B7 A4 Oil Consumption Help Urgent. Smoking at Idle

[Denio24]

Havent noticed it before, but before I was about to leave Virginia back to Chicago I noticed that my exhaust was smoking through the back. It was blue smoke noting oil burning. The engine was still relatively warm though not hot, so you can call it a cold start. I went for a quick drive with a little gas and after the 1mi drive the car no longer smoked significantly at idle, or really at all

Any idea on what could be causing this? I have a 800 mi trip ahead and dont want to be driving on a failing turbo if it turns out to be that. A great friend now and fellow az member has arranged a bit of shop time for me to figure out what is wrong. Has anyone else had this similar issue?

I was thinking, either valve stem seals, oil control rings, or turbo seals. The turbo area is clean on the outside no oil or anything and no engine oil leaks. Could it be a cracked valve cover or faulty pcv that is allowing oil into the intake? Again as far as the smoking goes I only noticed it smoking significantly at cold start but as soon as i drove the car a bit it stopped smoking at idle. Thanks to all.

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[aluthman]

Smoking at idle and on cold starts indicates valve guides or seals. Smoking under load would indicate a problem with the rings.

[vce1232000]

Also have the shop your going to a leak down and and a compression test wet and dry

[Denio24]

Compression was 180 dry. I took a risk and now driving on i64.

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[Denio24]

Update im 99% sure its the valve stem seals. Pulling the head off this week.

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[aluthman]

I documented it when I did it last year. This might be of some or no use to you:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=Smoking+gun

[jbain2]

Aluthman, after reading your thread several times it's concerning that unless something is completely amiss, diagnosing the consumption/oil burning issues seems to be somewhat of a crap shoot. While I think Denio's issue could be valve related, my money is still on turbo seals. Honestly if it were me that is what I would start with given he has 100+k on the clock pushing 20 psi on the K03. Turbo rebuild is way easier and likely necessary given the conditions. Hope you get this sorted.


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[aluthman]

It is somewhat of a crap shoot. Given that he needs to pull the turbo to pull the head, I would spend the $20 or so on a rebuild kit while it's out.

[jbain2]

It is somewhat of a crap shoot. Given that he needs to pull the turbo to pull the head, I would spend the $20 or so on a rebuild kit while it's out.

That's my point. You can end up knee deep quickly. Turbo rebuild is simple compared to the slippery slope of messing with valves and pistons. In my opinion I would start with low hanging fruit. If that's the culprit that's a lot of time and money saved.


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[aluthman]

Valve seals are really just a time investment since you can replace all of them for less than $30.

[vce1232000]

While its all apart just everything that is suspect

[jbain2]

Valve seals are really just a time investment since you can replace all of them for less than $30.

Turbo rebuild is a weekend project with few unexpected hurdles. Once you open things up and start messing around with internals time adds up. While seals may be cheap, you know $ still adds up.

Not everyone has a prolonged period of time to sort it out or a second vehicle for that matter.

While its all apart just everything that is suspect

I agree, if you are going to open it up, might as well tidy it up.


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[vce1232000]

Not everyone has a prolonged period of time to sort it out or a second vehicle for that matter.

This is true This is why I have spare cars to ..........lol

[jbain2]

This is true This is why I have spare cars to ..........lol

#audiowner


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[Denio24]

Well i got home fine and wanted to thank jbain2 who provided me with more than enough oil to get home, though i barely consumed any at all at the end of my trip. Thanks anyway though.

Ill be tearing the head off this week and possibly doing valve guides if necessary, all the seals, new hg, a valve job, rebuilding the turbo & gaskets, as well as a billet valve cover w/ vent to exhaust pcv setup. Just ordered the parts including those for the chain tensioner.

Are there any other seals located on the head that are notorious for leaking? I read somewhere that there was a vacuum pump seal but idk


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[vce1232000]

Rear coolant flange O ring is to will its apart

[aluthman]

Well i got home fine and wanted to thank jbain2 who provided me with more than enough oil to get home, though i barely consumed any at all at the end of my trip. Thanks anyway though.

Ill be tearing the head off this week and possibly doing valve guides if necessary, all the seals, new hg, a valve job, rebuilding the turbo & gaskets, as well as a billet valve cover w/ vent to exhaust pcv setup. Just ordered the parts including those for the chain tensioner.

