Willgatlin25

So far I’ve had a ton of work done on my car. It’s an 2008 Audi Q7 Quattro Premium 4.2 FSI.
Relating to the oil leak I’ve had the oil filter standoff seal replaced, valley pan gasket replaced, from camshaft seal replaced, and both upper intake manifold gaskets replaced.
Problem is the oil leak seems to be getting worse and I can’t tell where it’s from.
I pulled the skid plate so I could follow the drips down onto my garage floor and they seem to be kind of all over the place, probably following gravity and dripping down where they finally accumulate enough to drip from a certain area. As of yesterday my car had been sitting in my garage overnight. I went to start it and had no problem. When I left I had a low tire so I stopped at Les Schwab for a quick fill up. As in sitting there, less than 5 minutes, I can quickly smell strong burning oil coming into the cab. Next thing I know I look over through the passenger side window and I can see burning oil smoke rolling up from under the car. Wherever the leak it’s clearly dripping onto the exhaust, somewhere, and the oil is just burning off and making a hell of a stink. I’ve never been parked idling and had enough oil burn off to notice a cloud of smoke rolling out from under the car but that seriously concerned me. When I backed out of the spot at Les Schwab where I was parked getting my tire filled I immediately noticed about 3 decent oil spots on the ground. Not a massive puddle like I’m spraying out oil but definitely three spots that where about 50 cent piece in diameter.
I don’t see any oil leaking down the sides around the valance covers but I’m not sure what seals are located near the exhaust that could be causing this amount of leaking. It’s not dead center of the engine, it seems to be more from the passenger side. I’m really worried it could be the rear main seal but I’m not sure where to look to determine if it really is the rear main and if so how much cost would be associated with fixing that. I know the tranny has to be unbolted and moved down to replace that seal and I imagine that repair would be $$$.
Taking into consideration what seals I’ve already replaced, what else do you think this could be? I’m getting really tired of not being able to park anywhere without leaving oil stains and the oil smoke being pumped into the cab is not sexy by any means...
Hoping for some advice on this one.

Im really starting to feel like I may have made a poor choice buying this vehicle because it’s been in the shop for repairs longer than I’ve even owned it and I only just got my plates in the mail yesterday! No it’s not new it’s used with 150k on the odometer. But still... I’ve dropped over $2,000 in repairs and only owned it just over a month. Oh and now the check engine light is back on giving me a code for a secondary air injection code. I haven’t even figured out what the hell is causing that but that just happened. Right now this oil leak is just out of control. Ideas?

dukesean

Sorry to hear all the troubles.

Most likely the rear cam cover is leaking. It's an engine out process.
It can be done if you have small hands, right tools, and patience without expensive engine removal work.

Most people just dump or trade it in when this happened because of the repair bill would be much more than the car value at this point. And then there are the additional timing chain guides and oil pan gaskets repairs possibilities for high mileage v8. All required engine out process.

Good luck with your repairs.

Willgatlin25

That actually doesn’t sound too bad. I’m going down to my mechanic today and we already talked about the rear camshaft seal being a possibility. He said he’s done it and the engine does not have to come out. It’s a pain in the A&& spot to get to but he said the engine definitely does not need to be pulled. I’ll have a certain diagnosis this evening as to what exactly is leaking and well.... I’ll report back lol.

Willgatlin25

So my mechanic said he doesn’t see any oil leaking from the rear main seal. He does however see a considerable amount of oil leaking at the front camshaft oil seal that they just replaced a few weeks ago. He said the seal may not have set properly so it’s going back in today to have that seal replaced again under warranty.

Willgatlin25

It was the front crankshaft seal. Saw it myself with the top blown out again. Not sure why this same seal has failed 3 times now but it’s replaced once again... This is definitely odd.

Willgatlin25

Well here’s an update. I ended up having the front crankshaft seal replaced 3 times. The first two times the seal did not set properly because the bottom part of the seal kept slipping back into the groove too far. At the bottom of the crankshaft seal void in the block there is an oil drain vent and if the seal is pushed back too far it stops the oil from draining properly and blows the seal back out. So that issue was fixed. However it ended up still pissing out oil.
We followed the trail of oil again and found that around the base of the oil filter standoff pipe the entire valley area around the top of the engine was saturated with oil. So it ended up being the oil filter standoff pipe AGAIN.
Now that all of those seals are replaced, the oil leak has stopped. Finally!

Up-it

Sh*t mate, your not having a good run with your mechanic!! I have personally done all these seals myself on my 4.2 over 2 years ago and never had a drama with them since. I’m a diesel mechanic for Caterpillar but in the end of the day whether its a dozer or a q7 the job should always be done right the first time and life goes on. Reading your story since you purchased that car would make me think was it the right choice to buy? But all in all, they are a good car and a great engine, and if you dont love the sound of changing the gears at 6500rpm every now and then you will Never love the car haha.. Hang in there !

Willgatlin25

Ah yes my friend, you suggested the obvious question: “Was this the right choice to buy?”
At the end of the day I believe the answer to this would be a giant ,”NO!”
If I was more knowledgeable about these vehicles and had done my research BEFORE shopping, I would not have purchased this particular Q7. Would I have purchased a different Q7? Likely, yes.
After having gone through this vehicle with a fine tooth comb, and my mechanic doing countless inspections as well as repairs I’ve pretty much concluded that this vehicle must have been previously owned by someone that gave up on maintenance. More than likely some issues started to arise and when the owner had it checked out, being that it’s an Audi, the repair estimates were probably steep, especially if they took the word of a local dealership.
From the state of the overall vehicle, brakes ran down to nearly metal to metal, oil leaking out of nearly every engine seal, battery completely worn out, lights and signals burned out, etc, I’m pretty sure the previous owner just drove it till the wheels were ready to fall off, literally.
The good news for me is that the engine and overall drivetrain are undamaged. My mechanic even went so far as to check the valves and bore holes with a camera and from watching the screen the internal state of things looks good. It’s not burning oil, no nasty engine noises, no chain guide chatter or valve lifter noise, it sounds like a beast.
I’ve heard a lot of people say that the engines and transmissions in these 4.2 Q7’s are relatively bulletproof and if you take care of them, they will take care of you. I am going to choose to believe that and hope that I get a few more good years out of my 08’.
Im thinking of this Q7 like a rescue dog. It might have some abusive history and lack of general care, but at the end of the day it’s still a great vehicle and it deserved a little help to live a longer life on the road

I think my mechanic is awesome and he outright covered a lot of the labor costs under his own warranty agreement that he stands by. I didn’t mind him taking a while to find the oil leaks, If you had seen the state of the engine and the amount of oil and grime caked around everything, you’d understand what he dealt with. I tried to power wash the area and even track the oil myself, but it was a hot mess to say the least. My mechanic did admit that they have only seen a couple of the 4.2 models roll through their shop over the years and they had limited experience working on this particular engine. He said most of the ones they had people dropping off for repairs were the 6 cylinder petrol models and the diesel TDI versions. I personally believe that because having only been a Q7 owner for the last couple months I have yet to see another 4.2 model on the road like mine. I see them all the time, even around my town, but never a V8. I’m wondering if the V8 models are less desirable now because of fuel economy? Not sure, I just don’t see any.
I can say for certain that I’ve watched my mechanic take the upper intake manifold off enough times that I am completely confident I could do it myself for the next round of carbon cleaning. I just wish there was something I could put in the fuel to prevent the massive amount of carbon that cakes up in the manifolds. Problem is being an FSI motor there is nothing I can do bedsides manual cleaning every year or so.