the dreaded oil leak

[mik15]

...mileage is close to 73k miles, have only bought the car 2 weeks ago and somehow due to my enthusiasm i missed the oil leak when checking the car resting assured that it has an extended Audi warranty. Car is now at Audi and waiting for an estimate and then an approval from the warranty, hopefully it all goes smooth.

I am sure the car has been suffering for quite a while of the leak, when we lifted the car at Audi oil could be seen on the under-tray, there was no need to remove it, it was that clear, however given that the car was there less than a month ago and had its bumper removed to fix a headlight washer, makes me wonder how come the techs didn't say anything about it and i raised that issue to the Service Manager, of course the usual crappy answer, "yes sir, we'll look into that and why haven't they made a note about the leak"....bla, bla, bla...

One thing is for sure, considering the number of cars here on forum which have had the same problem, this is definitely a weak spot of the C6 and only a matter of when not if, i have also seen another one here that a friend of mine is looking to buy, and it has 50k miles and the leak is worse than mine.

I've spotted my leak looking down through the vanes of the intake manifold, towards the pan between the heads, and noticed a small puddle of oil, initially i thought it was due to a spillage after an oil filter change, however going towards the front of the car i could see that oil was also spread on the oil cooler on the upper side and then it got spread all the way down on the front of the motor...

Obviously will try to make the most of this and replace all that looks not to be in a good shape, will also have the spark plugs replaced and do the 75 service as it is anyway due within 2k miles.

Hopefully all goes well and get her back as soon as possible.

[skelts]

...mileage is close to 73k miles, have only bought the car 2 weeks ago and somehow due to my enthusiasm i missed the oil leak when checking the car resting assured that it has an extended Audi warranty. Car is now at Audi and waiting for an estimate and then an approval from the warranty, hopefully it all goes smooth.

I am sure the car has been suffering for quite a while of the leak, when we lifted the car at Audi oil could be seen on the under-tray, there was no need to remove it, it was that clear, however given that the car was there less than a month ago and had its bumper removed to fix a headlight washer, makes me wonder how come the techs didn't say anything about it and i raised that issue to the Service Manager, of course the usual crappy answer, "yes sir, we'll look into that and why haven't they made a note about the leak"....bla, bla, bla...

One thing is for sure, considering the number of cars here on forum which have had the same problem, this is definitely a weak spot of the C6 and only a matter of when not if, i have also seen another one here that a friend of mine is looking to buy, and it has 50k miles and the leak is worse than mine.

I've spotted my leak looking down through the vanes of the intake manifold, towards the pan between the heads, and noticed a small puddle of oil, initially i thought it was due to a spillage after an oil filter change, however going towards the front of the car i could see that oil was also spread on the oil cooler on the upper side and then it got spread all the way down on the front of the motor...

Obviously will try to make the most of this and replace all that looks not to be in a good shape, will also have the spark plugs replaced and do the 75 service as it is anyway due within 2k miles.

Hopefully all goes well and get her back as soon as possible.

At least you have Audi Warranty so all should end well.
Out of interest, do you have a link to the car your mate was looking at buying as it would be good to warn any potential buyers of the car including myself

[mik15]

i hope so too.

We're located in Abu Dhabi so don't think is of any help

[pete62]

Not sure if this is common knowledge but I was at MRC the other day collecting my C5 RS6 . When speaking to Ben I asked which was the most reliable RS model to have and we got round to talking about the C6 RS6.
Ben mentioned this oil seal as one of the few weaknesses of the car but said they believed they would be able to do the job without removing the engine and gearbox which he said was the norm.
He said they just needed some brave owner to be the guinea pig to try this on their car.
So if anyone fancies it give him a call.

[RS6chris!]

I was one of the first to suffer

Engine and box was out to sort at Audi.


To be fair Audi showed me the leak when car was on Ramps and engine was still in....could see where it was coming from and it was accessable with spanners BUT engine had to come out to change seal.

I also got all other gaskets done when engine was out to cut down on costs at a later date....head gaskets and a couple of others where "damp" with oil so was a no brainier to change.

This block knocks out serious heat and Audi Tech said "50p" O ring and head gaskets were "brittle" as if heat had got to them and caused them to fail?

