Oil in spark plug holes

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

Hi all,

I’ve been seeing some oil in the spark plug holes on the driver side for a couple of months. I removed all the coil packs on the driver side ~2000miles ago and found about an ounce or two of oil in cylinder #7 (I think, second cylinder closest to the firewall). All the other spark plug holes were dry so I cleaned it up and replaced that coil pack.

I checked it again just last week (after driving ~2000 miles) and found that all the spark plug holes on the driver side had oil in them. Again not a lot, the cylinders that had the most were just enough to get the bottom of the coil packs wet with the oil but I’m concerned it’s getting worse.

My initial thought was the valve cover gasket was leaking but after looking at it for a while I’m not completely sure. I took a picture and was wondering if anyone could provide some input.

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/476347997.jpg

If I’m looking at the valve cover correctly in the picture, it is mating with the head where the red arrow is. It seems to me that the oil is coming out further down the spark plug hole where the green arrow is. I couldn’t find information as to a second gasket so I’m confused if this is actually something that comes apart or it’s actually leaking from the valve cover and just looks odd.

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks!

#2

that is exactly where mine is leaking, have a youtube video series about all my oil leaks on the V10. it is a PIP seal. when i took mine out it was hard as a rock and cracked apart.
Bad news is, its an engine out job.

One thing I was considering was having a machine shop make a very thin sleeve with a light press fit that you woudl tap into it. it would essentially seal off the interface. However im not sure of the bore if is is there same between the head and upper cam carrier and if there is a taper to it.

So, unless you want to drop your engine for this (dont need to separate trans), just keep mopping it up. My car ran fine with oil a good 1/4 way up the coil pack.

Justincredible mentioned audi updated thsi seal to now be an RTV gasket. The factory service manual confirms this, however I did order new seals. is is a deep recessed groove and would take alot of RTV to fill it completely.
I just hope their new seal is a better material…

edit: darn looks liek realoem is down…they have fantastic component breakdowns with part numbers

#3

Thanks for the reply Greg!

That sucks to hear it’s an engine out job to replace…that’s beyond my abilities. i tried realoem and it loaded up for me so I’ll browse through and see if I can find something that explains how it’s put together.

I plan at some point to take the car to JHM (I’m in northern Oregon) for some work so maybe I’ll just put that on the to do list and save up some more dough.

Some tap in sleeves sound awesome! Definitely preferable to removing the engine!

#4

I had the same and mine was valve cover :slight_smile:

#5

JHM is a stand out shop when it comes to making performance parts and service ability. If you can get there that will save you a lot of money and time.

A fix I’m wating to see if it works is. Taking and wipe out the plug tube best you can. remove the spark plug and then spray with starter fluid to wash off any oil left in the tube. From there on a log Q tip place a very generous about of black high temp cylicone over the area. Let it dry and then apply again a second time.

While this isn’t a real fix it can help reduce the oil. I did this on a local guy last year and it seems to have helped or slowed the oil intrusion. I did 2 cylinders on one side with silicone and two without. all of them had oil before after the ones with the silicone has a amount less than the others. By the time you put back in the coil pack it helps take up more space.

Again not saying this is a real fix but it something to try.

#6

[quote]JHM is a stand out shop when it comes to making performance parts and service ability. If you can get there that will save you a lot of money and time.

A fix I’m wating to see if it works is. Taking and wipe out the plug tube best you can. remove the spark plug and then spray with starter fluid to wash off any oil left in the tube. From there on a log Q tip place a very generous about of black high temp cylicone over the area. Let it dry and then apply again a second time.

While this isn’t a real fix it can help reduce the oil. I did this on a local guy last year and it seems to have helped or slowed the oil intrusion. I did 2 cylinders on one side with silicone and two without. all of them had oil before after the ones with the silicone has a amount less than the others. By the time you put back in the coil pack it helps take up more space.

Again not saying this is a real fix but it something to try.
[/quote]
Thanks Justin, yeah I’m planning to try to get to JHM either this summer or next…just depends on my money situation because I really want the exhaust and tune :slight_smile:

That’s a great idea about the silicone! I’ll have to do that the next time I pull the coil packs out. I also have to check the passenger side and see if that’s leaking as well…

#7

You do really want the exhaust and tune. They are a big game changer on the 5.2. JHM did that tune right and the exhaust well… a good exhaust system on a V10 is just without the need for words.

The silicone trick seems to help or work depending on how bad it is but the key is you need to let it set up and dry before you put on the second app.

A big note in helping that out as well. The oil pushes past the seals in these cases and others due to the crank case pressure getting high enough to push out. This happens when the PCV isn’t working good enough or is in a state that is inefficient. SO make sure your oil separator and PCV system are in good working order and not just the oil separator it self. Inspect the cross over lines and your valve covers to make sure there is no collection blocking optiomal flow.

#8

I hope the headers come down in price one day. I’d totally drop my engine again if I could get a set of affordable long tubes.

Justin, regarding those cam carrier seals. When I took mine apart they were completely dry and still…no sealing capabilities left in them.
But the PCV system on these engines is also not very good…i do wonder to what extend the crankcase gets pressurized under WOT.

#9

Yeah pcv is know as common failure point and poor design.

#10

Thanks for the feedback all!

In regards to checking the oil separator and the PCV system, how should I go about doing that? I pulled off the separator when I did the carbon cleaning and it looked fine but I’m not sure how I should check it.

The crankcase has strong vacuum while it’s running and pulls the oil cap down pretty good when I tested it that way but I’m not sure what other signs I should be looking for.

#11

Fwiw, there are two seals in each hole. I’m sure the factory ones have dried out and this, the leak.

My guess was that I’ll never be able to stop the leaks completely, but maybe slow them some.
So I made like a big Q tip out if a long rod and shop towel, doused it in Toyota rtv ,
shoved into the spark plug hole and applied to the sidewalks as best I could.

My hope is that a little of the rtv adhered to the seems where the parts are joined.
I had cleaned the holes with brake cleaner first to get good adhesion.

At any rate, this was about 3 mos ago and I hvnt been back to check effectiveness.
I’m hoping that something is better than nothing.

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