A6 oil leak

[Mike Arman]

>"Edward R. Wendell IV" <erwendell at mac.com>
>Subject: Re: A6 oil leak
>
>I don't know if it's a similar issue but a friend of mine has an 98 A4
>V6 that leaks oil out of the back of the head. Audi used a ball bearing
>pressed into the end of the oil passage in order to seal it and in his
>case it just doesn't do the job. His only option is to get a new head
>so he just lives with it.


"Only option"? Maybe at the stealership . . .

That might be Audi's answer, but I think I'd try to avoid buying a new head 
over something this simple.

If the ball bearing is deeply seated, clean the area, run a flat-bottom tap 
into the hole, and install a threaded plug (a "bolt?") using some red loctite.

If the ball bearing is accessible, remove it, run a tap into the hole, run 
the engine a few moments to blow out the chips (yes, it's messy, but you 
don't want those chips inside the engine), clean it real well, tap and plug 
as above.

If there is no working room at the back of the head, you may have to pull 
it to do this - but you'd have to pull it anyway to replace it, and a 
threaded plug is going to be WAY cheaper than a complete cylinder head.

Best Regards,
Mike Arman