glenjewell Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 I've had the A8 for 5 months and in that time its burnt lots of oil, yet little or non on the floor and no black smoke. I've taken it in to a local VW/AUDI garage and they think that the oil breather system isn't working. Its being reaplced next week £ 250 but I wondered (given I dont knw my arse from my elbow) if anyone else has had this done or can shed any light on it ? Also are gear box seal leaks common (100k car)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 This is a tricky one. It can depend upon many things. 1) The oil breather pipes might be knackered (split/soft/old etc) but hot oil smell should be smelt. 2) The cam cover gaskets might need renewing (again hot oil smell) 3) Poor quality of your oil - apparently the A8 will eat psis poor quality oil (or poor brand of oil - Tescos!!!). You should use Semi synth or synth. I put in some cheap semi stuff earlier and it seemed to eat it. I topped up with Castrol 10/40 Semi (I think it was 10/40 can't remember) and it does not seem to eat it anymore! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huss Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Mine drinks about a litre/1,500 miles or so and has done since new...so i haven't suspected anything wrong in the past. Previous A8 used to burn around the same. I do a fair few miles 400+ per week - and a mix of City driving and high speed blasts on the motorway daily... I use the Castrol longlife (OW 30 I think and bloody expensive), but it seems to make no odds as to the rate in which oil is burnt? I just convince myself that this is just another cost of motoring to the tune of 1p per mile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 I might add the gearbox seal leak is noticable by a smell of burnt oil as well, as it's located above the exhaust. If there is no smell, but a 'mysterious' loss of engine oil, I'd either ignore it (if no warranty) and live with it, or have them inspect the cylinder walls with an endoscope. (advisable if you have warranty). Also use the oil as recommended in the manual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SneakyMcC Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 [ QUOTE ] Also are gear box seal leaks common (100k car)? [/ QUOTE ] There are a number of transmission leaks mentioned on this site, might be rear diff seals though. PaulW's www.audipages.com would certainly have it on there site if it were a known prob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Here's the oil breather hoses, the stealer gets a lot of money for them.....but here in the states you can get a front one for about $5 from Autozone..... From my understanding the rear hose is something like a 2 hour job to get at it! There are other places that the oil can leak from, one is the rear cam covers.....easy to replace, if you had your cam (timing) belt replaced recently and it's now leaking and they didn't replace them, it could be these. There is one on each bank..... you can see them in this procedure here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Paul, wouldn't you notice a smell with either of those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 The cam covers drop oil on the headers....easy to smell and the I'm not sure about the breather hoses....they haven't gone bad yet on my car....but they are very soft and in need of replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 Well, at least you have the space to do all that now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audia8s2 Posted August 5, 2004 Report Share Posted August 5, 2004 I replaced the front breather hose on mine but I think it would take a lot to leak, my breather hose was really soft and cracked but it still wasn't leaking. £ 250 sounds a bit excessive for all the pipes, I'm sure the back one's wouldn't be that big a job?? and the parts are next to nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted August 6, 2004 Report Share Posted August 6, 2004 From what I can see, replacing the rear breather hoses seems a right PITA of a job. Judging by the ETKA pics, the main block breather is down under the intake gubbings. Not sure if all that has to come OR you have arms and hands like an Octopuss (no quotes from wives/girlfriends please!) That gap looks REAL narrow and small to get into. I replaced the front one when I done my Cam Cover gaskets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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