DUTCH VanAtlanta

I have 58,500 miles on the Q7 3.0 TDI, and I've been getting a small amount of oil leakage from around the turbo. Not very much, but enough to leave an oil spot on my driveway over time.

I had it in to the dealer today to take a look. When he pulled the lower intercooler hose off, somewhere between 1/4-1/3 of a liter of oil came flowing out. The service manager feels that the turbo may be failing, and needs to be replaced. Even though I'm out of warranty mileage wise, the work would be done at Audi's expense.

The car has been and is currently running great. I'm a bit concerned that "If it ain't broke, . . . . . . . . . . ." Service manager says that they expect some oil in that hose, and that the amount of oil over 58000 miles might be normal. However, if this is recent, the turbo is headed for failure. He was going to order the parts for the job until I mentioned my concerns about fixing something that isn't broken. He then suggested that we check it again in about 3,000 miles to see if that large amount of oil has collected there again. If so, it is broke and needs to be replaced.

The car does not smoke under any circumstances, so I'm thinking that the oil in that lower hose is not a problem.

Thoughts?

pchansen

You would think if that if this was considered a normal condition, Audi or more likely the EPA would mandate that there would be some mechanism to capture the oil or a procedure to check/drain a small collection reservoir of said oil during regular service intervals. In other words, it sounds like a bearing oil seal is failing. I don't know if I'd look a gift horse in the mouth.

Edd W

I agree, that amount is certainly not normal and is a sign that the turbo seals are failing.

My 2008 4.2tdi has not done 122k and there are no signs of oil drips anywhere - all the inlet pipes are dry although I have never removed any to see if there is an accumulation of oil in the base on one of the I/C's.

I would get the turbo replaced and probably replace both - if it seems likely there is a problem with one, the other one could well have the same problem.

DUTCH VanAtlanta

"Both"??

Edd W

My bad, sorry I was thinking of the v8 in mine which has two!

pchansen

I sure wish Audi would have imported the 4.2tdi into the States. I love my 3.0 but I can't imagine how nice the 4.2 would be to drive.

Let is know how it goes, Dutch.

DUTCH VanAtlanta

For me, the 3.0 has more than enough power. I just hope they don't screw up a good running engine when they replace the turbo.

I will report back when the job is done.