(98 A4 1.8TQ) Leaks, leaks, leaks :-(

[Rocket Science Racing]

Mark, I'm starting to think your suspicions are correct about endemic leaks
in the late model A4 series. I finished my oil change, did some clean up on
the bottom of the car, and here is what I think is leaking:

1. Front right corner of the oil pan, possible though a fastener. One cap
screw looked way too clean, the rest had the typical surface corrosion. The
torque wrench said they were all torqued correctly. I gave it a couple of
extra foot pounds (sleazy, I know) and am hoping for the best.

2. Rear left corner of the oil pan, the big bolt in the corner. The torque
wrench said it was a few foot pounds short (I wonder why?) so I torqued it
to spec. (33 ft-lb).

3. The smaller of the two hoses where it connects to the power steering
fluid reservior. I added a good old American style worm-gear hose clamp. It
was wicking down the hoses to where they connect to the PS-fluid cooler and
dripping off onto the bottom shield.

It may also be leaking from the PS-fluid hoses where they connect to the
cooler, and maybe the rear main seal, but this is unsubstantiated because it
was just too messy to tell. I drove the car for an hour yesterday, this
today I'm going to drop the bottom shield and take another look to see if I
made any progress. I'm half convinced they added the shield to keep the
ground clean as opposed to the engine :-}

This is the kind of thing that really annoys you on a car of this supposed
quality. It's one thing if a big component bites the dust, but stuff like
this just isn't right. I sure don't want to have to drop and re-seal the oil
pan, and I shudder to think about doing the rear main seal.

st

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ricematthews [mailto:ricematthews at msn.com]
>
> I purchased a '98 A4 Avant Q (30v 2.8)
> My mechanic found that the engine was leaking from
> either the pan gasket, rear main seal or somewhere
> near the crank sensor.  In addition, the
> transmission (manual) was leaking from the gasket
> where the housing extension is mounted and the rear
> diff was leaking from both axle shafts.  Rather than fix
> the problem, the dealer bought the car back from me.
>
> I subsequently bought another A4 Avant Q 2.8 from a private
> seller.  I now suspect this car to have a slight oil
> leak from the engine (location currently unknown).
>
> I'd be interested in knowing what you ultimately find to be
> the source of your leak and I also wonder if leaks are
> a common problem with the newer Audis.