Soundwave Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I just bought a second hand Audi from a used car dealership (non-audi). It is a 1998(S) A6 1.8T with 72,200 miles. I didn't even make it home from purchasing the car when the oil warning light came on after 9.5 miles and i heard a knocking sound from the engine. I couldn't believe that an Audi could be less reliable than my old Rover coupe which believe me was a nightmare! Anyway, i called the dealer who sounded surprised but sent someone straight out to me to collect the car and left me with a 1989 vw polo with no brakes!! Anyway, here is what i found whilst i was waiting. I checked the oil level and there was plenty of oil in the engine and no evidence of a leak, however the engine was very hot and the knocking sound had sounded (when i was driving) like it was at the top of the engine. When i removed the oil filler cap, the top of the engine was totally dry like oil had been getting to the bottom of the engine but not the top. The oil on the dipstick was totally fresh and golden in colour. Is this just some faulty valve which sends oil to the top of the engine or could this in any way be related to the known oil sludge problem. I wasn't sure if that problem was just on Passats and A4's or whether it could affect the A6 as it is the same engine. The history shows that the 1 previous owner had religiously performed Audi main dealer servicing for the whole 72000 miles so i am baffled. The car is under warranty with the dealer i just bought it from and who i await an answer from (they have agreed obviously to correct the problem whatever it may be, especially as i didn't even make it home!) but i'd just love to hear from some of more knowledgeable members of this board as to what this problem could possibly be and if it is likely to re-occur once the dealer has fixed it. If i get the car delivered back to me working ok before anyone answers this post, then i will tell you lot exactly what the problem was!! Anyway, for the time being please could anyone shed some light on this please!! Edited, sorry forgot to mention that i'm new to this forum and new to the world of Audi ownership (all 9.5 miles of it so far! ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundwave Posted February 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Alas folks, it does look like the known oil sludge problem. The dealer i bought the car from couldn't easily diagnose the problem so i did some digging of my own to try and help. After speaking to three Audi main dealers and one independant techie, they have all said that it sounds serious and that it would need to go to an Audi main dealer to basically repair the engine if not replace it because significant damage would have been done and that there would most likely be carbon crystal sludge blocking the internals and possibly the oil pump could be duff as well. At the very least, the first thing they would do is perform an oil pressure check to see what was going on. After gathering all the evidence on this problem i decided to reject the car and get my money back, which the dealer fully understood and agreed to, based on my findings. Suffice to say, that is the shortest time i've ever owned a vehicle, but i would consider getting an Audi in the future but just not with that engine!! It's a shame coz the rest of the car was lovely and i was quite impressed with the stereo. What the hell should i buy now???????? Nice forum by the way but was slightly surprised not to get a reply to what now seems like quite a common problem. (Maybe that's why coz you are sick of answering to this problem??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 Nooooooooo, don't give upon Audi ownership! Welcome to TSN! That might be why the original owner got shot! To replace your car, I would suggest another A6,but get teh 2.4 V6 version, with Tiptronic auto. Lovely motor, and plenty around. Even on eBay........ Miles should not be an issue with an Audi, as my A8 4.2 V8 got upto 201K miles (201,000) with no major work, before selling it on. Damn I miss that car........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve2 Posted February 19, 2005 Report Share Posted February 19, 2005 what is this famous oil sludge ? my engine is the 1.8T and i want to keep an eye out on this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundwave Posted February 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2005 It seems that this engine (1.8T 1998-2004) is EXTREMELY sensitive to different types of oil. If the wrong oil has been used at any or all of its service life then a known and well-documented problem seems to develop, whereby carbon crystals build up in the form of a sludge which can block the internals of the engine. Apparently there is a particle filter before the oil pump which can become blocked with the sludge and as a result, the oil pressure drops to such an extent that oil fails to reach the top of the engine. This then causes the cam-followers to make a dreadful noise and if you dont pull-over soon enough, the engine will suffer hardware damage. I was lucky it failed on the way back from the dealership, had i have had the car for a week or even a month, they may have tried to blame me. All of this info i found during just one day of research using both the web and calling 3 audi-uk main-dealers and one independant VAG specialist. They all agreed that it was very likely i had suffered this problem. In fact, i found on a couple of websites that VW increased the warranty on this engine from 5 years to 8 years because of this problem but i only found references to this in the US. Not sure how the warranty is affected (if at-all) in the UK. For more info on this check out www.autosafety.org and click on oil sludge. Also check out http://www.loveofscents.com/audi.htm which shows a disgruntled audi owner with his letter plus lots of related links to other victims and articles at the bottom of the page. Although most references are to passats and A4's (1997-2004), i have seen evidence of other models suffering the same woes with the same engine (myself for a start! A la A6). Hope this helps people. As a final word, i decided to get another car from the same dealer as i knew i'd just spend the money if they gave me the cash back!! I am now the proud owner of a nissan 200sx touring on a 51 plate which means that i have got one of the last they ever made!!!! (stopped production in 2002) At £8000 with just 20k on the clock i couldn't refuse as i had them over a barrel. They had it up for sale at 9,995!! L8RS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Lucky man it went wrong then and not later! The warranty extension is only likely to be for the US. We in the UK get shafted like that........ Nice purchase Mr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ablanscet Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 We have a client for whom we are investigating the design defects of the Audi A4 1.8 turbo that resulted in oil sludging and related engine failure. We are interested in hearing the details of anyone else’s experience, including any dealings with Audi in connection with its “extended warranty” offer. Andrea L. Blanscet Paralegal to Randal R. Kelly Irwin & Boesen, P.C. 501 S. Cherry St., Suite 500 Denver, CO 80246-1327 Phone # 303-320-1911 Fax # 303-320-1915 E-Mail: [email protected] Web site: www.irwin-boesen.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted September 9, 2005 Report Share Posted September 9, 2005 Erm - Hi, so let me get this straight - you're posting here (in someone else's post I might add), with no please/hello/thankyou in the hope that people will provide you with supplementary evidence to support your case? You see, I thought this was a performance car community for people to talk about cars, yet all this time Its really a place for lawyers to ask free questions? How much are you charging your client for posting that message? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreatiff Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 We have bought 3x Audis 2nd hand in the last month. They are all 1.8T, the first went with similar symptoms to that discribed above, we now have issues with the 2nd an A6 Avant 1.8T (2000). The dealer is talking with the mechanic tomorrow and it will be interesting to see what they come up with. So synthetic oil is the important thing here. hopefully the 3rd will behave... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser647 Posted June 8, 2010 Report Share Posted June 8, 2010 Holy thread resurrection! Get some oil flush stuff in the engine. Wonder if that helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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