[V8] Oil leaks and audiv8.com

[D Morralee]

Hey guys 
My 4.2 when I bought it was leaking oil all over the place and so when I did the timing belt I replaced every seal I could. I found that the biggest oil leak was caused by Head gasket oil leak ... it would migrate down to the exhaust system and I'd get the " hey your car is smokin comments" The only way to tackle oil leaks is replace as many of the seal as you can in one shot when you are doing the tbelt. I took both heads off and replaced all the valve seals and hand lapped the valves. I didn't replace the valve guilds and this was something I should of DONE. The Head Gaskets have been fine and held up very well for the last 4.5 years. Redo all the Distributor seals is important too as that can be a source of oil. What I did do to stop the smokin was to build a spill tray that diverted the oil from my exhaust system, until I could find the time to do the big job.  
superdave 
 

> From: pjager at telus.net
> To: v8 at audifans.com
> Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:30:21 -0800
> Subject: [V8] Oil leaks and audiv8.com
> 
> 
> Some guys over there really know V8's - take this post for example. The 
> valve seals are pretty easy to test for. Start the engine cold, run for only 
> 5 minutes, shutdown. The restart 24 hours later - holy smoke show. Getting 
> the motor up to operating temp the oil will take the correct path out of the 
> heads. Took me a while to confirm my oil leaks were the heads, there is a 
> pipe very close to the end of the head. Using 5W20 oil helps with that leak 
> because oil pressure is reduced.
> 
> That's why I call it the Exxon Valdez - let 'em burn!
> 
> " the ABH engines are a bit infamous for burning oil - sometimes more than a 
> gallon per 1000 miles. Keep an eye on the consumption - if it's below two 
> liter a 1000 miles, it makes sense to overhaul the heads. If it takes 
> significantly more, save the money, let it burn. Something more serious and 
> in most cases irreversable causes the oil burning.
> 
> The ABH are as well famous for blowing the head gasket on the back end of 
> the left head and the front end of the right end. Take a look on the 
> alternator, it is probably already oily. In both cases changing the head 
> gasket is the only way to go.
> 
> If you plan to replace the vavle seals, it is highly recommended to clean 
> and refit the valves as well, 'cause in most cases oil carbon has already 
> settled on them, wearing your new seals out in no time. A look inside one of 
> the cylinders (probably the one with the most oil carbon on the spark plug) 
> with an endoscope could give you a hint about the need of a vavle refit. 
> Maybe taking away the heads becomes a requirement anyways.
> 
> In your case I would visit your local Audi dealer and gently ask for the 
> tools required for pressing downholder of the valve springs - they may have 
> the timing belt tools as well for a box of beers
> 
> Maybe I meet the trouble halfway, but experiences told me that oil leaks and 
> consumption on the ABH are often a never-ending or at least enerving story. 
> As you seldomly stress the engines in the UK due to strong speed limits, 
> chances are good that you don't have that much troubles as we have 'em on 
> some engines over here. But still you should be careful to not spend money 
> for nothing." 
> 
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