Oil Leak on cold start

[CELison]

So here's a good one. Car was leaking oil after idling in my garage for a couple minutes. Maybe 5ish teaspoons worth made it between the belly pans and onto the ground in 5 minutes of idling. The leak was coming down right at the bellhousing. The valley was full of oil and at the rate it was leaking I suspected the oil cooler or oil filter housing. It's too fast to be a timing cover or RMS. I take the car to Audi since it's still under warranty. I hate using the dealer, but I need the car and don't have time to fiddlefuck with it. They see oil all over, clean it up, but cannot get the car to leak anymore. Mind you, it was leaking onto the ground within minutes after cold start in my garage. They drove it and let it idle for an hour and nothing. Cold start and idle.... still nothing. I drove it an hour home and the valley is dry. My only theory is that since the car was kept indoors at audi, the oil never got viscous like it would be on a cold morning. I have 5w40 in the car and it's been in the upper 20s here. That being said, 5w40 should be perfectly fine at those temps. Mind you, the garage is connected to my house so it's maybe 35-40 in there. Has anyone experienced anything like this? Maybe cold start oil pressure is enough to push it past either the oil cooler or oil filter housing seal. I'm a pretty seasoned shade tree mechanic and this has me stumped. I'm going to see what happens over the next couple days and update this thread in case anyone experiences the same voodoo.

[XSWG]

Pretty sure you're having the same PCV and breather house issue as everyone else. Oil spillage will come around the filler cap typically under heavy load though.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...SB-PCV-Failure

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[CELison]

Pretty sure you're having the same PCV and breather house issue as everyone else. Oil spillage will come around the filler cap typically under heavy load though.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...SB-PCV-Failure

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

No seepage out of the cap. I pulled the breather off and the check valve works as intended. It also can't have that much crank case pressure at idle under vac to lose oil at that rate. If that was the issue there would be oil all over the rubber seal and engine cover. It's bone dry.

[Denali]

It sounds like a damaged gasket, either at the oil cooler or oil filter housing. I had similar issues as you a few months ago and my shop found my oil filter gasket to be crushed. Prior to the repair, I was seeing a slow, but intermittent oil leak. A small oil puddle will collect underneath the right, rear side of the engine.

Once we took the turbo off, I could see an oil puddle underneath the engine oil cooler. The cooler is mounted to a flat part of the engine valley and there is a built in drain on that flat part. The drain appears to lead to ontop of the transmission bell housing. Any oil will drain onto the bell housing and then bottom engine cover.

Hope this helps with your troubleshooting.

[CELison]

Those are my 2 culprits, I just don't understand how the leak would go from semi major to completely gone. The car ran for hours and the valley was bone dry. I'm going to check after each run and see if I can figure out some sort of factor that is causing it. Right now all I can think of is ambient temp. I wonder if I can take the DP off and snake the oil cooler out without removing the turbo...

[CELison]

It’s the oil filter housing. I’ve been checking it after every drive and today there was some oil pooled up right at the base of it on a section too high to be the oil cooler. Easy enough fix.

[TheLizards]

Good to know to keep an eye on this.

[CELison]

It’s deceiving bc the leak shows itself by the bellhousing when it gets bad enough to leak onto the ground. So you wouldn’t think filter housing since it’s up front, but that ****** makes its way through the valley then down the bellhousing. These cars seem to have a hard time keeping their oil inside them.

[Rob01S4]

It sounds like a damaged gasket, either at the oil cooler or oil filter housing. I had similar issues as you a few months ago and my shop found my oil filter gasket to be crushed. Prior to the repair, I was seeing a slow, but intermittent oil leak. A small oil puddle will collect underneath the right, rear side of the engine.

Once we took the turbo off, I could see an oil puddle underneath the engine oil cooler. The cooler is mounted to a flat part of the engine valley and there is a built in drain on that flat part. The drain appears to lead to ontop of the transmission bell housing. Any oil will drain onto the bell housing and then bottom engine cover.

