Oil drain plug leak & oil on spark plugs

[eclaytor]

Hey guys, This is my first time writing as I usually just search through the archives and can find what I need. As part of my 75k maintenance, i've just started doing some work (just purchased the car with 70k miles. 2012 A4 Quatro. I have two questions:

1. After I changed my oil, I noticed that there was a few drops of oil under the car when I parked. I just pulled off the plate and sure enough, the leak is coming from the drain plug. I purchased a new drain plug that came with a washer and torqued it down to 24 ft-lbs. There is still a leak. I am thinking of getting a copper or nylon washer which may seal better. Any suggestions?

2. While changing my spark plugs, I noticed that I had oil on my old ones. Coming from the land of Honda, I never saw any oil on my plugs. My car doesn't seem to have a major oil burning problem. It was about 2.5 quarts over 5000 miles. Any comments or is this normal in these cars? If this ever gets to be a major problem, I'll probably replace the rings if its as easy as my old honda was.

Thanks,

Evan

[AdrianLee]

Hey guys, This is my first time writing as I usually just search through the archives and can find what I need. As part of my 75k maintenance, i've just started doing some work (just purchased the car with 70k miles. 2012 A4 Quatro. I have two questions:

1. After I changed my oil, I noticed that there was a few drops of oil under the car when I parked. I just pulled off the plate and sure enough, the leak is coming from the drain plug. I purchased a new drain plug that came with a washer and torqued it down to 24 ft-lbs. There is still a leak. I am thinking of getting a copper or nylon washer which may seal better. Any suggestions?

2. While changing my spark plugs, I noticed that I had oil on my old ones. Coming from the land of Honda, I never saw any oil on my plugs. My car doesn't seem to have a major oil burning problem. It was about 2.5 quarts over 5000 miles. Any comments or is this normal in these cars? If this ever gets to be a major problem, I'll probably replace the rings if its as easy as my old honda was.

Thanks,

Evan

Oil drain plug on our cars were actually never designed to be removed more than maybe a few times if absolutely necessary. The dealership uses the extraction method through the dipstick tube, which is how you are supposed to do it as well. If your drain plug is still leaking, did you use a solid aluminum washer? If not, use that. Mine was leaking too when I bought my car a few years ago, and I replaced it with a solid aluminum washer and it hasn't leaked in 15k miles. I know the one I have received from the dealer before was the incorrect washer. Copper may work too as long as its the correct size. Also, the torque for the drain plug, per ELSA, is 30 Nm which is 22.1 Ft lbs. I would advise not going any higher than this. Our oil pans are very weak and you run the risk of stripping out the threads due to the fact the the oil pan is so thin. I have a 2012 A4, and, so far (fingers crossed), do not loose any oil over the coarse of a 5K oil change.

I have not seen any oil on my plugs either, and I just changed them at 23K, now at 29K. I do see some oil inside my turbo where the crankcase breather line goes, but that's about it so far

I am APR stage II + with larger intercooler and peaking out around 26psi of boost for comparison.

[Jacon]

Shouldn't have needed a new drain plug, just a new copper washer. What type of washer is on there now?

OEM is usually copper, I think.

[eclaytor]

Thanks guys. I got the new bolt which came with an aluminum washer (can't be separated) from Autozone and it may not be OEM. It was the same plug and washer which was removed from the car which was leaking as well. I will either try and get an OEM one from the dealership or find a suitable copper washer.

Adrian, I knew the torque was 22 ft-lb but thought that it may seal it up with just another slight twist. I am a little worried about the oil on the plugs as i eventually want to go with a stage 1 tune but want to make sure the engine is solid before I start any mods.

Thanks,

[eclaytor]

So I went out to Autozone and got the M12 assortment of gaskets. I used the steel with the rubber insert, then torqued it up to spec. So far its holding up no more leaks. I'll check it over the next several weeks to make sure nothing fails. I know some purists will cry blasphemy but i'm happy.

[Jacon]

So I went out to Autozone and got the M12 assortment of gaskets. I used the steel with the rubber insert, then torqued it up to spec. So far its holding up no more leaks. I'll check it over the next several weeks to make sure nothing fails. I know some purists will cry blasphemy but i'm happy.

blasphemy! I bought the same kit from Autozone but couldn't find any that I felt comfortable using. You can order a set of 10 copper crush washers from ECS for VERY CHEAP. Try them...

[eclaytor]

blasphemy! I bought the same kit from Autozone but couldn't find any that I felt comfortable using. You can order a set of 10 copper crush washers from ECS for VERY CHEAP. Try them...

So far no oil. At my next oil change I may try the ECS copper washers. did you add the copper washer between the aluminum washer and the oil pan? The aluminum washer shown in the photo above cannot be removed without cutting it.

After closer inspection this time, the oil pan paint is just begining to show some signs of chipping/rust on the outside of the pan around where the plug sits. This is likely the culpret of why I wasn't getting a good seal with the aluminum washer.

Thanks for chiming in.