Oil Leak after timing belt and valve cover job
Thread Starter
Audiworld Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 24
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From: Mount Laurel, NJ
Oil Leak after timing belt and valve cover job
Ahhhh!, second a6 with oil leaks after timing belt and full valve cover replacement.
Does anybody have any ideas? It seems to be coming from the crank area, but if anything is leaking in the front it will show up there. Also since the heads are pretty much identical (Left and Right), the front and back are similar as well and there are no leaks in the back.
Now going thru numerous searches on the subject someone mentioned the tensioner bolt needs to be sealed; I'm not sure what the model was, but is this true for the 2.8/2.7 block as well.
And, The Valve kits came from Blauparts, could it just be isolated to their seals?
Does anybody have any ideas? It seems to be coming from the crank area, but if anything is leaking in the front it will show up there. Also since the heads are pretty much identical (Left and Right), the front and back are similar as well and there are no leaks in the back.
Now going thru numerous searches on the subject someone mentioned the tensioner bolt needs to be sealed; I'm not sure what the model was, but is this true for the 2.8/2.7 block as well.
And, The Valve kits came from Blauparts, could it just be isolated to their seals?
Thread Starter
Audiworld Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Mount Laurel, NJ
the 2.8 wasn't leaking before the job, but the 2.7 was covered in oil. I have a suspicion it's the exhaust cam seal, are there any particulars in setting this seal.
When I installed these, and this is the same for both cars, I positioned them close to their setting and installed the cam cap then drove them in, prospectively not more than a 1/16' of an inch, but as I said before I did the same for the cam position sensor and they exhibit no leaks, which leads me to believe it's something else.
When I installed these, and this is the same for both cars, I positioned them close to their setting and installed the cam cap then drove them in, prospectively not more than a 1/16' of an inch, but as I said before I did the same for the cam position sensor and they exhibit no leaks, which leads me to believe it's something else.
AudiWorld Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: North Carolina
If I had to guess it would be the valve cover gaskets. The video I watched shows the mechanic applying a small bead of RTV to the head but I found out the hard way the you must apply it to the head and then seat the gasket and then apply more RTV to the top of the gasket.
Don't be afraid to use an ample amount of the stuff. Pay special attention to the bottom corners.
More importantly you MUST let the RTV cure for a minimum of 24 hours before you start the engine. I did the same work and don't recall an oil leak problem area on the front of the engine. That's where the water leaks arise.
Pull the valve covers and clean them up and redo the seals. You might have to get new rubber gaskets but they are pretty inexpensive.
Don't be afraid to use an ample amount of the stuff. Pay special attention to the bottom corners.
More importantly you MUST let the RTV cure for a minimum of 24 hours before you start the engine. I did the same work and don't recall an oil leak problem area on the front of the engine. That's where the water leaks arise.
Pull the valve covers and clean them up and redo the seals. You might have to get new rubber gaskets but they are pretty inexpensive.
Tech Guru
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 34,430
Likes: 130
If I had to guess it would be the valve cover gaskets. The video I watched shows the mechanic applying a small bead of RTV to the head but I found out the hard way the you must apply it to the head and then seat the gasket and then apply more RTV to the top of the gasket.
Don't be afraid to use an ample amount of the stuff. Pay special attention to the bottom corners.
More importantly you MUST let the RTV cure for a minimum of 24 hours before you start the engine. I did the same work and don't recall an oil leak problem area on the front of the engine. That's where the water leaks arise.
Pull the valve covers and clean them up and redo the seals. You might have to get new rubber gaskets but they are pretty inexpensive.
Don't be afraid to use an ample amount of the stuff. Pay special attention to the bottom corners.
More importantly you MUST let the RTV cure for a minimum of 24 hours before you start the engine. I did the same work and don't recall an oil leak problem area on the front of the engine. That's where the water leaks arise.
Pull the valve covers and clean them up and redo the seals. You might have to get new rubber gaskets but they are pretty inexpensive.
I put a small bit (think pencil eraser) in each corner of the head, nothing on top of the gasket.
Until we know what was and was not replaced, and whether this is a new leak or old, I don't think we can guess with any success.
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AudiWorld Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: North Carolina
Cam cover/ valve cover gaskets
I'm not a big believer in RTV in the first place but since this is my first Audi I'm sort of trial and error plus the forums but I'm getting pretty good at it. I did the water pump gasket totally dry and it worked great. I did flatten it out by wetting it and pressing between to heavy wieghts and that worked very well.
AudiWorld Super User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,995
Likes: 204
From: Lake Tapps, WA
Check the 10 mm hex bolts on the oil pump. I had simular experience with my '96 A6 Avant 2.8L 12V V6. After doing the TB service, the oil leak appeared after about five minutes after start-up, and looked like it was coming from the crank seal. After changing that seal several times and stumping two shops with the problem, I found one hex bolt on the oil pump near the tensioner roller was loose (caused by the flxing of the oil pump casing when tightening the tensioner). Tightened the bolt, and no more oil leak.