Oil leak from rear of head, advice appreciated..

[neckarsulm]

A few weeks ago I had my cam chain tensioner replaced which involved removing the cam covers.
After that there was a smell of burning oil as the car warmed up which was oil on the exhaust manifold burning off.
Once the car was left for 2hrs and it did it.
Once the car was left for 2 weeks or so and there was loads of oil further down on the turbo area which took a long time to burn off with lots of smoke.
Oil seemed to be accumulating in the back corner of the nearside head and dripping down, the longer it was left the further it dripped.
I replaced the cam cover gasket again and it continued to do it so I took it all apart again and still it continued to do it.

I then thought that maybe it could be something else other than the cam cover gasket.
The mechanic that replaced the tensioner says he didn't touch the exhaust cam but did remove the inlet cam and thus the hall sender.
However the oil doesn't seem to be coming from that high up and as far as I can tell seems to be coming from the exhaust cam seal on the back of the head.
My question is, has anyone else had this and if so is it easy to replace this seal?
Or could it be something else?
Thanks

[Virdee Autos]

Don't want to sound stupid, but you did change the tensioner gaskets when you changed the tensioner(?)

[neckarsulm]

Don't want to sound stupid, but you did change the tensioner gaskets when you changed the tensioner(?)

That's a fair question, def not stupid.
All the work was done on the nearside (left) head and yes when the new tensioner was fitted it had a new seal.
However on that head the tensioner is at the front an the oil leak is at the back, I wish it was that easy Virdee

[neckarsulm]

Here is a pic of where I think it's coming from, it's called Locking Cover on ETKA and is number 13 in the image

[neckarsulm]

..search audiworld.com and found a pic of said item.
Do I tap it with a hammer and flat blade screwdriver to tighten it up a bit?

[Virdee Autos]

LOL....sorry!

I would have thought you would tap that in with a rubber or plastic hammer.Oil it up slightly if anything

[imolas4uk]

loosen the cam cap off and then tap the blanking plug home,(check that this item has been replaced!!) tighten the cam cap back down,to get a good seal with the cam cover gasket try a small amount (small !!!!) of rtv sealant at the sharp corners of the gasket where it goes over the cam caps.
hope this helps ,james.

[neckarsulm]

James,
Thanks for the advice.
Forgive silly question but what/where is the "cam cap" ?
When you say "check this item has been replaced" do you mean the blanking plug in the pic?
Thanks
Andrew

[lengster1]

I dont think tapping it in will make any difference as i wouldnt imagine its tapered,imolas4uk responce would also be what i would do,be very carefull with rtv if there is an oil feed in the cam cap it will only be small and any excess rtv could block it

[lengster1]

R5CPK has a leak he is looking at on his new purchase maybe pm him?

[neckarsulm]

Thanks chaps, have a plan of action and it looks quite straightforward.
For some reason there seems to be loads of info on www.audiworld.com if you search on "cam caps"
Will post back when done, first step is to see if they are in stock with Audi, if so then it's obviously common.

[neckarsulm]

Ordered cap, available next day.
Took rocker cover off (getting good at this, 15 mins!)
Loosened the bearing cap and taps the cap out.
Tight fit due to heat shield but came out OK.
So thanks Imolas and Lengster, good advice.
Prizing it out as per Audiworld posts seems a little risky and due to lack of clearance it would be hard to put it back in without cap loose.

[neckarsulm]

Got the part today.
Reassembled as per above using a small amount of sealer where the bearing cap contacts the head as per ELSA.
ELSA says refit the bearing cap then fit the blanking plug using a special lever tool.
Seems like the hard way to do it when its much easier to fit it with bearing cap left slightly loose so that's what I did only torquing it up after the blanking plug had been pushed in firmly.
Interesting the rubber coating of the new plug was much softer than the original which had lost its elasticity.
Didn't oil the plug or put any sealer on it again as per ELSA.