B7 A4's 2.0T DEFECTIVE valve cover

[vtwinjunkie]

Its no secret that others have had issues with leaking valve covers. I have dont multiple searches and found nothing on "defective valve covers" so I wanted to bring this info to the community...

My car was recently at the Audi Dealer for an oil consumption issue (among other things)...I went through a quart of oil in 800 miles.

The dealer inspected the car and found evidence of a valve cover leak that was routing oil into the turbo down pipe and burning back through the engine...
All very basic info that many of you know about these 2.0's and I recently learned as well



What I find very interesting is the wording they used on the ticket when I went to pick up the car....they stated that the issue was caused by a DEFECT in the valve cover in one of the passageways which was causing it to re route the oil into the turbo down pipe....I have a 2008 and I find this interesting that if they knew they had a "DEFECT" why the hell didn't they replace it by now!!!

Is anyone else aware of this DEFECT that is the supposed culprit? I only bring it up because I have done some research before posting this to make sure It is not common knowledge and I have seen posts of people replacing the valve cover gasket 2 and 3 times and still not fixing a "valve cover leak". seems like it is an issue with the "design" of the valve cover. Or at least thats how audi describes it.

Just hoping to bring some new info to light about this common issue and If I can save someone time and money in parts I would like to help!

I can copy the wording used on the ticket verbatim later today if it helps.

[shiro1745]

I actually talked about this a bit in my PCV thread towards the end in the troubleshooting section. I had a so called defective valve cover a while ago, the rear PCV passage came loose or craked inside and was sucking oil vapors into the intake ahead of the turbo.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...stem-explained

[KMPRSSD]

That is a whole bunch of oil to be loosing in under a 1000 miles. Shiro talked about the PVC breather that had possibley cracked. But OP your talking about the cover itself being defective? I have lost a bit of oil.....under a half quart in 5000 miles. I take that as pretty normal consumption. Vtwin was this an all of a suden loss of a quart? Or it got worse over time?

[shiro1745]

No I'm actually talking about the passage through the valve cover itself. I even posted pictures long ago with my old valve cover.

[vtwinjunkie]

I actually talked about this a bit in my PCV thread towards the end in the troubleshooting section. I had a so called defective valve cover a while ago, the rear PCV passage came loose or cracked inside and was sucking oil vapors into the intake ahead of the turbo.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...stem-explained

Very good write up! but I am not sure if I am having the same issue. My paperwork says that I had oil in the boost pipes. your write up talks about oil sucking into the the intake ahead of the turbo. I am not extremely familiar with the design of the motor yet but are we talking about the same thing?

[shiro1745]

Very good write up! but I am not sure if I am having the same issue. My paperwork says that I had oil in the boost pipes. your write up talks about oil sucking into the the intake ahead of the turbo. I am not extremely familiar with the design of the motor yet but are we talking about the same thing?

Yes, same thing. Air gets sucked ahead the turbo then it gets pushed by the compressor into the intercooler pipes, I'm guessing that's what he was refering to when he said boost pipes.

[kaz02a4]

Very good write up! but I am not sure if I am having the same issue. My paperwork says that I had oil in the boost pipes. your write up talks about oil sucking into the the intake ahead of the turbo. I am not extremely familiar with the design of the motor yet but are we talking about the same thing?

Oil in the boost, or intercooler pipes, can come from two places: the turbo, or the rear pcv (breather). I've been dealing with consumption recently, and will probably replace the valve cover as my next move. I have a feeling it's the secondary oil separator in my case. I've had a lot of oil in my intercooler pipes, and did a vent-to-atmosphere setup that reeks of oil. It's no good. I want it all to be brought back to stock anyway to pass emissions and not asphyxiate myself, plus I've lost a bit of fuel efficiency without the vapors being burned by the engine.

Chip knows his stuff, and the write-up he did only proves that point.

[vtwinjunkie]

Yes, same thing. Air gets sucked ahead the turbo then it gets pushed by the compressor into the intercooler pipes, I'm guessing that's what he was refering to when he said boost pipes.

Oh I see! well good info none the less. thanks!

[vtwinjunkie]

That is a whole bunch of oil to be loosing in under a 1000 miles. Shiro talked about the PVC breather that had possibley cracked. But OP your talking about the cover itself being defective? I have lost a bit of oil.....under a half quart in 5000 miles. I take that as pretty normal consumption. Vtwin was this an all of a suden loss of a quart? Or it got worse over time?

I am uncertain how long the issue has been there. I just purchased the car about 2 months ago. However I will def keep an eye on it and I am supposed to notify the dealer when the light comes on again. A consumption test they call it..

[cdn_b7a4]

I think I had this same issue, was losing a quart in under 1000 km.

The shop I deal with swapped the oem valve cover for a IE billet one and added a new catch can that vents to my downpipe.

I've only done a few hundred km in the couple weeks since I got the car back, but it hasn't lost any oil yet.


I'll call my shop tomorrow to see if he still has my old VC. If he does I'll check it out to see if there's anything wrong with and will get some pics if there is a problem.

[crazydevilz]

Got the valve cover replace about 8 week ago. No sign of burning oil anymore. Was a quart for about 3000km 08 a4

[PNW Avant]

Anyone have photos of a defective valve cover? I am curious.

I have bad consumption, but perfect compression. Thus, must be losing it somewhere in the PCV.

[shiro1745]

Anyone have photos of a defective valve cover? I am curious.

I have bad consumption, but perfect compression. Thus, must be losing it somewhere in the PCV.

You won't see it unless you remove the VC, it's easy to check though. It's passage 1f-----1r. You can remove the PCV valve, block one end and blow air into the other, if it leaks air it's bad. That passage should hold air.

