mehoerger

I have a 2006 Audi A4 2.0T, I was driving on the highway and without warning the engine lost power. It was almost like i turned the car off. I took the car to the dealership and they told me I need a new engine because the camshaft seized up. I am not sure I believe for one they did not take anything apart just looked in through the oil cap and saw that the cam was not spinning.

I have done quite a bit of research and have found that if the cam placement sensor fails the cam will not spin. Has anyone had this issue or think that it is feasible for the cam to go out without throwing rods or pistons?

allenst

when this happened to me in my 4.2 it was my right side fuel pump

mehoerger

Before I took it the dealer I checked the fuel pump and filter and everything was good there. I also took the peep hole for the timing belt off and the belt is in really good shape.

Thanks for the help

allenst

a scan tool will get you your answers.

John535is

You need to do some investigating under the valve cover to confirm if the advice from the dealership is correct before you go with a replacement the engine ($$). Are you able to remove the valve cover? Just looking in the oil cap will not provide enough information.

Can the cam seize? - yes, there is a thread on this site about 6-8 weeks ago where a member documented a seized cam during the winter 'freeze'. is it likely - no- very rare (assuming you have not been ignoring oil lights and the engine has been serviced).

You need to (or have someone help) remove the valve cover, timing belt cover and the spark plugs.
Inspect the valves / cams for shrapnel.
Next - with the spark plugs removed, the engine should turn over easily by hand just by rotating the timing belt or front cam sprocket. Confirm:
the cam rotates,
the rear chain is intact and rotating
the chain tensioner and guides are still intact and the chain is tight
the chain is driving the second cam and it is rotating
the valves under each cam lobe are contacting and moving.

there is a cam follower that drives the fuel pump. This can also wear out, so you need to check that as well.

report what you find, take some photo's and post,

allenst

if you want to see this advice in action
go to youtube and look for "Edge Motors".
they deal with this in detail in the video.
I recall them servicing the oil pan and finding a piece of chain guide in there
If you get the valve cover off you should clean things up while there. Edge Motors also has good videos on this

mehoerger

I plan to tear it apart and see what happened after the long weekend. I appreciate the help and will let you know what i find. I am just very skepticle of what the dealership said since they didnt take anything apart.

John535is

You are entitled to be sceptical, and you are amongst friends on these sites.
In my experience, the stealer is more likely to jump to conclusions, and more likely to just throw parts at a car than doing any evaluation that a decent suburban mechanic will do. I could bet 95% of members on these sites can tell you a horror story from a dealer that led them to start doing it themselves and sharing what we have learnt.
I watched the video suggested by allenst about Edge motors. Just be a bit careful if you decide to do their version of an engine flush with petrol (gas). Besides the obvious flammable dangers of open petrol, I would stick with something a bit more oil based like diesel, or just use a cheap thin oil with engine cleaner additives. Clearly it works for them, but I can't help wondering what petrol does to all the seals and plastics.
The video has a lot of detail so you know what your looking at.

chapstick

^ this is so true. Many of the dealerships' techicians have no talent especially if they hire right out of tech school. Even then the way Audi does things is an approach everything as a car under warranty and throw parts at they will...not good for an owner out of warranty.

I've also had some pretty bad independent euro "mechanics" try to work on my car. Best to find one that does mostly audi/vw.