Anyone had this oil leak before?

4.2 V8 40v biturbo - 450 bhp
4.2 V8 40v biturbo - 480 bhp (plus)
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Lander91
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Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:40 am

Hi All

(Sorry I can't get the pic rotated properly, cock your heads to the right)

I've been chasing this on again, off again leak and I finally got it to reappear. It's coming from somewhere at the back of the drivers side valve cover and then onto the water pipe bracket that holds the pipe to the head, then as you can see onto the manifold. The cover will be coming off in the hope that a new gasket and sealant will stop it.

Has anyone had this specific leak before and figured out exactly what was leaking so I can pay extra attention to that area.

The PITA (aside from it being THAT valve cover) is that it's not coming from the cover mating surface immediately above where the drip is evident. Also it seems that the leak results from medium-hard acceleration from standing, i.e when I was leaning into it at motor way speeds = zero leakage. :?

Also that gasket is still.soft as it was replaced just over 2 years ago.
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Mɐʇʇ
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:05 am

Oil going down the thread of that cover bolt? I can't remember if those bolt holes are enclosed or not, but maybe wind it out, bit of a spray with brake and clutch cleaner all round and a bit of bit of sealer on the thread.

The only other oily bit that in that vicinity is the turbo oil feel, but that goes below the exhaust manifold, not above
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

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Riggs
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Riggs » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:43 pm

Hi Lander

Hopefully it is just the cam cover gasket that’s leaking.
Here’s a picture from my engine when I had it out note the stain on the manifold from where my cam cover was leaking. Also what could also be leaking but fingers crossed not is the timing chain tensioner gasket. I did all my gaskets seals etc while I had the engine out.
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Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:22 pm

Thanks Gents.

Matt, the cover bolt holes are open, but the oil isn't coming from one of these unfortunately. Mr Riggs, I hope that's not the case either, but I will replace it while I'm in here - or at least have a crack as ELSA says its an engine out job (surprise surprise).

Mɐʇʇ
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Mɐʇʇ » Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:28 pm

If it came to it, you absolutely can get the cam out engine in, Nobbys DIY has the steps.
"not a professional engineer, mechanic and mechanist"

Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:46 am

Mɐʇʇ wrote:
Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:28 pm
If it came to it, you absolutely can get the cam out engine in, Nobbys DIY has the steps.
Cheers Matt, saw that today, it's excellent. Not looking forward to r&r on the timing belt as that was only replaced 2 years ago,.but I guess now's a good time to buy the tools :cry:

Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:09 am

Some more sleuthing. I can see where the leak may be coming from (or stopping on the way) to reach the water pipe bracket and thence to the exhaust manifold.
It seems to be the area of the cam plug and there's this suspicious threaded hole sans bolt.
Can anyone confirm if this is a measure to add lightness by audi, or is there supposed to be something in there?
Obviously the hole is too big to cause just a small leak, but if the tap of the hole in anyway reached the inside of the cam cover maybe there's a small hole?? Anyway I'm really reaching for a solution to avoid the sh*t tonne of work to address this leak (a 2 year old and 7mth old limits my "me" time).

For reference, in one pic the vertical line is... vertical. The small arrow in the other pic is the cam plug.
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Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:13 am

I'm truly in denial aren't I.

Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:04 pm

Looks like that bolt hole is supposed to be empty. No reference in ELSA or ETKA, these a pick about removing the SAI valve that illustrates the 'hole'.
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:30 pm

So I think I've tracked the leak down to the end cap seal, it seems as though sealant was used at some point on it when there is no reference for this in ELSA.

I started to prep the area for valve cover gasket replacement, which gave me more room to look around. Looking closer I can see evidence of a leak from the bottom of the end cap, so fingers crossed this is it (cap was to be replaced together with VC gasket anyway).

ELSA states to pierce the cap to remove then drive in with T3202 or a suitable lever. However I see that the exhaust cam end bearing cap can come off easily enough, which would give me easy access to at least remove the end cap seal (our favourite coolant pipe is very close by).

The question is whether or not it would be advisable to put the new end cap seal in place, then replace the bearing cap over the top, or replace the bearing cap and drive the new seal in..I feel as though its better to drive the seal in but I cant really articulate as to why.

ELSA only states to drive the end cap seal in..

Any feedback is of course appreciated.

Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:33 pm

Also, this is on the page in ELSA that I'm referencing.. I'm sure this would have been fun
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Lander91
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Re: Anyone had this oil leak before?

Post by Lander91 » Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:50 am

Lander91 wrote:
Sun Mar 28, 2021 11:30 pm
So I think I've tracked the leak down to the end cap seal, it seems as though sealant was used at some point on it when there is no reference for this in ELSA.

I started to prep the area for valve cover gasket replacement, which gave me more room to look around. Looking closer I can see evidence of a leak from the bottom of the end cap, so fingers crossed this is it (cap was to be replaced together with VC gasket anyway).

ELSA states to pierce the cap to remove then drive in with T3202 or a suitable lever. However I see that the exhaust cam end bearing cap can come off easily enough, which would give me easy access to at least remove the end cap seal (our favourite coolant pipe is very close by).

The question is whether or not it would be advisable to put the new end cap seal in place, then replace the bearing cap over the top, or replace the bearing cap and drive the new seal in..I feel as though its better to drive the seal in but I cant really articulate as to why.

ELSA only states to drive the end cap seal in..

Any feedback is of course appreciated.
Nah, no good the cap is seated in under the cover and when poking around i saw how much the valve cover deflects at the ends with very little pressure!!
Valve cover is coming off.
Will reapply sealant in the corners around the head as per normal, reseal the end bearing cap then press in a new end cap seal. I'll also seal the threads of the valve cover bolts as per Matts suggestion. But at least I'm 99% sure it was the end cap seal, there's clear evidence that oil was seeping past the 'rings', especially at the base of seal (pic attached).

Ill be replacing the coolant res at the same time just because, and the coolant is mostly drained anyway after disconnecting the coolant pipe.
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seal.jpg

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