Leak on cylinder head cover,screws ?

[Ringsby4]

Cleaned the cover only 50 miles ago to try track these leaks-all this oil now.Its making its way downhill to ( your ) passenger side.
It's not the oil filler seal,nor the front timing cover,which incidentally was resealed by the previous owner recently.Appears to be coming from under the one screw uphill from the spark plug hole and running around and down but I'm not sure.
I realize it's a completely different system to the B7 which has seals under the screws.
Any ideas appreciated...

[Zuzuwu]

Take the bolt out, put some rtv around the hole to seal the bolt head and put it back in. You don’t want to have to reseal the whole cover, it’s a major undertaking since the “valve cover” on these engines holds the cams into the head. I’m usually not one for bandaid fixes but this is what I would try first.


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[Theiceman]

It's very unusual to leak there .. can indicate cover isn't perfectly flat on the head and may have been torqued incorrectly in the past.
I would remove offending bolts. Clean out bolt holes with a cotton swab and brake clean, inspect cover for cracks.
Reinstall new bolts with blue loctite. This will.stop creep up the threads.

Torque to spec.

Rtv under the bolt head as suggested is good as I never saw that post but wipe up excess or it will look tacky.


Oh and I be visiting crankcase pressure too...


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[Ringsby4]

Take the bolt out, put some rtv around the hole to seal the bolt head and put it back in. You don’t want to have to reseal the whole cover, it’s a major undertaking since the “valve cover” on these engines holds the cams into the head. I’m usually not one for bandaid fixes but this is what I would try first.


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Was thinking the same but needed some confirmation,thanks.I did gently apply some tension to that bolt head in case it was loose but it wasn't,.......

It's very unusual to leak there .. can indicate cover isn't perfectly flat on the head and may have been torqued incorrectly in the past.
I would remove offending bolts. Clean out bolt holes with a cotton swab and brake clean, inspect cover for cracks.
Reinstall new bolts with blue loctite. This will.stop creep up the threads.

Torque to spec.

Rtv under the bolt head as suggested is good as I never saw that post but wipe up excess or it will look tacky.


Oh and I be visiting crankcase pressure too...


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After a bit of digging around I found this earlier thread re top leaking you commented on :https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ng+valve+cover
His oil deposits look the same but mine only at the front.As you said,I don't get that if it's a mating surface problem how the oil got up to the top and pooled like that-every plumber knows that sh*t doesn't flow up hill and payday's Friday....
I'll clean it up and RTV it then torque.

[Theiceman]

I'm still not convinced it's not coming from that upper timing cover though


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[Ringsby4]

Take the bolt out, put some rtv around the hole to seal the bolt head and put it back in. You don’t want to have to reseal the whole cover, it’s a major undertaking since the “valve cover” on these engines holds the cams into the head. I’m usually not one for bandaid fixes but this is what I would try first.


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I'm still not convinced it's not coming from that upper timing cover though


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I was convinced haha....I'm going into town soon, about a 15km round trip,I'll give it a good clean and look again....

[Ringsby4]

Well nothing more on that short trip but,I think you're right-that it is the upper timing case leaking.
I can actually move the gasket quite easily in between the screws with a tiny flat screwdriver-But all this in micro format,don't think a huge gap.
I did notice a kind of mist on the top of that cover after my wife's longer ( 90 km ) round trips for work.Obviously blown back as the car would be sitting on 110 kms/per hr.
It appears that the indy who did that sealing for the previous owner did a shit job just sticking some sealant in the lower part of the gap from possibly just the outside where it meets the long mating surface ( also flexible sealed ) Charged $A120 for that !( I have the prev invoices which is handy )
I'll seal with Permatex ultra black,anything I need to know as regards pulling this cover off to do a proper job on it ? not service position surely ?

[Theiceman]

Just get a new seal and call it a day
They get like hard plastic...

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[Ringsby4]

Just get a new seal and call it a day
They get like hard plastic...

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Yep,makes sense....
Edit: was thinking sealant as it looks like the gasket just doesn't pull up tight,flex in plastic cover,worlds made of bloody plastic-in fact just looked at rock auto and one of the gaskets,Mahle I think actually comes with RTV so that says something...

[dimab]

I would go with OEM gasket to avoid doing it again shortly after. Also, consider replacing gasket 6 and o-ring 10 from the diagram below. These tend to leak over time. No sealant needed with the new OEM gaskets, just lubricate the gaskets and the o-ring lightly with engine oil before installing.

[Ringsby4]

I would go with OEM gasket to avoid doing it again shortly after. Also, consider replacing gasket 6 and o-ring 10 from the diagram below. These tend to leak over time. No sealant needed with the new OEM gaskets, just lubricate the gaskets and the o-ring lightly with engine oil before installing.

Thanks,where's that diagram from ? I have OEMEPC and ZAP but can always have more....

