Raquel

Hi guys, newbie here in AudiWorld. I don't know if I am in the right thread. I recently bought a 2005 Audi A6 4.2 Quattro for $2.7k with 110K miles on it. Before I bought the car my boyfriend came along and brought it to AutoZone to check for any codes and did not find any. Two weeks later I have a check engine light, so I had it checked again in AutoZone, but no code came up. I called an Audi dealer and it costs $170 just to have it checked. The brake job cost about $1000. So I checked around how much will a OBD scanner will cost me and I see different prices ranging from $199 to $899. I am also planning to do a brake job and found out that I will need a VCDS to do this.

Looking at some of the YouTube video in changing the brake pads, it seems that is something my friend an I can do. So I need some help finding what kind of VCDS I need for my car since I am really confused with so many products out there and the questions they ask. Like if my car is US or Euro made if it is a C5 or C6, or allroad or whatever? What extra-ordinary tools and equipment do I need aside from jacks and wrenches and screwdrivers? And if the check engine light turns to be an expensive repair of more than $2k is it worth it since the car is very clean and no rust at all except for some minor nicks and small dents? My friends told me that this car will last if properly maintained. Sorry for the long post, thanks.

LarryJa

On a $3k '05 4.2 A6, have the car scanned by an audi Tech to find out how the timing chain guides & tensioners are doing. 50-50 chance that they are doing ok. If so, keep the car. If not, dump it fast. It's a $3-5k maintenance item. Quite common.
After that, enjoy the car, but know that it is expensive to maintain.

raj99

Welcome to the forum Raquel.

If you plan on keeping the car, get yourself a VCDS (https://store.ross-tech.com/shop/vchv2_ent/). As for tools, other than standard mechanic tools, lift, jacks, etc...you'll need metric tool set.

To do the brakes, it's not very difficult and I'd recommend doing the pads and rotors at the same time, I've used Akebono and Brembo, respectively.

I'd definitely drop $2K on a car you've bought for that cheap, especially if it is in good condition.

BTW, here's a DIY on doing the brake job:

raj99

Hi Larry,

If the OP was to buy a VCDS they can scan the offset from 0 for the tensioners and determine what's needed, based upon measuring block 093: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...right-2909945/

I believe I understand your intent, but your last statement that it's "quite common", I don't agree with. When you consider all the other things which are in fact common for our vehicles, the need to replace guides and a timing chain is in fact not very common. It does happen and obviously it's a major issue, since it requires either engine out or tranny out change to access and replace.

OP, the car when new sold for ~$50K, so parts and maintenance is according to that price point...when you need to fix things, they won't be as cheap as say a Honda or Ford.

Regards

tanya_charbury

Hi Raquel, congratulations on your Audi. Mine is one generation older (a black 2000 A6 4.2) which I understand to be mechanically similar and electronically less sophisticated compared to yours. So there are limitations as to helpful I can be but I'll try.

