Leaky gasket/seal under valve cover?

[jvitelli17]

Hey guys,

My girl has a B7 A4 2.0T and i just did her valve cover gasket thinking this was the main cause of her burning 1 liter every 2 weeks. It did help but it is not 3 weeks per 1 liter. I did notice under the valve cover there is a seal/gasket under the cams? almost looked like the valve cover at first until i got the cover off.

Question is, is there a seal for this area?

I added a picture of where it is leaking, the red indicates the "seal" i am talking about.

Thanks guys!

[vtwinjunkie]

Is there oil in the intercooler pipes? check all tubing from valve cover to turbo to intake. I had my valve cover replaced due to an internal issue last year.

[billyhoyle]

That might be the sealant under the cam girdle that's leaking, which I don't think is very common. From what I hear, it's a bit of a bitch to scrape off. Clean all that oil/gunk off and see if you can determine exactly where it's leaking from. 3 weeks per litre is a ton of oil burning...a compression test would be a good idea to rule out piston rings.

[jvitelli17]

That might be the sealant under the cam girdle that's leaking, which I don't think is very common. From what I hear, it's a bit of a bitch to scrape off. Clean all that oil/gunk off and see if you can determine exactly where it's leaking from. 3 weeks per litre is a ton of oil burning...a compression test would be a good idea to rule out piston rings.

Yeah i figured it would be un common but looks like its leaking there, i will clean it and check again. I was going to have a compression test soon anyway just to be sure. Thanks

[drumnjuny]

that red line is the sealant under the cam girdle.

[jvitelli17]

that red line is the sealant under the cam girdle.

Thanks wasn't sure of the verbiage. It looks like its leaking from there but i am going to scrap it this weekend and also check elsewhere around the motor.

[FraggyA4]

Thanks wasn't sure of the verbiage. It looks like its leaking from there but i am going to scrap it this weekend and also check elsewhere around the motor.

You will never lose that much oil out of the cam girdle. You either have bad rings or a turbo going out.

[drumnjuny]

wipe it clean all around that seal it will be very obvious if its leaking again.

[allstock]

You will never lose that much oil out of the cam girdle. You either have bad rings or a turbo going out.

Or both...that would suck hard.

[FraggyA4]

Or both...that would suck hard.

That would suck real bad, but I guess maybe a PCV going out could also be part of the problem.

[jvitelli17]

That would suck real bad, but I guess maybe a PCV going out could also be part of the problem.

I replaced her PCV when i did the valve cover, apparently when i took the pcv off the tab inside broke and it did not want to idle. But okay....i will clean the area and keep checking for other leaks. There isn't any drips on the ground however this oil loss is ridiculous! But i NEED to do her cam follower because we bought the car with 72K and with 76K now, im nervous the PO didn't replace it at all

[drumnjuny]

if your loss of oil is ridiculous, its coming from somewhere else.

[jvitelli17]

Update,

I notice the oil is coming from the valve cover even after i changed the gasket, added rtv and torqued everything down to spec. So could the valve cover be bad? she is still loosing oil clearly from it leaking, and didn't want to blow $100+ if it is just a bad gasket i got?

Thanks for the help.

[drumnjuny]

(1) buy new valve cover used on forums or get it from the pay it forward thread
(2) swap
(3a) if still leaking, sell one or post it up in the pay it forward thread
(3b) if not leaking, scrap old valve cover and problem solved
(4) ?????
(5) Profit!!!!

[PedroPickleB7]

Go to a junk yard and pick up a valve cover. There are tons of B7s there these days. That's where I picked up a lot of amazing parts

[brandonpham]

Update,

I notice the oil is coming from the valve cover even after i changed the gasket, added rtv and torqued everything down to spec. So could the valve cover be bad? she is still loosing oil clearly from it leaking, and didn't want to blow $100+ if it is just a bad gasket i got?

Thanks for the help.

Before you say it is clearly leaking, it could also be burning. Don't rule out bad piston rings or a bad turbo. I am also dealing with adding a quart of oil every say, 500-800 miles. I already did my VC gasket as well. My oil filter housing is also leaking if you haven't looked at that.

[billyhoyle]

Update,

I notice the oil is coming from the valve cover even after i changed the gasket, added rtv and torqued everything down to spec. So could the valve cover be bad? she is still loosing oil clearly from it leaking, and didn't want to blow $100+ if it is just a bad gasket i got?

Thanks for the help.

Have you cleaned it up to try and figure out exactly where it's leaking? Is there oil in the valve cover screw recesses? Those seals can go bad too.

[jvitelli17]

Yeah i have been thinking about just getting another valve cover to swap it with. She did have some oil leaking from the oil filter housing but that was my error because i couldn't figure out how the seal went (first time i did her oil change). I cleaned the oil up and see it coming on the screws in the valve cover along with the side of the VC gasket looks wet.

I want to get a compression test done soon to see what im working with, regarding the turbo, could always be a possibility of bad seal but obviously the only way to figure that out would be turbo replacement.

thanks for the help!

