jseklund

Hello everyone. I am fairly new to posting on this board, but I have used the board as a resource when fixing my mother's car for her quite frequently over the past 2-3 years. Thanks to everyone for the information they have already provided me.

My mother's 2001 2.7T A6 Quattro has been leaking oil for a long while now. She has taken it into a bunch of shops, dealerships, etc- and no one can seem to fix it. With some research on here I have found that it is most likely coming from two places- the valve covers (which I suspected all along) and the breather/PCV/Spider hose assembly.

I have searched around under the hood and there is definately oil, in very tough to see spots, around the rear corners of the valve covers. I understand that this is somewhat of a symptom that is caused in these cars by too much pressure in the system due to a clogged breather hose, thanks to some searching on this site.

I checked the breather hose and the valve on the driver's side (hockey puck shaped) has a ton of oil at the bottom, where it connects to the hose, and running down along that hose.

Further symptoms, which I hypothesis could be do to leaky valve covers and clogged breather:

1. MAF reading is off and throwing a check engine light. I'm guessing air is leaking in through one or both of these spots.
2. Driver's side upstream O2 sensor is throwing a code, but shops have claimed to replace this sensor a couple of times. The code turns the light on and off randomly. I am ready to replace this, but not entirely sure it's the sensor, since the resistance on the pins is about 8-9 ohms.
3. Brakes are feeling softer than normal. The car stops, but not like it should.

At this point, unless someone can tell me otherwise on here, I am certain that I need to replace the breather hose and the valve/cam cover gaskets. I'm not sure if this is causing, contributing, or not at all related to items 1-3 above- but I feel it's the place to start.

My question is this- I need to find the breather hose that is right for the car, at a reasonable price ($120-140). I know there is an updated version, but I'm not sure if I can or should use the updated version. I am also not sure what the part number for each version is - so I cannot find prices in more than a couple of obvious places. Further, I've read that the hose has a climate related code at the end - N, R, etc.

Can someone tell me:

1. Can I use the updated version of the hose, or should I stick with what's on the car?

2. What is the part number for the proper hose? I live in Mass. and the car is a 2001 2.7T A6 Quattro.

If anyone could help, it would be huge. Thanks in advance!

coors

check out www.ecstuning.com

I got mine from there. You are not going to find one under $150-160

Good Luck

jseklund

Thanks for the response. I've seen some as low as $110, but without the part #, it's tought to tell if it's the right one. I am also wondering if I can use the newer version with the heat shield in place of the older version, or if something else changed with the 2001 split that would make it not work....

Thanks.

4Driver4

Has anyone replaced the cam adjuster seals? If the valve cover gaskets are leaking the cam adjuster seals are probably wasted.

Is the O2 sensor an OEM sensor?

grgcombs

Well, leaking oil on any turbo car, particularly an older bi-turbo car is fairly standard .... the question is how much. I'm pretty lucky that mine isn't strong enough to drip on the driveway, but I do see oil around the underside of the engine and around the back corners of the valve covers. If it's not significant enough that you're having to top off more than you're comfortable with, then the expense and time spent on any "fix" is likely too much and/or it'll just be temporary.

I've been chasing codes for "system too lean" for a while and I think I finally solved it. I just went around replacing any vacuum hoses that seemed at all worn or flakey. The ones near the back of the engine on the driver's side are the first suspects, then any others, like the one between the diverter valves at the front. After fixing these my short-term trim numbers went from mid-20s down to 2-3 Thankfully I didn't have to go replacing the breather hose, but that was my next step.

AndrewF1

The updated spider hose is for the 2002+, I wasn't able to find one for the 2001 A6 2.7t. Try www.audipartsdepot.com, tell them you are from Audi World, you get a discount. I think it was $120 or so. The Valve Cover Gaskets and Cam seals get from www.autohausaz.com, a lot cheaper and the same exact part that Audi sells. While you have it all apart, do the spark plugs and ALL of the hoses that have a fabric coating. (They all crumble after a while.) I just did all of this stuff, I had oil everywhere!!! Send me a PM with your phone number if you want me to walk you through all that you have to do. Thanks to Cooper993 for helping me out!!!