Coolant in oil.

[BoricuaA3]

Got a 2014 Audi S4 with 70k+ miles, coolant light came on didn't think much of it filled coolant since no puddles and no smoke from engine bay. Then weeks later again. When I changed oil it was really black but not creamy, well I was not really paying attention. When coolant light came on for the second time on the road I filled with distilled water. Took it into independent shop that has done work on my other VW/Audi cars in the past. They called me right a away saying head gasket. I was shocked. I don't see any head gasket issues roaming through the internet. I took the car. No bubbles in expansion tank, no white smoke. Car runs fantastic. I do have stage 1 software from Eurodyne.



I ask them about the PCV under supercharger and he ruled it out say something about negative pressure, it was over phone and difficult to understand.

Took a look under oil cap and sure enough creamy looking substance. (FML)

Looking at posts lots of them talking about oil separator and intercoolers.

Was thinking of taking it to Stealership for 2nd opinion to have them rule out head gasket.

If not gasket I can do this myself if it's anything outside of engine.

Is this engine known to have issues with the head gaskets? Oh and when it was under warranty Audi sealed up rear covers due to oil leak but that was about a year ago.

Advise? Should I just take supercharger off and look at oil separator, ICs and/or oil cooler?. If I do that how do I test or determine they are bad?

Thank you in advance

[Dr GP]

It's either a blown head gasket or faulty PCV valve. My bet is on the pcv valve. If not ,change it anyway along with the coolant tube and t stat which usually fails closed between 65K and 80k miles. Sc needs to come off to access all 3 ..

[RoofRails]

How about the the oil cooler. When it goes bad coolant and oil will mix.

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[BoricuaA3]

How would one test oil cooler?

[RoofRails]

How would one test oil cooler?You can pressure test the coolant system. Also see if there is oil mixed in your coolant.


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[Morritse]

Sounds exactly like pcv.

Perhaps they were saying there wasn't any negative pressure?

Run the car at idle and try to take the oil cap off. How much vacuum is there? Is it hard to take the oil cap off? If so then it's probably pcv

[Dr GP]

When you hear hoof beats, dont look for zebras! PVC valve failure along with t stat are some of the most common issues with these cars.In fact I would bet money that your t stat will fail before 80k miles as most do. Since the SC needs to be removed to expose those parts,it is prudent to replace the t stat, pcv valve,water pump,coolant tube ,and supercharger oil.if you intend on keeping the car for some time.

[prabkaler]

It’s definitely the PCV. I had the exact same issue last month I was losing coolant at a rapid rate. Drained the oil and about a liter of coolant came out before oil! Changed the PCV and coolant level hasn’t dropped at all since. Been about 3 weeks now. I’ve seen many shops diagnose it as a head gasket but it’s almost always the PCV. The 3.0t’s have coolant running through the PCV assembly to help warm up the blow-by gases. The coolant passages inside will crack over time and cause coolant to be sent into the crankcase. Not too hard of a job, there are many DIY’s around.


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[BoricuaA3]

Removing oil cap while car is idling is sucking a lot. More than I think is normal. Leaning towards pcv valve. Will be removing sc tonight

[Morritse]

Removing oil cap while car is idling is sucking a lot. More than I think is normal. Leaning towards pcv valve. Will be removing sc tonight

It's usually not very hard to take off at all but Very hard if the PCV is fucked. I'd say the shop probably doesn't know what they're talking about.

[BoricuaA3]

221508

221507

Pics of Valve before and after removal. Thoughts?

And damn the fuel rail was a pain to remove. Once it popped off the injectors seals went flying. Got all six though. Fished them out of the coolant that was sitting on top of engine.

[prabkaler]

221508

221507

Pics of Valve before and after removal. Thoughts?

And damn the fuel rail was a pain to remove. Once it popped off the injectors seals went flying. Got all six though. Fished them out of the coolant that was sitting on top of engine.

If you look in the middle section of the block (not in the 3 circular coolant passages, but in the middle of them), you’ll see a bunch of coolant where it doesn’t belong. I’m not concerned about the fresh pink coolant close to the middle as that just spilled in when you pulled the PCV out, but if you look deeper on the left you’ll see some darker coloured coolant, that’s a tell tale sign of the coolant mixing with the blow by gases. You can also look at the bottom of the PCV and you’ll see a nasty milky substance. Oh and make sure to REPLACE THE INJECTOR SEALS, and when you’re putting the manifold back on, hold the runner flaps open or they’ll get jammed and will throw a P2015 fault.


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[CaLiAuDi_AzN]

Awesome write up! I don't have this issue in my oil, but definitely my coolant is losing a good amount. Having the car car in the shop tomorrow to find/fix the issue.

[BoricuaA3]

Looking at the back of the valves they don't seem too bad. Was thinking of spraying some of this https://www.autozone.com/fuel-and-engine-cleaners-additives/intake-valve-cleaner/crc-gdi-intake-valve-cleaner-11oz/461563_0_0 and give it a bit of a elbow grease. Since this stuff is meant to be sprayed directly into throttle body thought it won't hurt if some got down into piston and just burned away.

Thoughts?

[Morritse]

Looking at the back of the valves they don't seem too bad. Was thinking of spraying some of this https://www.autozone.com/fuel-and-engine-cleaners-additives/intake-valve-cleaner/crc-gdi-intake-valve-cleaner-11oz/461563_0_0 and give it a bit of a elbow grease. Since this stuff is meant to be sprayed directly into throttle body thought it won't hurt if some got down into piston and just burned away.

Thoughts?

That's a pretty commonly used product on our cars. Give it a go

[BoricuaA3]

I replaced PCV, thermostat, and water pump. I filled coolant using vacuum, it held -.6 bar if head gasket was bad would it still hold vacuum? I don't think so. Anyways car started. Need to put back bumper cover, change oil and I should be good to go. Hopefully, still hoping head gaskets are good.

Thank you all for your help. I would have totally messed up something without it. Like not pushing down the flaps on the intake manifold.

[BoricuaA3]

UPDATE

So this has been more of adventure than first anticipated.

I button it all up running good then I have a puddle of coolant in garage. Looking at it with a scope I guess it was coming from TSTAT. Take the car apart again to and replace oring on coolant pipe to tstat. Put it all back together after breaking supercharger plastic bleeder screws. That took me forever to get out and chase with a tap. Again pool of coolant after running car for awhile. So I thought new tstat bad, replace with old and pressure test it (ended up buying one) leaks from coolant pipe to TSTAT. Replace that coolant pipe. Pressure test and now leaks from quick connect hose from coolant pipe to radiator. So in the process of removing "quick" connect hose, which was hard to remove it broke. So ordered that hose. But to remove from radiator is fighting me. Any tips on how to get these "quick" (PIA) connect hoses off?

Why Audi makes all this plastic crap to route hot coolant is beyond me. Just does not last.

Thanks again.