the upper oil pan and bedplate are bone dry along the sides and rear of the engine. There is oil all the way up to the bedplate on the front, and looks liek fairly fresh oil at the left corner.
Do you think some of the leak may actually be between the bedplate and block?
Wow. That’s all I have to offer for now. :
;D
Likely the oil filter housing at the block in the back.
I had the same leak, and my engine looks just like yours.
https://i.imgur.com/9HBHRTJ.jpg
These two holes are drains for the the engine valley. It’s a cheap oring that fails. There is a thread in here somewhere about it.
I replaced mine last year, but…It appears i have more oil in the valley now…I will have to pull it off again and inspect, maybe i pinched it when it was ging back together.
I will still reseal the lower oil pan…but now I am thinking the upper oil pan is probably fine as it is completely dry everywhere else except the front corners…
Here it is with the damper off
I’d replace the crank seal while you’re at it. Valve covers. Pretty much anything you can get your hands on, but I’m sure you’re already taking that approach.
WHat the heck is the red stuff in the rear timing cover coolant ports? ATF?? Its in both ports. Drained coolant looked clean.
Coolant should not be green, but that red fluid looks like the oe coolant
Oh that’s really odd. But the front of your engine looks like how mine did after that same leak.
fyi my coolant is green because I put dye in the OE G13 to try and find where it may be dissapearing too.
I did the ol taste test. Tested the red, and tested the green…both tasted the same. I then tasted some fresh trans fluid I am running in the car (mercon SP, traditional red, same as the ZF branded fluid) and it tasted…oily. So I guess its coolant, and I wont worry about it. Ill put some more pics up later tonight. Looks like the filter housing may still be leaking, because there is oil in the valley, and I am 99% sure i mopped it up decently well when I did the intake manifold.
Regarding the front main seal, I dont like changing things “while I am in there” I still havent decided whether I will or not. I dont think its leaking… If we go by the “while Im in here” you may as well replace well…everything.
But the front main may be worth doing as its easy and I have the tools. Another 28$.
Rear main is dry.
Im still in the air if I should do the upper oil pan…If its not leaking, why touch it…I need to remove the rear main (buy new) rear timing housing then take it off, put all new bolts in ETC…
I am for sure doing new VC gaskets, new rear timing cover seal and new upper cam carrier seal.
Still cant determine for sure where the oil is coming from in the spark plug wells. Not the cam cover as it was and is now bone dry around the top area.
Would you mind posting pics when you do the VC gaskets? I wouldn’t mind seeing it before I attempt it when I do the IM cleaning this summer.
I will have the POV videos of it on my youtube channel. VC gaskets are easy though. Just remove bolts (rear driver side pain in the ass), remove gasket from cover, clean everything SUPER well, place new gasket in cover. Assemble.
Use OEM. I didn’t have to redo em now.
Aftermarket is fine for chevys and fords, they just…work, but I have learned…they just dont have their sht together for Audis…
That collection of oil like you said usually comes from the oil filter housing and then hits the crank pulley and get spit all over the place. So the placement of the oil looks like a splatter pattern. That oil filter O ring is hard to get to seal. Its almost best to soak it in oil for a while before you install. Or slightly warn it up.
As for the upper and lower oil pan. If its not leaking and your feel confident there are no issues I would leave it alone. Inspect the seal all the way around. Pulling the lower oil pan can cause damage to the oil pan and just lead to sealing issues down the road. Sure its easy to get to now but you want to also balance how hard it could be if you actually caused a small leak due to the reseal.
As for the coolant. I love the taste test… Usually just a wipe on a napkin will tell you if its oil coolant or hydrolic by how it obsorbs but you really take that to the old school level. It looks just like trapped on died coolant.
The crank seal. I’m with you again on that. Sure you can change it if you want and its not really a hard part to change but if its good and shows no signs of ware or age you can just leave it.
So far great work. Interested to see this move along.
thanks for the tip regarding the oil seal, will soak it in oil over a few days inside!
killing me with the old school taste test. very effective but not sure I would do that.
The valve covers have rings around the spark plug tubes, that’s where mine was leaking, after replacing the VCG it was fine.