I'm finally oil leak free!!! :)
 

After replacing my cam plugs on my 2.8L my oil leaks appear to have stopped.

For those who haven't read my previous posts, I had replaced my valve cover gaskets 3 times, cam tensioner gaskets and half moons, and lower oil pan and still had an oil leak. I even still had smoke coming up from the engine (passenger side).

So thanks to people like 4Driver4 and some other searches on this site, I concluded that my cam plugs were bad. I replaced them, reused my VC gaskets in the process (since I had changed them out 5 months ago) and now no more smoke and no more drops of oil on the garage floor! :)

Thanks everyone for the help! The only thing I haven't changed out are the cam seals but I'll wait until I do my next timing belt change to knock those out.

golf clap

Help neded with my VC gasket problem
 

My mechanic changed my spark plugs and told me that he found oil on the plugs. Told me my VC gasket needs to be changed. I now smell oil sometimes in the car. Is this confirmation that I need to change the VC gasket or could it be something else like cam plugs too. How much should I budget to spend for to fix this especially if it is VC gasket.

Will you do it yourself or have your indie mechanic do it? I would say you definitely need to
 

replace your VC gaskets. While in there make sure to change out your cam tensionser gaskets and half moons as well. Also the cam plugs wouldn't be a bad idea just for piece of mind. They are cheap and easy to replace. I bought the cam plugs for like $2.30 each on www.autohausaz.com.

Good luck!

OH, and yes, the burnt oil smell is confirmation of bad VC gaskets and possibly cam plugs too.

but than its not Audi, if not leaking
 

lol, good luck!!!!!!!

Instructions on Cam Plugs?
 

I have gone over the tech articles many times and have done my own VC and tensioners and half moons. I have a leak on the passenger side front and I think it is from the cam seals. The leak is coming from behind the TB cover, so until I dive into that beast again I am not sure what it is. Is there a write up on these mystical cam plugs?

Cam plugs link here.
 

https://forums.audiworld.com/30vv6/msgs/4585.phtml

Front, passenger side behind TB cover? Cam plugs are at the back of engine, seals are up front.
 

If its up front behind the TB cover and you've already done the valve cover gaskets then it's probably the cam seal. To change it requires pulling the sprocket at which point you may as well do a full TB service unless you've done one recently.

I did the TB 25K ago, and 10K before that. I was one who had a bad idler bearing. Caught it before
 

it let go. My gut tells me that it is the cam seal. I replaced it the first time at 90K so I have had 35K on it before it started leaking. I was just dreading of having to take apart the girl again. The two worst parts of the whole job. The damn crank lock pin, and bleeding the air from the coolant on the firewall. Getting that hose off has been a nightmare every time.