2 weeks ago I checked the oil level on the A8 and it was on the Max line, where it has been all the time since I had the car serviced in January. Move on 2 weeks, and today I check it again to find its just above the minimum level. During the last 2 weeks the car has been driven about 300 miles.

So I removed both engine covers, and grabbed a torch, and looked round trying to work out where nearly 1 litre of oil has gone in around 300 miles. Checked all the gaskets and they are all bone dry, but when I shined the torch down the front of the engine there is oil everywhere. The source is not the oil cooler as thats mounted on the opposite side of the engine to where the oil is pooling and it was replaced 30K ago anyway by a main Audi dealer.

Below are a couple of pictures, I have emailed these to a VAG specialist for an opinion but it does not look good. Could be the crankshaft oil seal I guess, and thats a mega job due to the labour involved to take it apart and re-assemble.

Damn :(

Tell me about it, I need to drive it 120 miles tomorrow, 120 miles Tuesday and 150 miles on Wednesday. I hope it does not get any worse, I have topped up the oil today, at least now I have a starting reference point to see how much is leaking. Depending on the email reply from the specialist it maybe time to sell the car on.

I hope it's good news! Shame to get rid of the beast!

Mate its a shame to hear about that is a nice motor you should get it checked out could be a leaky rocker cover gasket anyway i hope you get it sorted asap nice motor by the way love it

Best way would be to wash the oil off the engine then run the car & see where its coming from,if it is the crankshaft seal then id replace the cambelt at the same time(or is this engine a chain?)It may not be something as serious as you think,maybe just a gasket or seal,Hope you get it sorted ok.

Cambelt and all the ancilleries (water pump, tensioners, thermostat) were replaced in January, and to do that cost me £900. I have an ex Audi mechanic having a quick look this evening (assuming I get back to Stevenage early enough), as it happens he is the Skoda Assist guy that turned up to try and fix my dads broken 09 reg Fabia.

I really need to work out if its worth throwing more money at this car, keeping in mind something seems to go wrong monthly.

Right the verdict is in.

I had an ex Audi mechanic look at the car this evening, he removed the upper cambelt covers and peered down towards the crankshaft his verdict is that it is indeed the crankshaft seal that has failed. Due to the cars mileage, he has suggested not replacing it as the replacement may also leak due to the wear on the Crankshaft although I dont know if this would be the case.. So at the weekend I'll clean as much of the oil off as I can to enable me to monitor how the leak develops.

For now the car is still on for the Costa Del Sol run, assuming oil loss remains consistent and predictable. I have 2 weeks to decide, but do have an alternative albeit much smaller car available if needed.

Is there an alternative fix?

The alternative is more expensive, as to replace the seal and get it reliable would be to replace the crankshaft as well and thats not going to happen.

its my intention to keep running this car, and just keep an eye on the leak, depending on how bad it actually is.

Ah, nevermind :(

Id be very surprised if there was wear on the crankshaft,i wonder if in jan when you had the timing belt replaced something in that area got disturbed (crank pulley) & now a leak has started to appear,id be tempted to replace the seal(shame its such a big job on your car) ive replaced a few seals on high mileage cars & never had a problem with them leaking afterwards,how bad is the leak? is it leaving a pool of oil under the car? ive also seen a blocked breather system put preasure on a worn oil seal/gasket & caused a leak.

As said I doubt the crank has done it. I would replace the seal and I bet it doesn't leak after.

I've seen blocked breather systems cause similar leaks and a clean/replace a few bits has caused the leak to stop.

Probably worth a pop for a few quid that it'll cost as it'd save you that in oil top up alone.

I am going to check the breather system at the weekend, the PCV valve is easily accessible at least. I have driven 450 miles since discovering the leak on Saturday and not needed to add any oil, so thats more than 520 miles since leaving Dorset on Saturday morning to arriving back this evening.