First of all i'll start by posting the car specs:
Audi A4
V6 2.8L
1998
Quattro........

Yesterday while driving in these roads in Canada..... i ran over an icy road and felt like i had block of ice stuck underneath the engine........ Today after filling up the gas tank 4 blocks from my place... it made an ugly noise and my low engine light came on 3-4 times before getting home... I checked the oil level and it was completely empty, checked underneath the car and i could see all the oil on the ground....... The oil filter has a puck on it but the leak doesnt seem to come from the filter. I took a picture and maybe can tell me if the little block where the filter screws into looks normal.



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Thanks in advance for any help possible.

 

Ok so your light comes on and you keep driving?

And why do you say you have no oil? Cause none is on the dipstick? You realize the dipstick doesn't go to the bottom of the oilpan?

So you had 4+ qts of oil on the floor? If you did good luck cleaning that up, cause my drain overflowed at work and I had about a 1-2qts on the floor and it took about 1/2 -1 hr and was messy a's ****


I bet you had a 1 1/2-2 tops on the ground, cause your dipstick shows 2-3 qts.

 

The same thing almost cost me my engine in late 2010. The block of aluminum is the oil cooler. It seals against the engine block with an o-ring to seal it up. If you take the oil filter off, you'll see a big, thin hex nut on the base of the shaft the filter threads onto. I'm betting that nut is loose, allowing the cooler to back off the seal a little and leak the oil. Order a new o-ring, replace it (the two hoses coming in are coolant lines that you'll want to plug when you remove them), and tighten it down. Check it every oil change - if the cooler moves even a tiny bit, it's loose - it should seem to be welded on there.

BTW this a problem particular to the 30v V6s - none of the other engines seem to have this issue.

 

Look at the dent in the end of the oil filter closest to the camera. Looks like the oil cooler split along the seam when whatever hit the oil filter put that dent in it, and it sprayed oil to backwards onto the block.

 

but theres no oil stains on the filter so i highly doubt it came out from there...

i think "ImTheDevil" might be right!

 

theres also the metal clapping noise i hear when i turn on the engine...

 

lol

Thats usually very bad. Please don't run the engine anymore with no oil in it.

 

This. That is your engine starting to sieze. And if it does. Your fault.

 

I'm in total agreement with ImTheDevil on this one. The "oil cooler" mounting is notorious for leaking and, based upon your report and the photo, showing the damage to the oil filter, it looks like the area there took a big hit and has compromised the o-ring seal, NOT on the filter but on the oil cooler. Easy fix, assuming your engine is not damaged from running it devoid of oil! Man, I hope that's not the case. . .Good luck! Say, where's the lower trim that mounts under the engine?

 

thanks for all the great help i knew i would get from you guys...
1998 Audi A4 Quattro Victor Reinz Engine Oil Cooler Seal in Canada - Canada W0133-1642009 Engine Oil Cooler Seal Canada
can someone tell me this is the o-ring for the engine cooler?