Audi Logic

oil is dripping from the wifes A6q like crazy.. Its comming from the front part of the engine and spreading all over the oil pan then blowing onto the exhaust pipes, which leads to makor smoke and a bad burning smell..

took it to a mechanic today and they said
its the upper oil pan gasket, 5.5 hours $602 for labor and parts
I pointed out that I also saw oil below the the intake manifold ( I think its the valley pan gasket) but they said no its the upper oil pan..

would that also deposit oil by the valley pan?
and is that a fair price for the repair?
could I do it myself, what is involved ?

thanks for any help

in2audi

Sounds more like head gasket or if your lucky it could simply be the oil pressure sender located on front of motor above the oil cooler/oil filter. The oil sender looks similar to a spark plug and screws into the block to regulate oil pressure. It's common problem, cheep part, and an easy fix. When mine went bad it leaked a lot of oil.

4Driver4

There are upper and lower pans - but I agree that a large volume of oil is probably the switch.

Audi Logic

I had the problem with the switch a few months ago and changed it myself so I did not think it was the switch, the oil is all across the front of the engine just below the timming belt cover.. I will recheck the switch just incase

4N 4RING

Make sure you have 24 mm deep socket and a one foot extension for this job.

Audi Logic

for the upper oil pan or the switch?

VIPSA

When's the last time u did ur t-belt? Did u replace the front crank seal? It sounds like that's a possibility. Also look in your plenum and see if there's oil in there. Could be the valley pan gasket. Mine was leaking pretty bad and i replaced it myself( fairly easy to do). I highly doubt the possibility of the upper oil pan, but u never know i might be wrong. Maybe get a second shops oppinion?

manuva

There was oil on top of the engine cover. However, in my case there was a very small amount of oil leaking out. Dealership said it was the upper oil pan gasket (I think). Time and money that they quoted were similar to what you mentioned. My mechanic charged $350 to fix it...

Soon after that (about 1 week later), the oil switch litterally blew up. That was a mess -- oil leaking out like crazy and the enigine smoking like in a bad Burt Reynolds (sp?) movie. Cost me another ten bucks to get fixed.

HTH,
Manu

4N 4RING

Pressure switch, forget the oil pan.

Audi Logic

any tips on how to verify a leak at the main seal and the valley pan
I mentioned the valley pan to the mechanic
and they kept saying no no thats the haead gasket or thats the intake manifold gasket,
they seems confident about the upper oil pan
but that also seems to be the most expensive repair..