And so the ride begins...

[humantic]

I'm in Washington D.C. on a business trip, the RS6 is at my friends having the oil changed and the original front windows put back in. I got a call from him today informing me that one of the turbos is leaking oil, he found 7-8 ounces compared to a miniscule amount on the other side. He said if I don't fix it it will take out the cats with it (perhaps that explains the foul egg smell from time to time).

I sent the paperwork and money to the warranty company about three weeks ago so I hope that will cover this.

I'm less disappointed about the bad turbo as I am about not being able to drive my car to Florida the week after next.

[ben916]

Where did he "find" this oil?

[humantic]

I think he said in the intercooler

[ben916]

I have had the same thing where there is oil on one side of the intercooler.

Can anyone confirm that this truly means the turbo is going bad?

[humantic]

I just talked to him again and he said it was in the intercooler tube. I asked him to search the forum as I did, I saw that some people found other reasons for leakage. He said that he also found a clamp loose but I'm not sure which one, definately something associated with the intercooler though. He thought that the last person to be in there forgot to tighten it up.

Thanks for the help Ben. Could you clarify which side of the intercooler you found the oil?

[ben916]

Mine was on the outboard side, I loosened the clamp on the drivers side, slide it off, and out pours about 1/4 cup of really black oil.
I checked the other side, very little.

I had had an oil change about 500 miles prior so I know that the engine oil was fresh, not blackened.

Cleaned things up and sealed her back up.

I will check again in 1000 miles at next oil change.

This also happened to another So Cal Mugello Blue owner...

[humantic]

That's useful info Ben. I'll fly home tomorrow and check on the situation myself and report back what I find. I think his main concern is what will happen to the catylitic converters

[ttboost]

It's relatively normal to have a SMALL amount of oil in the intake tract...like a light coating. As your turbos age, the seals wear and when you are boosting, your compressor wheel (shaft actually) tends to push to one side allowing oil (under 50-80psi mind you)from the center section to weep through, pushing up into the piping and IC's. I wouldn't replace the turbos unless it is smoking badly out the back, or they don't make boost anymore. If your warranty company will do it..go for it..would never do it on my own.

[905084]

I have had the same thing where there is oil on one side of the intercooler.

Can anyone confirm that this truly means the turbo is going bad?

Your turbo may or may not be leaking excessively....your intercooler definitely is Ben. Pulled mine and JB Welded them on Thing 1 as they are not repairable without a complete gutting. You're on the right track. Drain, run for 1k or 2k and see how much it burns.

[humantic]

Got a few more details last night. The oil was found on the passenger side, it had accumulated mostly in the aluminum tube portion going from the turbo to the intercooler. The oil was not really black like Ben's. We assume what we found was what had accumulated since the last oil change, since it appears that to get to the oil filter this tubing has to be removed. After examining the routing of airflow from the turbos back up to the intake is was determined that the likelihood of oil making it's way back up there, through the engine and to the cats was low and therefore cat failure due to this was improbable. We've decide to put the car back on the road, take it to Florida (which I'm thankful for otherwise my wife was insisting that we drive her Challenger there), and then check the accumulation when we return. Oil level in the vehicle was fine before the oil change. After the oil change was performed it was found that a plug on the filter housing was leaking and so the seal on that plug was replaced, this was likely the source of the foul egg smell as this oil would accumulate in the belly pan and then get blown back onto the cats.

As a side note our observations indicate that dealership mechanics in Germany are not any better than the ones here in the U.S., we found loose clamps on the intercooler tube assemblies, the leaking plug issue, and when they switched out the front windows they manhandled the door panels and didn't get the fasteners back in the holes when they were reassembled. This along with Bobski's difficulty in getting the transmission issue resolved while there indicates that the capabilities of dealership staff is questionable. Hopefully this will eliminate some of the noises the car makes as it gets beat up by the roads here in Michigan, although we did find that a foam piece is missing from the passenger door, which is the side that makes the most noise.

I do have a question for 905084 regarding leaking intercoolers, could be more specific on this?

[Bigglezworth]

PCV system. Normal to find oil in the the lower intercooler hoses. In no ways means a turbo is failing. Oil vapour occurs naturally as part of combustion and will condense at this location over time because it's the low point on the entire pressurized part of the system. If your PCV system is working properly, it will scavenge a good portion of it and recycle it back in to the intake stream for burning. Unless you have installed 'catch cans' you will always find oil in the low part of the charge system.

[4everRS]

PCV system. Normal to find oil in the the lower intercooler hoses. In no ways means a turbo is failing. Oil vapour occurs naturally as part of combustion and will condense at this location over time because it's the low point on the entire pressurized part of the system. If your PCV system is working properly, it will scavenge a good portion of it and recycle it back in to the intake stream for burning. Unless you have installed 'catch cans' you will always find oil in the low part of the charge system.

What Biggs said.

The PCV system evacuates just before the cold side of the turbo. It's always more on the passenger side. As ttboost said, if its blowing out smoke out the exhaust, then you're likely in need of a new turbo.

If your ICs are leaking you will see the said oil coming through the lower inside corners. The cores of stock units are brazed/pressed onto the end tanks. Poor idea to do it that way, rather than weld.

[humantic]

We appreciate all the helpful responses we've received on this thread. I mentioned to my friend the comments of Biggs regarding the PCV system and he indicated he was thinking about that himself. That will be another item to examine a little closer once the vehicle returns from spring break. I have one more item to add to the German maintenance record, a tag indicating the oil used on what was probably the last oil change the car had before returning stateside is attached to some tubing in the engine compartment. The tag indicates that they used 10W-30 oil rather than the recommended 10W-40 as can be seen in the attached image.

[Chase]

I would be changing that oil immediately.... And the proper oil is 5W-40 meeting VW spec 505.01 (and has been discussed in depth on the forums).

[humantic]

Thanks Chase, proper oil was put in this past week, I think I mis-typed the recommended grade.

[ben916]

What Biggs said.

The PCV system evacuates just before the cold side of the turbo. It's always more on the passenger side. As ttboost said, if its blowing out smoke out the exhaust, then you're likely in need of a new turbo.

If your ICs are leaking you will see the said oil coming through the lower inside corners. The cores of stock units are brazed/pressed onto the end tanks. Poor idea to do it that way, rather than weld.

My oil was on the outboard side, IIRC.

[RS6Finn]

We appreciate all the helpful responses we've received on this thread. I mentioned to my friend the comments of Biggs regarding the PCV system and he indicated he was thinking about that himself. That will be another item to examine a little closer once the vehicle returns from spring break. I have one more item to add to the German maintenance record, a tag indicating the oil used on what was probably the last oil change the car had before returning stateside is attached to some tubing in the engine compartment. The tag indicates that they used 10W-30 oil rather than the recommended 10W-40 as can be seen in the attached image.

5W-30 is exactly what Mobil recommends to be used in RS6, at least here in Europe. Also other manufacturers recommend the same grade, like Liqui-Moly. 5W-40 is the second option from both of these manufacturers. Still, I chose the 5W-40 from Liqui-Moly, the grade seems more reasonable for this kind of car.

[humantic]

An update to this thread. We did an oil change and found that there was only a very small amount of oil in the intercooler tubes, maybe a teaspoon (after three months driving). That's a far cry from the quantity that we found before. Makes me curious why there was so much accumulation. The guy who works on my car said you can change the filter without removing the intercooler tube but it's challenging and creates a mess.