gphelps4.2

and have mysterious oil consumption issue. I bought the car just before Christmas with 56k. I now have 64k on the clock, just got back from a trip to Colorado Springs and used 2 quarts of oil in 1,500 miles!

I first noticed the problem last month while I was in Dallas when I noticed it was 3 quarts low. I took it to the dealer and they did a quick check. No apparent gasket leaks, oil filter gasker was ok, no visable burning...the exhaust pipes look nice and clean with a light gray color, no bumper residue, no odor, undercarriage is clean, no leaks on the garage floor.

I don't know what oil the previous owner used, but I had the Volvo dealer I bought the car from use Mobil One 10w30 when they changed the oil when I bought the car.

I would really appreciate any input from you all. I was so impressed with the car, I bought it while on a trip to Omaha and didn't realize until I got home to Wichita that there was no Audi dealer here.

Will post pics of the light silver beauty when my pulse and blood pressure go down.

Thanks,

Greg

baskinblack4.2L

greg,

2 quarts in 1500 sounds like a bit much. But the car can eat a small amount of oil and there will be no obvious signs. Between the cam seals and the rear main seal. You could have lost some and you would never know. My 4.2 eats around 1 quart every 2000 mi. But I just bought an 2002 s8 motor to change that.
The switch to syn oil might have played a role. "They" say that syn oil cleans the motor and in the prosses the oil can find it's way past the seals. Also making its way past the rings in the motor at high rpm causing oil consumption.
Not sure how true the statment is. But it might make sense in your situation

Just Me

They certainly vary, based on break-in and condition, but mine uses almost none

Audeye A6

for a few of their brand new vehicles is ~1QT per 1500 miles.

02 Silver Arrow

I have made the mistake of changing to syth oil on a couple of cars with over 50k of dyno oil. It seems the synth will clean the inside of your engine quite well, yet in doing so it will remove gunk that was making a seal in certain areas. all 3 of them started to eat oil after the change. switching back will not help. you would need to change gaskets or valve stem seals which is wehere i found the problem originating.

jfk92

I had (and many other 2000 A6's have the problem, a front cam seal leak. Mine never dripped on the ground visibly either. The level would just drop, I suppose it was either burning off or flinging off the belt....anyway, worth a look/check....

gphelps4.2

What kind of cost and down time was involved in repairing the fromt cam seal leak?
Thanks

GTA_Driver

Are you putting the S8 motor in your A6? That's what I want to find out more about.

If so, are you also swapping the ECU from the S8?

Will A6 tranny handle the torque? It has difficulty handling 295 lbs/ft as it is.