Joe F

My '88 S4 A/T 141k miles seems to have developed a serious oil leak somewhere under the intake manifold. Any ideas about the source? I did a search and found one thread suggesting a cracked oil breather hose. Any other possibilities?

And does this mean I have to remove the intake to repair it?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Speedtoys

Could be a hose under there, could be the base of the oil filler tube.

Neither are a huge job. When was your last intake refresh project?

Lizard928

Likely the oil filler neck to block, and it would be wise to pull the intake and fix it all.

PorKen

Toast. I'll bring my GMC over and pull it off of your property. Gratis.

Joe F

Never done one. Guess I am about to.

That seems to be the consesus.

You are such a giver. I can always count on your support.



Thanks guys.

jeff spahn

Intake R&R isn't that big a deal. Weekend job at the very most if you have the parts and aren't very handy.
Of course this doesn't count powder coating, retrieving nuts that fall into nowhere, etc.

westija

If you provide some pictures pointing out to the specific area, we can probably troubleshoot this better.
I did my Intake refresh last year and although it does not seem too bad now, I ended up spending lots of time on little things like stripped bolts, broken plastic sensor terminals, cleaning it all up, etc. Then spent quite some $$ on parts. The list kept growing as I kept finding things. I think I might have spent more than $1,500 + powder coating.

I found some leaks at the cam cover and also coming from the power steering hoses (practically replaced all of them) and one of the breather hoses was bad (which is what started the entire thing). If you do an intake, use Dwayne's procedure and test for leaks first.

Joe F

Where I am seeing it the most in on the front just under the front lip of the intake manifold, and it seems like a fair amount of oil.

Where would I find "Dwayne's proceedure" and does the write up talk about testing for leaks?

Thanks,

IcemanG17

my .02.... it could be a few things...most likely the loose bolts on the oil filler neck.....which in theory you can fix without pulling the intake....HOWEVER...a 141k S4 needs refreshing under the intake at this point....I would spend the extra time to pull the intake and refresh all the rubber bits under it (possibly flappy bearings if needed) while you are doing it....not that hard of a job....1/2 day easy....

Wisconsin Joe

You would find Dwayne's procedures (all of them) in Dwayne's Garage

Lots of great writeups on a lot of stuff.
I can personally vouch for the Pod removal, Instrument Cluster repair, and Odometer repair procedures. Great pics, great explainations.
I had ZERO difficulties doing it. That would not have been the case had I just jumped in and started taking stuff apart.

http://dwaynesgarage.norcal928.org/

Lizard928

If you would rather just get it done and feel like a drive I could get it fixed up quick.

MFranke

I did a full intake refresh on my '88 at 167K and it needed every bit of it. Your mileage isn't far off, so I would plan the same.

In my case, oil was coming from the oil filler neck and cam covers and some was pooling in the intake valley. The idle started failing high and the engine was rough. When I got the intake off, I noted the knock sensor wiring was toast and the hose to the ISV was so gooey I could stick my finger thru it. I took the time to clean and refresh all the moving parts, including the throttle and linkages and flappy functions and put a missing stop nut on the flappy. I highly recommend taking the time to go thru it all. Use Dwayne's write-up. For me, now that it is done the engine is silky smooth and gained power, probably due to the sensor refresh - so glad I did it.

westija

It is really sounding like Oil Filler as others are saying.

And yes, my knock sensors cables were so bad and the idle so rough that looking back it was really needed and worth it. But I cannot say it was too easy, but I had limited experience on the 928 when I did it.

Joe F

for you and Porken perhaps, for me, probably a month, but who's couinting, right?

Thanks so much for this. I am sure it will be very helpful.

A drive? Thanks anyway, I think I will take a crack at it.

Now that this car is no longer the daily driver of She Who Must Be Obeyed, I can take this on.

Thanks for all the comments and encouragement. I really appreciate it. You guys are an inspiration to me.

Oh, and I am thinking I can GUILT Porken into helping to atone for all his mocking of my mechanic's skill, or lack thereof.

Speedtoys

He could too.

Probly..4hrs for the intake refresh plus water bridge/etc.

But you are also at that magic window of Timing Belt/Water Pump as well.


8hrs if you **** tools for him.