New Member! and first problem post

B6/7 S4/RS4
#1

Hey all! my names jeff and i own a 2004 Nogaro S4 with 130k on the clock. its my second B6 S4 so I’m kinda familiar with some things on these cars but not everything, hopefully you guys can help me out more than OTHER forums have.

So heres the issue!

I had a friend driving behind last weekend and he informed me that the i was having blue smoke come from my exhaust while cruising on the highway and backroads.

I’ve recently changed the PCV and cleaned the IM as well as do the oil check valve service and installed JHM IM spacers.

the tops of some valves were a little wet with oil, but no buildup at all. Sunday i did a compression test and the results did make me fee to good that night. but after thinking about it i think it’s my valve seals crapping out.

Here are the results

These were done dry after the engine sat for an hour and half after a long drive.

Bank 1

Cylinder 4) 120psi piston head dry plug had buildup
Cylinder 3) 130psi piston head dry
Cylinder 2) 115psi Piston head dry
Cylinder 1) 130psi piston head wet


Bank 2

Cylinder 5) 85psi very wet plug had buildup
Cylinder 6) 125psi piston head dry
Cylinder 7) 150psi piston head dry
Cylinder 8) 100psi spark plug had buildup

i also scoped the cylinders. 1,5,8 looked like this
what it means i have no idea but maybe its from the valve seals dripping down

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10426329_10152759872626538_9103527835589971977_n.jpg?oh=4a8c20ff9fee4be65606d52156d38b2b&oe=557D3C68

any thoughts on this word be greatly appreciated!

#2

Well You came to the right place. All the technical guys from that other site came here to get away from the drama and actually help people. All we ask is if you find it helpful help bring others that are like yourself.

So to help you let me ask more questions.

Where the valves that had standing oil were they on bank 2 or the 5,6,7,8 side.
If you see oil and it’s wet you normally don’t see build up as the oil actually washes away grime if it’s constant.

The compression test how many motor revolutions were done at each count and was this a dry test? Did you have the throttle open or proper open for the test.

The picture what cylinder is that from and how did it compare to the others. Carbon build up is normal at the top of the pistons if you can get down a little further and show us more of the piston or cylinder that will help too

So here’s the good bad news. If you have bad cylinder wall damage generally the car smokes at idle and burns more of a quart between 1000 miles. Valve seals generally show up as smoking while your cruzing.

#3

Justin thanks for welcoming me! I’ll mention this forum to all my other Audi friends (i have a lot!!)

To answer your questions:

-Standing oil was present on cylinders 1,5,8 so both banks

-For the compression test i did 3-4 revolutions of cranking.

-Test was done an hour after driving the car so it was warm, and done “dry”, no oil was added. (thinking i should retest again just because i waited an hour or so to do the test)

-Throttle was propped open.

-The picture i originally posted was of cylinder 8. compared to cylinders 1&5, 8 was the worst. 1&5 were as bad but i couldn’t see the top of the piston.

All other cylinders were dry with NO buildup.

I can scope the engine again if it will help, but i did see light vertical lines in some of the cylinders. and YES! it only smokes while cruising, not at idle.

#4

Wonder if that’s anything like the former ‘mint’ nogaro…anyone remember the compression results from that car?

#5

No but it would be interesting to get a car fax maybe track it down that way.

#6

OK Jeff on the test here is a good DIY to use as a reference http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=2235.0

See if that was any different then what you did.

The buildup without seeing the entire face of the pistons looks worse then normal but nothing to sell the car over. It would get bad if you had a leaky valve seal and the plugs were going bad. You wouldn’t get a good burn on the power cycle and that leaves deposits. Chances are the deposits are worse on the wet cylinders.

At this point I don’t know that the compression test will really change the outlook of the situation. Check that link and also follow the link in the thread. It’s to the compression test results of others. Compare and post yours there it will help give you more of an idea on now your block stacks up. If you do another compression test start with cylinder 1 and finish with cylinder 1. I always go back to check cylinder 1 after the test to see how the number was effected by the amount of time it took me to test the other cylinders.

Leaky valve stems are very common on these motors. From what you said it sounds like that’s the biggest issue for you right now. But if you haven’t done the chain service it’s not that big of a deal. You can change the seals when you do the chain service.

#7

hopefully i’ll report back tomorrow with results from the next compression test. cars been sitting for a few days. my drivers side lower control arms ball joint popped out of its socket while i can dodging a pothole.

#8

Let us know when you get an update or possibly stumble on more questions or information. Sucks about the ball joint dam winter tears up the roads so bad