Are there any other seals located on the head that are notorious for leaking? I read somewhere that there was a vacuum pump seal but idk


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I've tried vent to exhaust twice now and both times was a failure. It would generate a vacuum at idle and part throttle, but at full throttle it would pressurize the crankcase and blow oil out the oil fill cap.

[Denio24]

I've tried vent to exhaust twice now and both times was a failure. It would generate a vacuum at idle and part throttle, but at full throttle it would pressurize the crankcase and blow oil out the oil fill cap.

Dang really? So the intake before turbo (where rear pcv is) generates more vacuum, than vent to exhaust is what youre saying. Any idea why it would pressurize at full throttle?

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[aluthman]

Dang really? So the intake before turbo (where rear pcv is) generates more vacuum, than vent to exhaust is what youre saying. Any idea why it would pressurize at full throttle?

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Not exactly. The exhaust venturi will generate a vacuum at idle and cruise. Once you go full throttle, the volume of exhaust gasses increases to the point that the exhaust becomes a restriction and it no longer generates a vacuum and pressurizes the block. Unless you are planning on running an open exhaust of at least 3", I would recommend a different setup.

[Denio24]

Not exactly. The exhaust venturi will generate a vacuum at idle and cruise. Once you go full throttle, the volume of exhaust gasses increases to the point that the exhaust becomes a restriction and it no longer generates a vacuum and pressurizes the block. Unless you are planning on running an open exhaust of at least 3", I would recommend a different setup.

I have a 3" test pipe, and the rest is europaparts cat back. I am wondering if i will have issues.

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[Denio24]

Kylegti07 had a good thread about this and long story short, unless you are running a larger turbo and large exhaust like Aluthman described, I believe the amount of backpressure would be a limiting factor at higher loads.

I have decided to vent to atmosphere with a filter for now. It was also tested that the rear pcv had a negligible vacuum, so it didn't make sense to recirculate pre-turbo.

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[aluthman]

I have a 3" test pipe, and the rest is europaparts cat back. I am wondering if i will have issues.

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I have a 3" catless downpipe and a B&B/APR catback.

[Denio24]

I have a 3" catless downpipe and a B&B/APR catback.

Last i read you had a catch can setup routed to the turbo?

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[Denio24]

I've tried vent to exhaust twice now and both times was a failure. It would generate a vacuum at idle and part throttle, but at full throttle it would pressurize the crankcase and blow oil out the oil fill cap.

Have you tried doing like a dual setup? Still having the PCV routed to exahust, but have some kind of T-fitting so that when exhaust becomes a limiting factor the gasses still have somewhere to escape like pre-turbo in the factory PCV design. I think i'm going give it a shot as vent to atmosphere is starting to get a little stinky.

[Denio24]

It looks like time is getting the best of me. I will be tearing the head down this week, because today I have noted that the a4 is misfiring. Pulled plugs, and cyl #1 is wet. I thought it was PCV, but I changed that out today as well with a new genuine valve. Looks like I have some real issues. I will be replacing all fasteners with ARP, blasting the valves, installing all new seals, and most likely replacing all the valve guides and centering the seats. It really is a pain in the a** but better now then later. Let's get 'er done. Pictures soon to follow. This was long overdue.....do not mess with oil consumption issues.

Suspect CYL #1


I'm starting to think this may be a ring issue. I'm getting smoking with slight blips of the throttle, but after that it doesn't smoke during harder acceleration. Re-ringing the engine is another story. I'm thinking of just putting the valve cover back and just driving with the misfire for another year.....

From left to right #4-#1

[Krmass25]

This was a good thread. What was the final outcome?

I also have smoking at idle when starting the car and not driving it yet but while driving it seems to be fine. The car does consume too much oil. My setup already has a full an- pcv catch can setup routed the right way with the T connector and a billet valve cover. The engine is bwt 2008. About 85k. Turbo is apr k04 s3 turbo package and has even less miles. when the motor was swapped from a blown previous one the turbo was A+. The car is not driven hard and the turbo acts completely normal. The smoking seems to be valve guides and that was my guess because of the symptoms before reading any of this. Reason being there is no smoke when driving or on acceleration at all. I know cars with blown out rings blow smoke when you get on the gas and my car simply does not do this at all. I have gauges to check everything and the turbo is creating boost and sounds nice when it spools. There is no power loss turbo-wise. So I am ruling out the turbo and rings and saying it has to be something else. From reading this it really seems like valve guides. . Anyone know for sure?