carfanaticA4

So my 2012 Audi Q5 2.0T oil drain plug is leaking, At my last oil change i purchased a new plug and gasket , it seemed to hold up for 6000km's in 8months .

I'm so sick of this BS , i'm currently using Mobil 1 0w40 with a Mann Filter

So lucky for me its Oil Change time, so i'll go back to my dealer buy a gasket and hopefully it holds at least for the same amount of time "Fingers Crossed"

I just wanted to know if anyone had any ideas or something i could check ? Oil pan looks like its in mint condition

apoelistas

Drain Plug wall thread was cracked on my car. Over torqued. Audi mechanic tried to re-thread put a new bolt said it is fine (charged me for them not doing a proper job). Went home and my car drain plug was leaking.

Went to a different garage and changed the pan. Thread Wall was cracked heavily.

carfanaticA4

OH wow thats sucks , i'm assuming that could be my issue that the thread wall is cracked i'm going to have to examine it, could i possibly use two gaskets ? instead of one ?

apoelistas

There is no gasket. It is a special silicone you have to add (pan walls). You draw/construct two lines side by side.

maybe you meant something else. No sure where else you would use a gasket.

zbillz

I had a leaky oil drain plug and a neighbor who is a BMW mechanic suggested using a copper oil drain plug washer . It worked and I've had no issues as the softer metal will create a better seal when torqued.

You need to replace the washer every other oil change or so but it's a cheap part.

carfanaticA4

I'll buy a new gasket and then also examine threads for cracks , if not i guess i could attempt copper washer aka gasket lol i use these terms interchangeably Thank You

apoelistas

I think the newest engine oil pan design has this type. This is the one I have now.

Older ones have this type. I think this one you cannot remove the washer. Used to have this type. You need to change the complete part.

Redd

Gasket, washer, whatever. My last car came from the factory years ago with none of that, the shop manual never showed one, of course everyone told me "but you MUST use them!" and the car somehow never leaked despite never having one.

If the threads themselves are cracked, I can't see anyway to fix that without the need to drop the pan, so you can get in and clean out the crack before attempting to fill/seal it, and then you're putting a lot of work into rolling the dice.

A Fumoto oil drain valve https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003T7XUE4/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
or something similar might be one answer. This can be literally epoxied into place, eliminating the question of seals and cracks, and then you simply flip the valve to drain the oil. Or, of course, you could simply epoxy the normal drain plug into place (after a through cleaning either way). The epoxy can be released with some torch heat, so it isn't a one-way street, but it will stop any leaks.

After that, you use a suction pump to suck the oil out through the dipstick, which is how a lot of the dealers are doing it anyway. That avoids the time and effort of dropping 19 screws to drop the road pan to access the drain plug.

(If you use the Fumoto, you may want to cut an access hole so you don't need to drop the pan either.)

I suspect the real purpose of "washers" is to slow down the over-eager greasemonkeys who over-torque drain bolts.

MurrayA4

If this was mine I'd carefully inspect the oil drain plug for damage, then try the copper gasket ring and if that fails you need teflon tape on the drain plug threads,That'll fix her.If a previous oil change involved over-torquing the drain plug then the threads can be damaged particularly if there's aluminium involved.

Redd

Teflon tape can be dangerous in that kind of application. If any threads cut loose and get into the oil, they can wind up clogging an oil passage. Teflon pipe dope or a similar non-tape product is a safer bet.
Copper gasket rings are usually crush washers--designed to deform on use, and be thrown out, never re-used. If someone tried to cheat and re-use one, then it is pretty much supposed to leak.

FWIW.