Audi says my cylinder head is shot
07-05-2015, 11:08 AM
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Audi says my cylinder head is shot
Hello all!
I'm looking for some advice and maybe some expertise from the community.
Quick timeline:
-bought a 2009 Audi A4 Quattro 2.0T about 6 months ago. It had 100k miles on it, now has about 110k. Love the car (prestige, black/black).
-Car consumed a lot of oil, I was over the mileage of the class action lawsuit but went to the dealer anyway to ask if there was anything they could do for me. Incredibly they did the oil consumption test stage one (failed) and then stage 2 with 4 new pistons at no cost to me (my lucky day right??) Told me that while they did the work, they discovered my engine was a junkyard engine (news to me, nothing in the carfax), so the mileage is unknown on it.
-Got the car back, now it doesn't run well at very low RPM. (Never had an issue before the piston job) Idle is Ok but if you try to crawl at slow speed, it will hesitate, lose power, the EPC light will flash momentarily, and then regain power again. Not unbearable, but it did completely shut off on me once cruising at 45mph flashing the EPC light. (I was wondering if it was toast, but it started right back up). Got a CEL/MIL once for the camshaft position sensor out of range.
-took the car back to the dealer, they opened the top of the head up and said it was not pretty. Said everything was worn badly, cams and head were scored, chain was stretched, and basically the engine was a ticking time bomb that wasn't going to last. Said I needed a new cylinder head assembly, quoted $7500.
-took the car back, consulted an independent audi shop, he seemed honest and he basically agreed that a new cylinder head was realistically the only way to go (based on my story, didn't open it). i suggested maybe a lightly used one? He said it's possible but he wouldn't recommend it, since you might get another one on its way out. He also said the price was ballpark reasonable.
-I stopped driving the car, so as to not do any more damage to it, or my shiny new pistons if it's shaving metal into the oil.
SO... Now I'm stuck with a car that requires 7k worth of work. My options as I see it:
-Pay for the repair
-I'm not a creep, i don't want to sell the car without disclosing the problem, so I could sell it for a huge loss.
-trade it in (might be the best option)
-do the repair myself
Does anyone have any experience completely swapping a cylinder head? A few questions:
I'm mechanically inclined, but no expert. I had the cams out of my b5 1.8 to change the chain tensioner but that's about as deep as I've gotten. Is this doable with a good Bentley-type manual, lots of time, and regular tools?
Does a remanufactured head from audi come assembled, or just a pile of parts?
Anyone know the approx cost for the parts?
Should it be audi remanufactured? (The independent shop seemed to say yes) I see a clean head on eBay right now for $1500, but I'm not experienced enough to know what to look for to tell if it's a quality part.
Any other ideas or insights? Sorry for the long post, just stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I'm afraid to spend too much fixing it because the rest of the car is still 7 years old and will start to develop more problems that need attention.
Off to work, I'll check back later tonight. Thanks!
I'm looking for some advice and maybe some expertise from the community.
Quick timeline:
-bought a 2009 Audi A4 Quattro 2.0T about 6 months ago. It had 100k miles on it, now has about 110k. Love the car (prestige, black/black).
-Car consumed a lot of oil, I was over the mileage of the class action lawsuit but went to the dealer anyway to ask if there was anything they could do for me. Incredibly they did the oil consumption test stage one (failed) and then stage 2 with 4 new pistons at no cost to me (my lucky day right??) Told me that while they did the work, they discovered my engine was a junkyard engine (news to me, nothing in the carfax), so the mileage is unknown on it.
-Got the car back, now it doesn't run well at very low RPM. (Never had an issue before the piston job) Idle is Ok but if you try to crawl at slow speed, it will hesitate, lose power, the EPC light will flash momentarily, and then regain power again. Not unbearable, but it did completely shut off on me once cruising at 45mph flashing the EPC light. (I was wondering if it was toast, but it started right back up). Got a CEL/MIL once for the camshaft position sensor out of range.
-took the car back to the dealer, they opened the top of the head up and said it was not pretty. Said everything was worn badly, cams and head were scored, chain was stretched, and basically the engine was a ticking time bomb that wasn't going to last. Said I needed a new cylinder head assembly, quoted $7500.
-took the car back, consulted an independent audi shop, he seemed honest and he basically agreed that a new cylinder head was realistically the only way to go (based on my story, didn't open it). i suggested maybe a lightly used one? He said it's possible but he wouldn't recommend it, since you might get another one on its way out. He also said the price was ballpark reasonable.
-I stopped driving the car, so as to not do any more damage to it, or my shiny new pistons if it's shaving metal into the oil.
SO... Now I'm stuck with a car that requires 7k worth of work. My options as I see it:
-Pay for the repair
-I'm not a creep, i don't want to sell the car without disclosing the problem, so I could sell it for a huge loss.
-trade it in (might be the best option)
-do the repair myself
Does anyone have any experience completely swapping a cylinder head? A few questions:
I'm mechanically inclined, but no expert. I had the cams out of my b5 1.8 to change the chain tensioner but that's about as deep as I've gotten. Is this doable with a good Bentley-type manual, lots of time, and regular tools?
Does a remanufactured head from audi come assembled, or just a pile of parts?
Anyone know the approx cost for the parts?
Should it be audi remanufactured? (The independent shop seemed to say yes) I see a clean head on eBay right now for $1500, but I'm not experienced enough to know what to look for to tell if it's a quality part.
Any other ideas or insights? Sorry for the long post, just stuck between a rock and a hard place here. I'm afraid to spend too much fixing it because the rest of the car is still 7 years old and will start to develop more problems that need attention.
Off to work, I'll check back later tonight. Thanks!
Last edited by snagitseven; 07-06-2015 at 11:12 AM.
07-06-2015, 04:36 AM
#2
AudiWorld Senior Member
When they opened the top I assume it was the cam cover. Did they do a compression or leak down test to verify the integrity of the cylinders and valves. Did they put a dial indicator on the cams and verify if they were out of spec. I would pay to get that done first and then see what to do. Changing cams and cam bearings and the timing chain is not a $7K job. Get all of the facts first.
(can a mod delete the double word in the thread title?)
07-06-2015, 10:04 AM
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When they opened the top I assume it was the cam cover. Did they do a compression or leak down test to verify the integrity of the cylinders and valves. Did they put a dial indicator on the cams and verify if they were out of spec. I would pay to get that done first and then see what to do. Changing cams and cam bearings and the timing chain is not a $7K job. Get all of the facts first.
SCORING ON CAMSHAFTS. SCANNED SYSTEM FOR FAULT CODES. FOUND FAULT CODE FOR SPORADIC CAMSHAFT TIMING. REVIEWED MVB AND FOUND CAMSHAFTS NOT RETURNING PROPERLY. PERFORMED INSPECTION, FOUND SCORING ON CAMSHAFTS, CAMSHAFT BRIDGE, AND CYLINDER HEAD. ALSO NOTICED CAMSHAFT CHAIN STRETCHED. RECOMMEND REPLACEMENT OF NEW HEAD ASSEMBLY. NOTE: DO NOT RECOMMEND DRIVING VEHICLE, MAY END UP CAUSING FURTHER DAMAGE TO ENGINE. QUOTED $7500.00 FOR REPAIR
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