secondaudi

2.8 30V , 5spd with 156,00o. OK Driving home everything is running soemwhat fine (known misfires) and thought I would check the grip of the quattro on some icy roads. Got on it and all of a sudden, no power and rough running. Drove slowly the mile home. Noticed heavy white smoke out the back, very rough idle (car shakes), CEL flashing (has been solid for about a month). Turned car off, started up and still rough idle but no white smoke. Oil is fine, antifreeze is fine. Read a bunch of post and came across oil in the plug holes as a possibiliy of causing problems with coil pack. WOuld this cause coil pack to fail? I have oil in all of my plug holes (VCG kit is ordered). CAr dis have a somewhat rough idle at about 600RPM then smoothed out at 1000 RPM. Am I heading in the right direction replacing the VCGs and ordering a new coil pack? Any thoughts would be of great help. Yea, I know scan the A4, but I have no access to one at this time and I don't want to drive it with the CEL flashing.

4Driver4

If your valves cover gaskets are leaking that badly, consider doing the cam adjuster seals too.

Coil packs don't fail on the 2.8.

5v/cyl

Your misfire is due to the oil in the plug wells and most likely not coil pack. Do the VCG and cam adjuster seals as 4D4 said and all should be good. Coil pack failure is rare on the 2.8. I replaced mine due to a couple of cracked insulators, but it was still working fine. Only reason I replaced it was because I got a new genuine Audi one for $15 on Ebay.

You still need to scan to find out what the steady CEL is for that has been on for a month.

secondaudi

Thanks for the input. I did the gaskets back in May of this year and thought I did a good job. Any trick to make sure they don't leak into the plug holes? I did use the sealent on the corners as recommended, but my problem is the oil in the plug holes.

secondaudi

Update. Started to take valve covers off. Passengers VC breather hose had moisture. Drivers VC breather hose was fulll of white milky gunk. Took breather hose assembly off. Lower portion of assembly filled with same stuff. This assembly was put on in May when the VCGs were done. I am thinking I have been driving around with a leaky head gasket adn when I jumped on it, it blew all the way. Someone please tell me otherwise. Audi gods are not kind today....

4Driver4

I doubt you have a head gasket problem. It's condensation.

AudiMick

What 4Driver4 said.

Head gasket failure is not common.

secondaudi

S the white milky junk is condensation? Where does that come from? How can it buil up so much so quickly (8000 miles since May). Also the throttle body had a little sitting in the bottom as well as the air cowl housing that attaches to it. Just checked coolant again. Nice and clear.

David.Norton

Combustion produces water. The PCV system is for pulling blowby out of the crankcase, either it is not working, or there is to much blowby.

AudiMick

You might have a blocked pcv system, the excess pressure can cause seals to leak and cam cover gaskets to fail. The blowby gases should vent thru a non return valve at the plenum. Alternatively your car is not warming up enough, maybe you make short trips.