1997 A8 Quattro leaking oil
03-11-2009, 06:21 AM
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1997 A8 Quattro leaking oil
Hi guys
Thanks for the link to autopartsway.ca. Question on my car's persistent leaking: a mechanic inspected the car and quickly deciphered the source of the leak as being the oil cooler seals. A quick call to the dealer to confirm pricing and they told me that the 1997 4.2L V8 does not have an oil cooler!! I don't know who to believe! I've looked underneath the car myself and the leaking is not coming from the oil pan gasket but from a more frontal area of the engine..any ideas what this could be? I don't think it's the valve cover either. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks for the link to autopartsway.ca. Question on my car's persistent leaking: a mechanic inspected the car and quickly deciphered the source of the leak as being the oil cooler seals. A quick call to the dealer to confirm pricing and they told me that the 1997 4.2L V8 does not have an oil cooler!! I don't know who to believe! I've looked underneath the car myself and the leaking is not coming from the oil pan gasket but from a more frontal area of the engine..any ideas what this could be? I don't think it's the valve cover either. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
03-11-2009, 06:33 AM
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passenger side or drivers side?
the oil pressure sending unit is a common leak on the PS near the front. mine was bad enough I'd get 10 to 20 drips each time I parked it.
03-11-2009, 06:38 AM
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It is more than likely the tube between the oil cooler and the block that is leaking...
Have a look at the audipages.com article<ul><li><a href="http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/oilcoolerremovalreinstall.html">http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/enginemechanical/oilcoolerremovalreinstall.html</a</li></ul>
03-11-2009, 07:08 AM
#5
Your dealer is an idiot. ALL if the A8 4.2L motors have an oil cooler. I would check the......
Oil sender for leaks first (as Dave mentioned- it's very common and very easy to fix) before tearing into the oil cooler. There is a figure "8" type dual o-ring seal at the oil cooler to block interface that might be leaking oil; however the most common failure is the coolant pipe that crosses from the block to the cooler. I wouldn't return to that Dealer for ANYTHING!!
03-11-2009, 07:10 AM
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Welcome to Le Club. And the 97 4.2 does have an oil cooler unless they added it for 98
However, after doing my oil cooler (which turned out to have been done very recently unbeknownst to me), I still have a leak which I suspect is front engine seals. Not that bad but messy if you are a belly pan. It leaks about 1/2 quart in 6-7k miles.
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03-11-2009, 07:53 AM
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I replace the TB cover seals and the CS seals when I did my TB job.....
And I still have a nasty leak coming from behind the TB on passenger side too. I've just been living with it and not parking in anyones driveway for the last 3 years.
I was just joking with my wife yesterday that Paul and Tozo said just run regular oil in it, it will stop eventually!
You can see where mine was leaking from behind the TB cover here
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3479.JPG">
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3491.JPG">
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3492.JPG">
I don't know if I did a bad job, or if its leaking from the corner of the VC ( another bad job on my part?) of if its something else. :-(
Britt (not parking in a driveway near you anytime soon)<ul><li><a href="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/index.html">Doing the TB job on the 1997 A8</a></li></ul>
I was just joking with my wife yesterday that Paul and Tozo said just run regular oil in it, it will stop eventually!
You can see where mine was leaking from behind the TB cover here
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3479.JPG">
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3491.JPG">
<img src="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/images/IMG_3492.JPG">
I don't know if I did a bad job, or if its leaking from the corner of the VC ( another bad job on my part?) of if its something else. :-(
Britt (not parking in a driveway near you anytime soon)<ul><li><a href="http://www.brittcrowell.com/2006/2006-06-18_Working_On_A8/index.html">Doing the TB job on the 1997 A8</a></li></ul>
03-11-2009, 10:16 AM
#10
It still is a cooler- the oil transfers heat energy to the coolant, and the coolant transfers.......
that heat to the ambient air via the coolant radiator. They design the coolant radiator to handle this "extra" heat load. Even though there isn't a specific air/oil heat exchanger, the oil is still being cooled by the ambient air via an extra step. This is done because a liquid/liquid heat exchanger is far more efficient than a gas/liquid heat exchanger. The size of an oil/air heat exchanger that would provide equivalent heat transfer capability (at the same delta T) would be very large in comparison to the size of the water/oil heat exchanger.
