unsure as to what is wrong.
maybe blown head gasket?
to much oil pressure? what could cause this?. it drips at a good pace on to my passenger side header. plenty of smoke when gets heats up.. i checked if my sparks plugs are wet with oil.and they are dry... the more rpms i give it the more the leak. when idling really slow leak. the valve covers are tightened properly... if its a head gasket whats the the best way without taking the whole engine apart?
thank u in advance!!!

4Driver4

Have you checked cam seals, cam plugs and cam adjuster seals?

peshkis06

i am pretty sure they are in good shape.. i never toched them and they dont seem to leak,, 2morrow ill take valve cover off and gasket make sure the gasket is a perfct fit, mines were a lil loose where they go up and down, clean them througly, gasket, valve cover and the bottom .. and put some WD40 on the bolts and nuts to torque it down a lil extra harder, would any kind of silicon help? cuz i can see where it a steady leak from. valve cover gaskets, could they be a wrong size, kind? that possible?

4Driver4

I suggest you check the seals rather than assuming they do not leak. Cam adjuster seals are very common failures.

No sealant or other crap on the VCG's except as specified by Audi.

KC-shunsine-band

The cam seals are notorious for this. Always starts on the passenger side. The previous owner probably use a leak-sealer & dino oil to abate the problem. Your new synthetic oil acted as a cleanser, and washed out the leak-sealer. I have the same issue, and have yet to fork over the $ to get it worked on ($1500-2500 - I'm told, depending upon scope - and not a dealership price - grab yer ankles for that). The easiest & cheapest thin to try is adding a leak-sealer. It can be a safety issue - oil+header=fire, but not always - you'd need to be running really hot & heavy to get your headers heated to the flash point. And no one likes to hear "I like your car... what is that smell?"

4Driver4

Judging from his OP, the main leak is on the back of the bank one head. There are no cam seals in that location.

projectsca

This is what i've done to fix 2.8 30v to stop oil leak.

I have this B5 2.8 with oil leak since very begining. till yesterday, I have to keep cardboard in the garage, as it always drip oil. These are what I've changed for oil leak.

valve cover gaskets(both sides), cam chain tensioner seals, camshaft seals, camshaft end-caps, oil pan gasket, crankshaft seal and front flange(fornt oil carrier) gasket. I should have all this job done while I change the timing belt. But I'm not that lucky to predict all these. these parts are cheap, but all job involve intensive labor.

I first change valve cover gasket which only involve the upper engine job, 40mins, very easy. this is the mayor oil leak source, I also clean a check valve which may cause the high crank vacuum which lead the valve cover gasket fail. Before this I could not identify where is the oil leak from, just whole engine wrapped in oil and smell really bad, and I even worried it'll burn someday.

After this I found oil still leaking, just from dripping to few drops. So I decide change cam chain tensinoer seals, camshaft seals and end cap, as I need took whole front end a part, I think I can change the crankshaft seal as well. But I was wrong again, when I finished cam stuff, and redone the valve cover gasket. I found I cannot safely remove the crank sprocket without crankshaft locking pin which dealer doesn't sell or carry it, I have to put every thing back and wait tool come. This whole thing took me about 9 hours including RR all timing stuff. There's one thing need extreme causion: the camchain tensioner hold pressure, without camshaft locking bar, it may damage your valve.

while I was waiting crank lock pin coming, I suspect oil pan and upper oil pan leaking. After check from underneath, I found there is a front flange/oil carrier gasket on this car, and looks leaking a little from middle height. I cann't even order this part from local parts distributor, but stealer only, which cost me $26(supposed to be about $6-9). I planned to change crankshaft seal which I was right, the lip of the seal completely dry, and the front oil carrier gasket also has sealant chip off. The difficulty is I should have the upper oil pan removed, but I don't willing to remove whole subframe which makes the job from big to huge. after I check the rear part of upper oil pan's gasket ok. I decide don't bother with it. This time took me about 12 hours. one thing I'm not supposed to do drain whole coolant off, as only one gallon coolant should have drain from radiator and dis connect the driver side upper hose is enough for whole job.


Finally, after took car front end apart 3times including change timing belt, I changed most mayor gaskets on this car, only left is rear flange gasket which I don't think I need to do that. now car runs without oil leak at all.

peshkis06

i changed my valve cover gaskets, and the leaks stopped (from the valve covers) but now im not sure yet but i think my cam seals (passenger side) is leaking slightly, im not sure ill double check 2morrow.. i had alot of noise coming from engine like louder clicking noise, not at a steady tempo or anything like when id let go of gas and or hit the clutch id do that and sometimes one idling,, for some reason all that stopped. engine runs great,. but i have white smoke coming out like a blown head gasket. not as much as u would when seafoamed the car but a good amount
is that maybe because car has been sitting for a long time and old gas? and i did get some parts break cleaner in breather whole cuz it was clogged. could that cause it?, or maybe because i have highflow cats?,

peshkis06

oh and it dont smoke white till the car runs for like 3-5min. small revs up to 1000rpms. and sometimes it has hard time idiling.. and need to change my 2 o2 sensors after cats. could that cause some white smoke too?