# 2.0 T FSI excessive oil in intercooler pipes



## Ironman9 (Jul 22, 2010)

Hello all,

I purchased a 50k, one owner, dealer serviced 2007 A4 for the wife with a 2.0t fsi and 6 speed tiptronic. Now have 62k. 

To make a long story short, I took a hard left hander 4 weeks ago at 40-50 mph. As I was accelerating into the straight the car stumbled. I looked in the rear view and saw a nice cloud behind me and then cleared up. I immediately thought I may have oil in the intercooler that was pulled into the pressurized intake air stream and pushed through the cylinders. I pulled the lower intercooler hoses on both sides and sure enough a 1/2 quart poured out into a catch pan. Today I added another quart to the engine because it needed it again. Jacked the car up, removed the hoses and watched another 1/2 quart collect in the pan. The car is white and there is no sign of oil mist on the rear bumper so it is not burning oil. I am looking through all the records and none state that the pcv breather was ever updated by the dealer. I feel it is sucking the oil mist from the valve cover through the turbo. Has anyone else had this same problem? And if so is the P version the most up to date breather? Will the dealer warranty this item if defective? Any help


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## aluthman (Oct 1, 2013)

That's normal. The PCV system on the B7 sucks and is part of the cause of the carbon buildup issues. Installing a catch can will minimize the amount of oil that collects in your IC piping.


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## Ironman9 (Jul 22, 2010)

aluthman said:


> That's normal. The PCV system on the B7 sucks and is part of the cause of the carbon buildup issues. Installing a catch can will minimize the amount of oil that collects in your IC piping.


Update. Fabricated and installed an air oil separator between the valve cover and turbo pipe with the check valve. The AOS is heat from radiator coolant and works as designed. Have zero oil in my intercooler pipes and fuel consumption is 26 city and 32 highway. I was using a quart in 800 miles and the dealer told me I needed a turbo because an oil seal was leaking. (if one intake shaft seal is leaking because of shaft play then the exhaust side would be blowing too). I have the most recent updated PCV and no oil is present after the first or second OEM oil separators, but obviously the valve cover is pulling oil in while under vacuum. Discussed the problem with the dealer and asked if the valve cover is a warranty item because it cannot be good emissions with that much oil entering the boost tubes. They said no warranty or problems. I then talked to the parts manager and he said he had 6 valve covers in stock! If there is not a problem with them why do they stock so many?


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## VW Schmidt (Aug 27, 2012)

Would you mind posting pictures of your set-up?


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## VW1990CORRADO (Sep 30, 2000)

replace your valvecover. its siphoning oil into the turbo. do them all the time.,,.


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## Audia4212 (Jan 14, 2014)

*setup*

please post a pic of the setup i am having the same problem i have to put a quart every 800 to 1000 miles


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## richiehook (Feb 5, 2016)

*Popping noise and excessive oil in both side intercoolers*

Have you seen these symptoms caused by faulty valve cover?
I assume the popping is from the excessive oil in the IC's and it's vapors (vapors at the least)are being sucked into the combustion chambers and igniting. Very quiet but consistent rhyhem at 3-5 pops per second. only audible from the air box. about .5 qrt in each intercooler. Under any load the popping goes away. Happens on cold start and At warm idle and stop signs and red lights. 

2007 Audi A4 
2.0 turbo with cvt
front wheel drive 
109,000miles
TB kit not done yet. 

Zero drivability issues 
Clogged pcv replaced 
New plugs have clear sign of oil in CC even after 100 miles. 
New dealer updated coils (4)
No smoke out exhaust no other noises 
No missing horse power 
No dtc's stored or pending 
140 compression all around ; little under 10bar
Leak down all cylinders at okay level.
The Punch.. When I performed leak down test on cylinder 1.. The air leaked into the intercooler and made the oil in the intercooler bubble. Leak was at 18% with 70 psi supply I heard the unmistakable bubbling noise and that is how I found the oil in the intercooler. did it once on first leak down test Then not again when I tried again after peforming on other 3 cylinders. Even with oil still in there.