And I actually I have some pictures of a bad VC somewhere but as I said you would only see it on the inside.

[PNW Avant]

Yes that's what I was referring to - inside photos.

[shiro1745]

This is the only one I found now.

[vtwinjunkie]

I have my old valve cover still. Let me take some pics tonight an post them

[typeslone]

I have seen this happen with a few 2.0T's. I also see a fair amount of the 2.5 5cylinder vw's that need valve covers because the internal pcv valve goes bad.

[Bigcoryss]

I have an 08 2.0T as well and had the very same issue. They never stated it was defective, only that it was leaking around the seal. I went in to the dealership because i was getting a low oil warning and they topped me off for free, diagnosed my issue, and proceeded to charge me 200 bucks to fix it all. I thought it was reasonable, but that could just be me.

[kaz02a4]

Sounds reasonable. I'm looking at getting a new valve cover this week for ~$200 from the dealer. It's not that much more expensive than online stores, and I'll be able to throw it in the car this weekend.

[DRAKLORE]

It's a fairly common problem that I've seen on a lot of the silver Valve covers, not so many of the Black ones iirc

[aluthman]

Just another reason to get an aluminum one eventually.

[peb]

This is a lame question, but how do these come off? It looks like you just pull them with needle nose pliers away from the little tabs that stick into them. If so, will they go back on, of will that bend them out of shape?

[eyesolution]

Cut them. You'll need a new pair of clamps because those will be useless. One time use crimp clamps.


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[kaz02a4]

Oetiker clamps. Great, but one time use only. There's a way to get a needle nose in there to release them, but if you have a set of side cutters, that'll do the trick too.

[shiro1745]

I stick a flathead screwdriver in from the side and twist left and right until the bent becomes loose, then you can grab the tip with pliers and remove it, I even used a lot of them again.

[Sweir1171]

Anybody had luck with replacing these VC's with a new OEM one? I have the same problem with blow out from 1f-1r.

I just picked a new OEM VC and it looks like it's going to last maybe 5 minutes. The VC is from the dealer but it in no way reflects the German engineering i expect.... The plastic seems look almost super glued. I'm going to stop in and check out the other VC's they have in stock in the morning before I install

Thanks - Steve


[IMG][/url] Untitled by sweir1171, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Charles.waite]

Anybody had luck with replacing these VC's with a new OEM one? I have the same problem with blow out from 1f-1r.

I just picked a new OEM VC and it looks like it's going to last maybe 5 minutes. The VC is from the dealer but it in no way reflects the German engineering i expect.... The plastic seems look almost super glued. I'm going to stop in and check out the other VC's they have in stock in the morning before I install

Fixed the image for you.

I might be ordering up a new VC for my B7 soon.

[Sweir1171]

Thanks! Was working on that..... Ha

[Charles.waite]

Thanks! Was working on that..... Ha

I can't tell if that's normal or not, but maybe put a bead of rtv on there? Be careful though you really don't want to let rtv get into the oil system as it'll really gunk up the pickup tube and could cause blockages...

[kaz02a4]

Or maybe some super glue? That's disappointing to see mine is tight as a ship from 1f-1r, but I think there's a problem with it upstream. I'll be getting one in the next few weeks.

[shiro1745]

Or maybe some super glue? That's disappointing to see mine is tight as a ship from 1f-1r, but I think there's a problem with it upstream. I'll be getting one in the next few weeks.

if passage 1f-1r is good I would not worry about the rest. There's nothing else that can fail since the other two ports 2 and 3 are not suppose to hold any pressure, they're one with the crankcase, 2-3-4 is all one and as you can see number 4 is an opening to the crankcase.
I think you're just wasting money if you buy a new VC.

[vtwinjunkie]

UPDATE****
800 miles since the valve cover /valve cover gasket replacement and No oil loss.

looking good so far.

[Sweir1171]

Awesome to hear! I stopped at the dealer yesterday and the other 6 VC's they had looked worse than mine.....

Put the new one on last night. Crossing my fingers. Power feels more consistent across the board so far though!

[IMG] Untitled by sweir1171, on Flickr[/IMG]

[shiro1745]

BEWARE!!!


All of you guys who get the VC replaced at the dealership make sure somehow they use the same two screws that hold the coilpack harness in place. This is how I got two valve covers punctured through, they lost my screws and used different longer ones, they just went through the VC. So they messed up the first one and I did the second not knowing I had the wrong screws in there. Now I'm still running the new VC with the two wholes in there, I don't see myself paying another $200, anyway I'm venting to air and this causes no vacuum leak.

[KMPRSSD]

Oooooo good find!!! That could be a problem you almost would never know happened


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[kaz02a4]

if passage 1f-1r is good I would not worry about the rest. There's nothing else that can fail since the other two ports 2 and 3 are not suppose to hold any pressure, they're one with the crankcase, 2-3-4 is all one and as you can see number 4 is an opening to the crankcase.
I think you're just wasting money if you buy a new VC.

Maybe I'll try hooking up the regular pcv system on the original VC then? I just don't know what else it could be. I might just try running some heater hose down lower than where it vents to now, just to keep the fumes from getting in the cabin. Meh. The screws that hold the coil packs on is interesting though. I know one of mine is stripped, but it looks like a normal length screw.

[abzoni]

We can actually use GTI VC's, I'll report back when I get more mileage on the engine and see how it holds up.

[shiro1745]

We can actually use GTI VC's, I'll report back when I get more mileage on the engine and see how it holds up.

Why would that be any different?

[Charles.waite]

Or just don't use the coil harness screws at all. I forgot to put mine in a long time ago. Meh. Hasn't caused any issues...

Why would that be any different?

Possibly cheaper?

[abzoni]

Why would that be any different?

cheaper and more readily available in my area apparently.