[dimab]

The diagram above is from service manual, but it should be easy to find those in any other catalog. Position 6 (06H103483D) is installed in the top chain cover and seals the intake side of the camshaft bridge. Position 10 (WHT007212) is installed inside intake side of the camshaft bridge and seals the adjuster magnet.

[Ringsby4]

The diagram above is from service manual, but it should be easy to find those in any other catalog. Position 6 (06H103483D) is installed in the top chain cover and seals the intake side of the camshaft bridge. Position 10 (WHT007212) is installed inside intake side of the camshaft bridge and seals the adjuster magnet.

Okay,I have the manual somewhere on this pc..I phoned local dealership for a price on the large seal...Sitting down ? ... $A95.68 what bs, see what I mean about Australian prices.I will phone elsewhere as he could have typo'd the number...
Price in US,~$14
I'm hoping the cover can be removed without putting front in service position-it looks possible ?

[Theiceman]

Okay,I have the manual somewhere on this pc..I phoned local dealership for a price on the large seal...Sitting down ? ... $A95.68 what bs, see what I mean about Australian prices.I will phone elsewhere as he could have typo'd the number...
Price in US,~$14
I'm hoping the cover can be removed without putting front in service position-it looks possible ?

comes off easy,, shallow 10mm socket and small ratchet. dont get distracted by the torx pattern on the bolt, the outside is a 10mm

[Smac770]

I thought Australia had the Gen3 for B8.5.

https://audi.7zap.com/en/usa/audi+a4.../1/103-103025/

(19) is the upper timing cover seal. (20) is the N205 seal, it's not replace if removed but expect it to be hard if it's really old and you might want to replace it. The five bolts, (18), have their own o-rings as well. And the o-ring (29) that sits inside the cam bridge is a must replace if the N205 is dismounted. If you don't, you will have an oil leak down the front of the cover after a while.

I think I'd sticky tack a shop towel to all the surfaces in that area and try and see where the oil appearance originates. Or at least tape a towel down over the top of the cover and the head mounting point, confirm the towel starts showing oil. If the towel stays clean, it's definitely not coming from there. The edge of the gasket is not press fit between the cover and head, so it will wiggle a little. It's the wide part just below that makes the seal.

[Ringsby4]

comes off easy,, shallow 10mm socket and small ratchet. dont get distracted by the torx pattern on the bolt, the outside is a 10mm

Sounds good.

I thought Australia had the Gen3 for B8.5.

https://audi.7zap.com/en/usa/audi+a4.../1/103-103025/

(19) is the upper timing cover seal. (20) is the N205 seal, it's not replace if removed but expect it to be hard if it's really old and you might want to replace it. The five bolts, (18), have their own o-rings as well. And the o-ring (29) that sits inside the cam bridge is a must replace if the N205 is dismounted. If you don't, you will have an oil leak down the front of the cover after a while.

I think I'd sticky tack a shop towel to all the surfaces in that area and try and see where the oil appearance originates. Or at least tape a towel down over the top of the cover and the head mounting point, confirm the towel starts showing oil. If the towel stays clean, it's definitely not coming from there. The edge of the gasket is not press fit between the cover and head, so it will wiggle a little. It's the wide part just below that makes the seal.

Engine is a CDNC 2013 build which I believe is GEN 2 maybe hard to tell without eyeballing the injectors,IIRC in later models Aust. got CNCD Gen 3.Down the road I guess I'll know a lot more about this engine if stuff like this starts up !
"so it will wiggle a little" that explains my comments above where it looked like excessive clearance.......
Thanks for the detailed info,now I've just got to source a genuine gasket for a reasonable price.....

[Smac770]

The pic is obviously Gen2; Gen3 moved the oil fill cap to the upper timing cover. CDNC is also well known as Gen2 (US emissions version is CAEB, the engine I have). I assumed the transition would have been at the refresh, but I guess they changed it later on then.

[dimab]

There is a recent Youtube video covering similar symptoms. It suggests the upper timing cover being a plastic part can get warped over time. If that's the case then new gasket may not eliminate the leak.

[Ringsby4]

There is a recent Youtube video covering similar symptoms. It suggests the upper timing cover being a plastic part can get warped over time. If that's the case then new gasket may not eliminate the leak.

After seeing the vid and my cover ,I'll be using a slight amount of RTV on both sides of the seal-the indy who botched the job had only put it on the alloy side.It appears stuck there and loose on the plastic.I'm not convinced he even pulled the cover right off,looks like just backed of the screws and pushed some in,shabby job.Thanks for the input.

[Theiceman]

Any rtv on a rubber gasket that has hardened up and failed, is a total hack job imo.



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[Ringsby4]

Any rtv on a rubber gasket that has hardened up and failed, is a total hack job imo.



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Agree,I'll be installing new gasket....