[jvitelli17]

Okay guys bringing this thread back to life, i did a compression test. cyl 1 = 142, cyl 2= 146, cyl 3 = 143, cyl 4= 148. I figured this looked good because all the numbers are pretty much the same, also i preformed each cylinder twice with similar results both times. So question is, are these good numbers?

I did replace the valve cover gasket with some RTV and so far it has been clean without leaks, however i noticed some pooling of oil on top of the intake manifold?? i tought maybe the pcv leaked but i replaced that a while ago and nothing else sits above the IM so im not sure how that got there.

Still trying to figure out the oil burning issue though...

[FraggyA4]

Okay guys bringing this thread back to life, i did a compression test. cyl 1 = 142, cyl 2= 146, cyl 3 = 143, cyl 4= 148. I figured this looked good because all the numbers are pretty much the same, also i preformed each cylinder twice with similar results both times. So question is, are these good numbers?

I did replace the valve cover gasket with some RTV and so far it has been clean without leaks, however i noticed some pooling of oil on top of the intake manifold?? i tought maybe the pcv leaked but i replaced that a while ago and nothing else sits above the IM so im not sure how that got there.

Still trying to figure out the oil burning issue though...

Your compression is ok, new rings are between 159-205 psi. Was the engine warm when you did it? Wear limit is 101 psi so your still above that but I wouldn't rule out that you're not burning oil.

I would try venting your PCV to atmosphere, clean all your air boots, then run it for a few weeks pull all the boots and see if you have oil. If you do then you're pushing oil through your turbo. If its clean and your still consuming oil then it's neither the turbo nor the PCV.

[B-Time]

My PCV went and I had oil on top of intake manifold and valve cover. More so on the front of the valve cover. Entire under side of engine cover was sprayed.

[jvitelli17]

Your compression is ok, new rings are between 159-205 psi. Was the engine warm when you did it? Wear limit is 101 psi so your still above that but I wouldn't rule out that you're not burning oil.

I would try venting your PCV to atmosphere, clean all your air boots, then run it for a few weeks pull all the boots and see if you have oil. If you do then you're pushing oil through your turbo. If its clean and your still consuming oil then it's neither the turbo nor the PCV.

No the engine was cold. And i just replaced the PCV about a month ago with an OEM replacement, looks like the valve cover is leaking so im going to do that again! Must not have used enough RTV!

[FraggyA4]

No the engine was cold. And i just replaced the PCV about a month ago with an OEM replacement, looks like the valve cover is leaking so im going to do that again! Must not have used enough RTV!

I don't think you get what I'm saying. It is VERY VERY unlikely that your valve cover is losing that much oil. Sure it leaks but its not even in a high pressure oil environment. It's just a few squirters and a lot of splash. You can run your engine with the valve cover off and it just splashes oil everywhere. I'm almost positive you are burning oil in the rings or through the turbo. Also rerun your compression test when the engine is hot. Maybe even do a leak down to see if the cylinders are able to hold air.

[brandonpham]

I don't think you get what I'm saying. It is VERY VERY unlikely that your valve cover is losing that much oil. Sure it leaks but its not even in a high pressure oil environment. It's just a few squirters and a lot of splash. You can run your engine with the valve cover off and it just splashes oil everywhere. I'm almost positive you are burning oil in the rings or through the turbo. Also rerun your compression test when the engine is hot. Maybe even do a leak down to see if the cylinders are able to hold air.

Definitely say do a leak down test to rule out the rings. Would a valve cover with a faulty channel push oil out the breather? I've read that before and im wondering if it goes through the turbo or would you see it in your intercooler pipes.

[FraggyA4]

Definitely say do a leak down test to rule out the rings. Would a valve cover with a faulty channel push oil out the breather? I've read that before and im wondering if it goes through the turbo or would you see it in your intercooler pipes.

The PCV when working pushes oil into the intercooler pipes but not at a rate of a liter every 2 weeks. That's why it almost has to be turbo or rings. I guess he could check his rear main seal also but that's usually a slow leak and you would notice oil on the ground. The turbo and rings you will never see the oil because it gets burnt off.

[brandonpham]

You'll only see it with the black residue on tail pipes. I was trying to read more. Some people here had faulty valve covers with a bad channel who burned a quart per 500 miles and resolved it with a new VC. That's what I was wondering. It was a black titanium not sure of the persons name. It's essentially a channel being unglued and having oil seep into it pushed by the pcv.

[FraggyA4]

You'll only see it with the black residue on tail pipes. I was trying to read more. Some people here had faulty valve covers with a bad channel who burned a quart per 500 miles and resolved it with a new VC. That's what I was wondering. It was a black titanium not sure of the persons name. It's essentially a channel being unglued and having oil seep into it pushed by the pcv.

That seems weird the only channel in the valve cover that should push oil is the one that travels down to the turbo. This channel is open to the splash oil in the cylinder head. The other two ports on the back pcv are air essentially. One is the manifold that pulls a vacuum the other comes from the oil separator breather. Unless you are pumping oil up through the oil separator which would be a bad thing. Then the only place for it to come from would be from the cylinder head which isn't pressurized oil. But I haven't had a stock VC in quite a while so I don't know what the effects of a failed VC would be.

[brandonpham]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...VE-valve-cover

It's a good read.