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## richiehook (Feb 5, 2016)

*Popping noise from air box and excessive oil inside both intercoolers*

Have you seen these symptoms from valve cover 

Zero drivability issues 
Clogged pcv replaced 
New plugs have clear sign of oil in CC even after 100 miles. 
New dealer updated coils (4)
No smoke out exhaust no other noises 
No missing horse power 
No dtc's stored or pending 
140 compression all around ; little under 10bar
Leak down all cylinders at okay level.
The Punch.. When I performed leak down test on cylinder 1.. The air leaked into the intercooler and made the oil in the intercooler bubble. Leak was at 18% with 70 psi supply I heard the unmistakable bubbling noise and that is how I found the oil in the intercooler. did it once on first leak down test Then not again when I tried again after peforming on other 3 cylinders. Even with oil still in there.


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## Loganruckel (Jan 14, 2017)

Im having a similar issue. However i dump a quart if not more ever 50 miles. I did a pcv simplification and oil catch can install. Under high rpms the car sputters and shoots white smoke out

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk


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## kjr6306 (Sep 12, 2007)

Research valve cover issues. Remove your valve cover and see if the plastic baffle coves are coming loose and allowing oil in to the pcv. Simple fix....


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## Justin_DeSilva (Sep 12, 2013)

A new valve cover at $250+ is an unfortunate replacement for such a minor problem. 

Is the valve cover shroud plastic welded or snap fit?

Has anyone attempted de-greasing and reattaching the shroud with epoxy?

Image from MkIII2.Slow


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## GXL (Mar 31, 1999)

Very important subject! 

Please update, thanks!


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## Effinghamsandwich (Dec 28, 2017)

It isn't normal. This has gone on long enough and Audi B7 fans have been perpetuating this fallacy for too long. The oil in the IC is due to blow-by. A new valve cover won't stop it, nor a new pressure control valve. That is just wishful thinking. Catch-cans are useless gimmicks, save your money.

Shut off your engine and open your oil fill and you'll see what looks like mist or smoke. This is actual oil Blow-by that the 2.0T produces. It gets into everything and past everything. The older your car gets, the tolerances and wear points aggravate this issue. Aside from the the IC's you'll have oil getting past all breather tubes, your turbo will start to leak through its bearings, your exhaust manifold, your cat and your crank case and more. You'll end up getting even worse carbon buildup rates. It isn't abnormal for the B7 2.0t's to go through a quart a week on a 100k + motor. This is a losing battle and the more extreme downside of a direct injection motor. Much of this issue is also due to US mandated emissions and the effect it played on the engineering of all modern Audis. They still burn and now list a quart in 1k miles as normal in their user manuals. I suggest all B7 2.0t owners VW and Audi alike to consider getting rid of your cars before it's too late. By late I mean engine pinging and burnt valves, there so much that starts to go wrong when you start losing oil to places in your engine that shouldn't have it to begin with. I am speaking from experience and have been watching this issue play out especially now since the platform has grown older. If you plan a rebuild then more power to you, this still happens after rebuilds as well.


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## markcm (Jun 19, 2009)

Our 2007 B7 avant 2.0 was dumping oil in the intercooler. I replaced the PCV and then the valvecover, and then swapped the whole valve cover/pcv from my other 2.0 which had no issues. It kept dumping oil in the intercooler and got to the point it dumped about a quart a week. It was also blowing smoke when pulling up hills.

The car had about 155k on it and the previous owner gave me all their receipts from a "respectable?" shop in the Seattle area who had also replaced the PCV.

Since none of this helped, I pulled the turbo off and found the waste (penny) valve was really loose, the turbo housing had cracks, and the nut holding on the impeller was eroded horribly.

I bought a new BW turbo from ebay ($750 shipped) and after 1k miles there is almost no oil in the intercooler. The car is more responsive now and while it has consumed some oil its still within Audi's "1Qt/1k mile is ok" tolerance.


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