Hope this helps with your troubleshooting.

Anyone else think it’s so odd to have the oil cooler nestled in the bank of a V motor under a turbo? Talk about the hottest place in the engine bay.

[CELison]

Anyone else think it’s so odd to have the oil cooler nestled in the bank of a V motor under a turbo? Talk about the hottest place in the engine bay.

Eh, It's not an air to oil cooler obviously so I don't think it's that big of a deal that it's in the valley. Coolant temp is pretty constant.

[Mynavi]

Can the housing be removed with the turbo in place?

[Makes Centz]

2nd on this

[CELison]

Yes. But there are currently zero in the US right now so that’s awesome.

[Denali]

Yes. But there are currently zero in the US right now so that’s awesome.

Not sure if your leak is stemming from the housing or the gasket, but it looks like both parts are still in stock on Audi's website (Select Audi San Francisco as the dealer).

Oil Filter Housing
Oil Filter Housing Gasket

[CELison]

It’s the gasket. That site isn’t accurate. It says they’re in stock at my local dealer where they are in fact out of stock.

[garciajoe89]

It’s the gasket. That site isn’t accurate. It says they’re in stock at my local dealer where they are in fact out of stock.

ECS Tuning has the whole housing with gasket or just gasket in stock I believe. I'm in the same boat I think with it leaking onto the RMS/Bell house area. Stealership quoted me 3k for RMS replacement. Think I will give this a shot first.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ng/06m115401l/

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...et/06m115441g/

[B9S4theBirds]

How hard is it to replace the oil filter housing from the top? Without having to raise, or put the front end into service position? Is there a step-by-step procedure? I just discovered a little, what looks to be wet oil(Not pooling), to the right of the housing.

[Esmin23]

Just happened to me as well. Ordered the gasket today.

[CELison]

No need to remove the front end. Make some room to get to the bolts at he bottom of the housing, replace gasket, done.

[B9S4theBirds]

Just happened to me as well. Ordered the gasket today.

Sorry to hear Where did you happen to order it from?

No need to remove the front end. Make some room to get to the bolts at he bottom of the housing, replace gasket, done.

Got it. Thank You. Is it customary to just replace the gasket? or should I replace the bottom unit itself while it's completely out?

[CELison]

I just replaced the gasket. It's been fine for over a year. I think they revised it IIRC.

[B9S4theBirds]

I just replaced the gasket. It's been fine for over a year. I think they revised it IIRC.

Perfect. Thank You!!!

[Esmin23]

How hard is it to replace the oil filter housing from the top? Without having to raise, or put the front end into service position? Is there a step-by-step procedure? I just discovered a little, what looks to be wet oil(Not pooling), to the right of the housing.

He is on the forum. Partsbytopher. send him a dm. Great price and fast shipping

- - - Updated - - -

No need to remove the front end. Make some room to get to the bolts at he bottom of the housing, replace gasket, done.

Do you have to remove the oil fitting that connects to the turbo?

[B9S4theBirds]

He is on the forum. Partsbytopher. send him a dm. Great price and fast shipping

- - - Updated - - -





Do you have to remove the oil fitting that connects to the turbo?

Good question.. If you happen to get to this before I do? Could you kindly take pictures? That way I can visualize my struggles. Thanks..

[S4umNoob]

Related question on this thread... if I have a slow oil leak (from front right, similar to posts in this thread, local mechanic thinks from Oil Cooler) is it "safe" to drive if I monitor oil levels closely?

I have an appointment at the dealership on Thursday, but need to figure out if I should park the car until then and get a rental, or if I can drive it as long as I keep a close eye on oil level? I know there are no guarantees, but if it's a terrible idea (because there could be damage that wouldn't be indicated by oil level) I'd like to know that too!

Thanks!

[S4'ed]

If you keep an eye on your oil level, and it is a slow leak, it would be OK to drive until you can get it fixed, other than making a mess on your bellypan....