question about oil on ignition coils and valve cover gasket.

[bagged00]

so I have oil on 2 of my ignition coils. and its a decent amount Its enough oil to bring a drip of oil out with the coils when you pull them out. did some research and of course found out that this is a sign of a leaking valve cover gasket. I would assume the center part of the gasket that go around the spark plugs would be leaking. so I did my cct and halfmoon plug, and did new valve cover gasket. before I put the ignition coils back in, I cleaned them off. gave it about a week, pulled the 2 ignition coils and they still have oil on them. so my question is, when I change the valve cover gasket, should they not be getting oil on them anymore, or is that like oil that sitting in there when it was leaking. .

[Charles.waite]

the gasket itself isn't failing. I'd wager your PCV system is broken, causing too much pressure to build up in the head and its pushing oil out the gasket as its the path of least resistance.

I'd look into repairing the PCV.

[imnuts]

Also, clean all of the oil out of the coil pack/spark plug wells after repairing the PCV to see if more oil is leaking or not.

[bagged00]

ok cool. undoubtedly pcv. 143k and im sure shits never been touched. whats some key points to look into? Ive read about the pancake valve and the suction jet valve thing lol.

as for cleaning out oil. I didn't know if it would go away or not. some times Ill get a little rough idle when the car sits at idle for a min. rpms pretty much stay at 800 but it makes like a sluggish sound and picks back up. id assume this is from oil in the spark plug wells probably?

[Charles.waite]

ok cool. undoubtedly pcv. 143k and im sure shits never been touched. whats some key points to look into? Ive read about the pancake valve and the suction jet valve thing lol.

Honestly, 034 Silicon PCV replacement and a new Pancake valve and you're good to go. Might want to look into replacing the check valves and SJP, etc also. Check out this thread: A4Darkness Engine Strengthening

There are lots of little things that could be wearing out or leaking, but luckily its all realtively cheap to fix provided you get the right stuff.

[diagnosticator]

The PCV needs to be maintained, but I think the oil on the coils is from when it was leaking before. Remove all the oil residue, then recheck for oil after driving awhile.

[bagged00]

ok cool. thanks guys. I did the 034 kit on my last audi. definitely something I wanna look into again on this one. im sure a new pancake and SJP wouldn't hurt anything either due to my miles. I really don't understand the check valves. I mean I know how check valves work, but I don't know how to go about which ones to change. there are so many.

[Charles.waite]

ok cool. thanks guys. I did the 034 kit on my last audi. definitely something I wanna look into again on this one. im sure a new pancake and SJP wouldn't hurt anything either due to my miles. I really don't understand the check valves. I mean I know how check valves work, but I don't know how to go about which ones to change. there are so many.

Haha. Its a rats nest for sure. I'd just change all of them. Won't take more than a few hours. Just take out the whole assembly and replace one at a time making sure the connecting tubes are oriented the same way. That way you just connect it up and go rather than having to fit it while its on the engine.

Here is a picture from when I did mine:



And the parts pile of 034 pcv goodies and US Plastics Check valves:



034 vs my bush league heater hose contraption I slapped together after cracking my OEM plastic breather tube in half. Amazingly it worked 100% fine for over a year, but I wanted a more long term fix:

[bagged00]

Definitely afraid to touch the crack case breather tube without having the 034 kit in my hand lol. I know on my last Audi it basically disentigrated by poking it with your finger lol.

[TheOnlyJClark]

Definitely afraid to touch the crack case breather tube without having the 034 kit in my hand lol. I know on my last Audi it basically disentigrated by poking it with your finger lol.

Yup, if DIY have that on standby. Went to the dealer to replace one of the parts that connects to the tube (cant remember part name) but they came over to me and told me they will have to change that one too after touching it. Literally just broke into pieces. I should probably get the 034 kit sometime in the near future

[bagged00]

well cleaned out the spark plug wells today. wait till i post a pic of one of my spark plugs literally all covered in oil. so i cleaned everything up. drove it some checked it again and is still clean. im going to run with these crappy spark plugs till the end of the week and if everything is good with no oil on them, ill put some new spark plugs in. the car already feels like its running better. so i believe cleaning the wells out helped alot.

[HapIo_B6]

as for cleaning out oil. I didn't know if it would go away or not. some times Ill get a little rough idle when the car sits at idle for a min. rpms pretty much stay at 800 but it makes like a sluggish sound and picks back up. id assume this is from oil in the spark plug wells probably?

well cleaned out the spark plug wells today. wait till i post a pic of one of my spark plugs literally all covered in oil. so i cleaned everything up. drove it some checked it again and is still clean. im going to run with these crappy spark plugs till the end of the week and if everything is good with no oil on them, ill put some new spark plugs in. the car already feels like its running better. so i believe cleaning the wells out helped alot.

My A4 has been doing the same thing. Where it sits at 800 then dips and shudders a little. Would you say cleaning out the wells fixed it so far?

[bagged00]

its not the fact that they're dirty. its the fact that a leaking valve cover gasket let oil get on them pull your ignition coils see if they got oil on them. if they do then your spark plug probably do whicih i got to imagine will have something to do with the way the spark plug is firing. if your spark plugs have oil on them, your probably do for a valve cover gasket.

[bagged00]

So nasty

[n7plus1]

wow man.

i havent had a leaking VCG since i ripped all of that SAI, evap and vacuum lines out years ago.

before that i was replacing the VCG every few months...