Heads up!..

[vikingrs6]

Hi

I would be interested to know if anyone else has had this issue..

After investigating a smoking issue I noticed that I was leaking oil from around on the the ignition coil packs..

http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy285/vikingrs6/Image1.jpg

on closer inspection i would seem that the coil gasket / seal has dropped into the heat and is allowing oil to leak (left cylinder on picture, right as normal). The coil pack / spark plug were swimming in oil and the spark plug was not tight :shock:

http://i800.photobucket.com/albums/yy285/vikingrs6/Audi%20RS6/DSC00074.jpg

My symptom was that I was getting a puff of smoke on ignition from that side and denser smoke / vapour which pointed to a cracked head. It stopped smoking once it was up to temp and I am not loosing any fluid. I have done a compression test and all cylinders are very good. Now this may not be the cause of my smoke issue but obviously I need to sort it before I can be sure. Will let you know..

I would be very interested to know anyone's view on this as I am not convinced this is a normal failure?! Now this may just be me being paranoid but it didn't smoke before it had it's cambelt done at a Audi dealer?!.. and I am also assuming that this is the cause of the smoke which it may not be..

[DHall1]

oil runs downhill unless under pressure.

is there oil down in that spark plug hole? it looks like it.

is there a trail above coming from the oil filler cap?

were the spark plugs changed during the service?

I would clean everything up with laquer thinner and restart. Then monitor close to find the source.

[vikingrs6]

oil runs downhill unless under pressure.

is there oil down in that spark plug hole? it looks like it.

is there a trail above coming from the oil filler cap?

were the spark plugs changed during the service?

I would clean everything up with laquer thinner and restart. Then monitor close to find the source.

Hi

Yes there is oil with the spark plug, the ignition coil / spark plug were swimming in it and the spark plug was not very tight..

No, nothing from the oil filler cap or anywhere else on the head..

Yes the plugs were done on the last service but not by the dealer that did the cambelt..

Also the left hand seal is about 10-15mm into the head cover unlike the others, I'm pretty sure it's the cause of the leak but was interested to know if this is a common failure? I've not come across anything similar in my searches so far..

[DHall1]

ahhh plugs were changed.

clean it out and reinstall the plug. proper torque and then retest.

[vikingrs6]

ahhh plugs were changed.

clean it out and reinstall the plug. proper torque and then retest.

Ahhh you might have something there - do you think that the cylinder pressure coming back round the ill fitted spark plug, being bunged by the ignition coil head might have caused the seal to be pushed back into the cam cover as the point is least resistance if that makes any sense?!..

[DHall1]

I hope there are threads on that spark plug.

clean out the oil then remove the plug to inspect.

KISS then assemble and retest

[vikingrs6]

I hope there are threads on that spark plug.

clean out the oil then remove the plug to inspect.

KISS then assemble and retest

There were threads on it.. I've ordered a new set of cam cover gaskets / seals as I need to get the cam cover off to sort the effected seal - fingers crossed that sorts it.. Just hope the threads on the head aren't screwed!.. Thanks for your input..

[ben916]

There were threads on it.. I've ordered a new set of cam cover gaskets / seals as I need to get the cam cover off to sort the effected seal - fingers crossed that sorts it.. Just hope the threads on the head aren't screwed!.. Thanks for your input..

Status????

[DHall1]

Ben,

Give him 15 minutes to get the parts ordered and do the repair.

[mmaturo]

Had loose plugs repeatedly on my other Audi's that did exactly what happened here. Worked loose and oil escaped. Torqued in correctly with a NEW gasket then all is good. However my covers have leaked and have been redone. I think many others here too higher in mileage have needed too as well. I also had leaks from the cam rollers with the seals on those failing and causing a leak hidden by the timing belt cover but still could smell it.

[skribe]

Yep, just ask mmaturo 'bout your problems -- he's had em all! ;-)

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[skribe]

Oh, I DO crack myself up. Just kiddin' ya Mark!

[ben916]

Oh, I DO crack myself up. Just kiddin' ya Mark!

:)

How do ya fail the fail horn???
Oh... like this: http://www.pacdudegames.com/fail/

OK that STUNK!!! There was a copyright license infringement on my link :(

[mmaturo]

Yep, just ask mmaturo 'bout your problems -- he's had em all! ;-)

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lol, I swear my car is an EXCELLENT deal its almost all new. Oh and umm I totally forgot till this...i have had four horns in my car too under warranty very early on in a row...sounded like dying geese...my poor tech at that time really hated as yes the entire front had to come off to get to them.

Oh and it all paid off today...i posted elsewhere about getting my timing belt done at the dealer for a good price..well it got WAY better when i picked up the car today. Apparently my dealer has had a customer loyalty service membership thingy that i must have had for years...they were updating it and so when the cashier checked it she told me I had 18,000 points built up that i never knew about...so i asked what those were good for...turns out $900 off my service. The disaster that is my Rs6 paid off today...real tempting to go try the Euro whatever program with my savings...still tranny afraid though.

[DHall1]

Mark,

That is such good news. Wow, 18,000 bonus points. You got to be kidding me. That is amazing.


lol, I swear my car is an EXCELLENT deal its almost all new. Oh and umm I totally forgot till this...i have had four horns in my car too under warranty very early on in a row...sounded like dying geese...my poor tech at that time really hated as yes the entire front had to come off to get to them.

Oh and it all paid off today...i posted elsewhere about getting my timing belt done at the dealer for a good price..well it got WAY better when i picked up the car today. Apparently my dealer has had a customer loyalty service membership thingy that i must have had for years...they were updating it and so when the cashier checked it she told me I had 18,000 points built up that i never knew about...so i asked what those were good for...turns out $900 off my service. The disaster that is my Rs6 paid off today...real tempting to go try the Euro whatever program with my savings...still tranny afraid though.

[Skaala]

something similar has happened two times on the RS2. One of the plugs started to unscrew, and oil filled around it. It started to misfire and blow puffs of smoke under turbo pressure. The gasket for the lid that covers the plugs also broke. The last time it happed, the sparkplug actually shout out and disintegrated the coil and sparkplug tube. The head was re threaded at the dealer.

The dealer told me to recheck and torque the sparkplugs every 5000km. Been fine since then.

[vikingrs6]

Thanks for the info chaps - parts have turned up today so I'll get it fixed over the next few days.. Fingers crossed job done but I'm going to add checking the plug torque as part of the maintenance routine..

[vikingrs6]

I got the gasket and seals sorted over the weekend - no smoke and running like a dream.. Thanks for the input..

[ben916]

good work!!!!