Burning oil smell coming into cabin?

[B6_Rakete]

I have a 2004 B6 S4 that seems to possibly have a small oil leak that is causing noxious smells to enter the cabin. I mostly notice this when waiting at a stop light, not so much when underway. The smell is definitely motor oil, not manual transmission fluid, steering fluid, or coolant. If I pop the hood, there is a faint smell of burning oil but I can't tell from where. I crawled under the car and there is no evidence of oil leaks (or leaks of any kind). I tried looking around the heads/back of the motor, but that compact V8 doesn't allow much clearance in the engine bay for inspection. The oil level is at the max and the car doesn't seem to be burning oil otherwise. I only have 20,200 miles on the car.

Anybody know if:
- The S4 has a PCV valve that could have gone bad?
- There are any oil lines that I should inspect more carefully somewhere?
- If the valve cover gasket/other gaskets are known to leak on these cars?
- There is a air cabin filter that should be trapping this odor?

The car is about to go out of warranty in June and I want to make sure I get the issue fixed before this happens.

Thanks in advance!

[RAudi Driver]

Just roll it into the dealer. If it were me, I would lift the car, remove all the undercarriage covers and take a look before i took it in. That way, you kinda have an idea of what the problem might be and have less of a chance of getting pushed around by the service dept.

Let us know the outcome.

[3 bar]

Most likley the valve cover gaskets are leaking onto the exhust manifolds. A common problem.

[turbo4s]

Most likley the valve cover gaskets are leaking onto the exhust manifolds. A common problem.

thats what the techs said to me when i took mine in. I took it in again and they found out my transmisson O ring had a slight leak and thats what I was smelling. they replaced it, but i told them thats not it. It smells like burning oil. I know what burning oil smells like. I told them what do i look like a fucking idiot. I been racing motocross and taking apart my bikes for years. So anyway they go to me, what do you want us to do. I said do a little investigating. they said some of the S4's have oil smells and it never effects the car. there no sign of oil in my garage and no loss of oil on the dip stick. The only thing I guess I could do is keep an Eye on the dip stick and garage floor. I really dont care at this point anyway. I leased the car and its completely stock so what ever.

[swoyekr.]

Yea, i hear this is a common problem. Interested to see because I've had mine in for the gaskets once and they kept putting them in and pinching them in the back. The dealer seems to be lacking on their install capabilities, or so i'd think.

[B6_Rakete]

I dropped the car at the dealer this morning. The service associate promptly comment "I don't smell anything", I think we're going to have words later today.

[S4B6Dave]

Just came back from the dealer myself. My valve cover gaskets are slightly damp. The dealer was all set to fix them until he checked with Audi, it has to DRIP to be replaced now. They did find that the small front drivers side radiator was seeping, and 2 hoses were as well, so I am getting all of that replaced. My car is 2005 with 16,500 miles. Everyone reading this should check that corner of your car, I've read recently that many people are getting this leak.

[B6_Rakete]

The dealer has added some dye to the oil because they noticed some seepage, I'll drive it around for a little bit and see if this exposes the culprit component.

BTW, how do you see the dye leaking out, standard UV lamp? Or another type of light filter?

[B6_Rakete]

I think I found my answer :)

http://autorepair.about.com/od/other...indleaks_2.htm

[SpfldS4]

This could be your issue guys http://forums.audiworld.com/s4b7/msgs/55600.phtml

[B6_Rakete]

This could be your issue guys http://forums.audiworld.com/s4b7/msgs/55600.phtml

From your link: "You're likely to smell the burning tranny fluid before you see any smoke."

My case is definitely not the smell of manual transmission oil. The smells of the different oils are distinct.

[wwb4]

Most likley the valve cover gaskets are leaking onto the exhust manifolds. A common problem.

Definitely 2nd this......had the same prob with mine.....and the culprit was the valve cover gaskets.......as several other posters have mentioned a pretty common problem.

[B6_Rakete]

Grrr. The dye test doesn't show any leaks. The dealership is claiming that "detailing liquid used on engine cover is causing the burning smell". I've never heard of this before, has anyone else?

[B6_Rakete]

Well, after getting the car back from the dealership, the smell is mostly gone even after a hard bit of driving. The dye-in-the-oil test revealed no oil leaks (good sign) and I've not noticed _any_ oil consumption since the last oil change 600 miles ago (also a good sign), so I guess the car is fine. Prior to taking the car in I could not find any evidence of oil leaks under the car, but I figured this was only because the engine bay is so crammed full of 4.2L V8 Goodness that I was surely missing something, most likely behind the engine or above the headers.

The tech re-torqued the valve covers, cleaned off the detailer's spray on crap from the engine cover and that seemed to have done the trick. Given that I had the car detailed and the oil changed within a day or two of one another around when the smell started, I don't know which one was the real culprit.