newa6er

I had a lengthy discussion with my local Audi parts guy. My original intention was to buy valve cover gasket sets and be gone. First,he mentions valve cover gaskets are very common, second, timing and main seals are not very common and very often misdiagnosed leading to needless expensive repairs, third, and the most interesting part was the warped valve covers. He said something about early C6 4.2's had plastic valve cover which tend to warp and changing the gaskets will not help. he also mentioned it's more common on the RS4, so looked it up and it seems rare but it does happen. Anybody ever heard of this?

KnappAttack

My 05 4.2 valve covers were leaking pretty good. Changed them myself with a set of aftermarket Victor gaskets purchased on-line and no more leaking. The gasket just seems to get hard and take a set over time. I don't think the valve cover warps, I saw no warpage on mine at 125,000 miles or so when I finally changed them. Over 150,000 miles now with no sign of leakage.

Don't let them BS you, not to difficult to do the job yourself if you’re at all handy with tools. Do the plugs and air filter the same time and save yourself a bunch of time and money.

KevinGary

I had the valve cover gaskets replaced at 45k miles. I am currently at 115K with no leaks at all.

wfroehlich

Recently changed my valve cover gaskets due to numerous leaks (110K) and had no issue with leaks returning. some what surprised with the number of bolts holding the valve covers down - that you would have leaks after new gaskets installed. The only disappointing point I had is the kit I purchased did not contain the cam shaft seals.