Good luck OP.

[mik15]

i called the SA in the afternoon to check up on the car and he told me that they might not have to remove the engine and they will try to fix it from "above"....now this tells me 2 things:

1. he doesn't a clue what he is talking about, which unfortunately wouldn't be the first time,
2. it is not the same seal, though i am positive that the leak comes from between the heads and according to ETKA that is where the oil pump is and on top of it sits the oil cooler which can be clearly seen when looking under the intake manifold

nevertheless, i should have some more info in the morning when he said he'd call me back, i am sure i will before he does.

If someone has any pictures or can point better to where this famous leak comes from would be enlightening, mine seemed to be coming from this area on the picture below

l.e. - after having a look again at this picture i might be wrong, seems that the oil pump is on the left side lower part of the engine?!

l.l.e. - i was indeed wrong, at least the leak i saw is not from the oil pump, don't know if there is another one, but at this point mine seems to be coming from the oil cooler between the heads, oh well, we'll have some more info tomorrow.

[RS6chris!]

Have a read

Pics on page two



viewtopic.php?f=47&t=102963&start=15

[RS6chris!]

I think leak was above where oil staining is

You can see oil pump shaft on first pic?

[Mr V10]

Just be thankful it's not a C5 or you'd be having your DRC, intercoolers, and gearbox changed at the same time.

You can change this seal with the engine in place and has been done this way on a few now. Hope it's not off the road for too long!

[mik15]

just got off the phone with the SA and he says the leak was caused by the oil filter housing seals, so it means no engine out job, waiting for the warranty approval which i hope will come and then it should be ready by end of week. Have also requested to have the 75k service done as well, perhaps some labor costs will be reduced since the intake manifold is out and could use the opportunity to replace the spark plugs.

[mik15]

first bad news is that the warranty doesn't want to cover oil leaks due to perished seals so i tell the SA that perhaps the oil cooler might be out of tolerance due to all cycles cold-hot-cold so then the part needs to be changed, doooh...it's all about semantics after all, then i talk to his manager and he agrees that that's what must've happened so he instructs the guy to make a second claim which should be approved and everybody will be happy, they get the job done and get paid for it and i am a happy customer! we shall see how this goes on today, kind of irritated the SA can't use his head properly and gets lost in translation wasting my time without the car , they did give me a loaner, a boring '14 Audi A4 with a CVT gearbox, the most horrible gearbox man has invented....

i hope i'll have some good news later on today, keep my fingers crossed!

[mik15]

well, she's finally back as of yesterday, warranty didn't want to pay in the end so i had chew it , wasn't all that bad after all now that i look back, it all summed up to cca 1300gbp and included the oil leak fix(new valley pan gasket, oil cooler seals and oil filter housing seals), a new under-tray(i asked for that as the old one was cracked) and the 75k service(spark plugs, oil and all filters), so i guess it's all good, at least i won't have to go back there for another year, if all goes alright. I am still very pissed with the customer service they provide and the fact that it took 2 1/2 weeks to get it back, but i can now enjoy it and that's what counts the most

Now i got to do something about my Alcantara steering wheel, have it refurbished or replaced, the Alcantara looks worn and it started to bother me lately.

[skirs6]

It appears it's not an engine out job? A mate of mine has just had his done at QST. No engine out roughly 8hrs labour it clearly can be done so not actually a massive issue still not cheap for a 50p oil seal but doable

[coullstar]

Not sure if this is common knowledge but I was at MRC the other day collecting my C5 RS6 . When speaking to Ben I asked which was the most reliable RS model to have and we got round to talking about the C6 RS6.
Ben mentioned this oil seal as one of the few weaknesses of the car but said they believed they would be able to do the job without removing the engine and gearbox which he said was the norm.
He said they just needed some brave owner to be the guinea pig to try this on their car.
So if anyone fancies it give him a call.

So were they are saying that the C6 is one of the most reliable then?

[IanH755]

When I spoke to Ben he said "compared to the C5" it was much more reliable but they haven't seen enough older C7's to say how well they compared to the C6 so at the moment they couldn't say which was the most reliable RS6. I didn't ask about the C6 vs other RS4/5 etc either.