1. Your thread is in the right forum. Welcome!
2. As a girl you might notice some useful-to-you gender politics here since guys on here are (by my standards) especially gallant, gentlemanly and helpful to girls on here. It's a friendly place for a girl to be.
3. The dealer is expensive but I've also seem what clueless "claiming to be professional" work can do to really mess up one of these cars. I bought a totally trashed-by-a-hack-mechanic gold 2000 A6 4.2 for $700 as a sort of parts car and I am amazed at how much was done wrong on this car. So the do-it-yourself approach is a good alternative if you're methodical, as you clearly are. It's what I do and it works for me. That includes having done the brakes myself.
4. These cars are like a Chinese puzzle. It's typically easy to do something but you have to solve the puzzle first. For example, to work on the front of the engine seems impossible since there's hardly any space, but then I learned how easy it was to loosen the front of the engine and pull it forward almost like pulling open a chest of drawers, and then there was lots of space. If you're calm and analytical, this will work well for you on the premise that if a task seems hard, there's probably an easier way. I recall marveling at how logical everything was laid out, after I'd completed the brake job (pads and rotors) on my own Audi. A friend of mine helps me now and then, and he tends to begin a task by cussing at how "stoopit" these Audi engineers were because a part is almost impossible to get to, and then he says "oh" and he gets really quiet because he found the easy way. So can you. :-)
5. VCDS from Ross-Tech, with a cable they sell (and they can guide you as to the right one) makes for a very useful OBD scanner.
6. If you send me your VIN I should be able to tell you which model you have (but so can the VCDS as I recall). Certainly it's a C6, evident from the year of manufacture.
7. I didn't need any special tools for my own brake job unless you count a good 1/2" drive torque wrench, a breaker bar, and some C clamps to gently push the calipers in since the Autozone loaner tool was way too small for the massive brakes on my car (one more reason to be impressed with Audi). On your car the process will indeed be likely to involve more electronics than on my car, and maybe not even C clamps, but the torque wrench and breaker bar are still likely to be needed. Harbor Freight sells good-value ones.
8. The check engine light (that many people abbreviate as CEL, so keep that in mind as you search the forums) can indicate something expensive or something as trivial as a blown fuse. As to what's wrong, that might also be an urgent problem or trivial. My car's CEL went on months ago, and VCDS told me it's the secondary air injection which sounds scary but by my standards it's not a big deal. Eventually I'll pinpoint the cause but meanwhile I've cheerfully been driving my Audi.
9. I agree with your friends: good maintenance -> long life. You got the car for a steal of a deal. I have just had a chat with, by coincidence, another Audi girl two days ago. She saw my Audi and stopped by to say hello. Hers is the same generation as yours and not even the 4.2 yet she'd paid way, way more than you did. The not-that-high price of your car might be due to the maintenance having been neglected but the way to find out is to be specific and preemptive, and use the wealth of information out there in the universe.
10. Feel free to message me directly if you like.

Raquel

Thanks for the info larry, raj, tanya. I think I am just going to buy the VCDS- HEX-V2 for $199 instead of bringing to the dealer which will cost me $160 just to get a diagnostic and $1k for the brake job. Hopefully the service engine light is nothing major. And yeah I am just finding out that this will be an expensive car to maintain. I’ve checked the prices for that kind of Audi and it’s usually around 5-8k so my friends said that I’ve got it really cheap. The previous owner is an old lady and she said she just bought a new car. So as not to complicate or make things worst because of this CEL (thanks tanya). I am not going to use it until I get my VCDS. I can work on the car on Sundays only since I work and go to school. Besides I don't want to work on it alone. My friend's friend said that if it turns out that the problem is the engine, guides or timing chain, it will be cheaper to buy a used engine and replace it. He is just going to charge me $400 for the labor. I can keep the old engine and have see what can be done to fix it. But I am getting ahead of myself too much on this. Hopefully the CEL is not something that bad.

Is there any way I can update the MMI so that I can use my I-phone? I called the dealer and they said that I can’t. Is there anything out there that I can buy to connect so that I can use my I-phone to play music? Any repair manual I can buy?

I still have my 2006 Elantra and have put 170K miles on it without any issues other than the usual routine maintenance, brake jobs, and a radiator replacement. So I am just going to use this for now. Thanks guys. Nice to know that I am in the right place with nice people.

tanya_charbury

... and please keep us posted. As to the iPhone, I have no clue, sorry :-)

I like your Hyundai-and-Audi blend, like owning steel-toed work-boots and 6" stilettos, both.

raj99

Check if your vehicle came with AMI (Audi Music Interface - I am Audi | The Audi World ? AMI (Audi Music Interface) ? Cable Compatability Music) if not, you'll need to add that or some variant (see this thread: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a6-...8/ami-2916432/), then you will be able to physically connect your phone and get music. If you want to do BT streaming, do a search under "A2DP AMI" and you'll see that Tune2Air dongle is a good option.

Repair manual = Bentley, Elsawin, or direct erWin https://erwin.audi.com/erwin/showHom...B0.ASTPERWEU01 access

KevinGary

On the 4.2 the cost is twice your estimate.

dzywicki

If you are doing things yourself, the VAGCOM will be the best investment you can make. I am on my 3rd A6 (first two got taken out be deer). The VAGCOM has helped diagnose all kinds of problems. Also allows retracting the rear electronic parking brake for rear brake service.
I use it a quite a bit to record data while I'm driving to see if there are problems. It can record temperatures. Pretty interesting to watch transmission fluid temps while driving. The temp goes way up while idling. I wouldn't have expected that. I swapped out my steering wheel for a NOS with paddle shifters. Was able to use VAGCOM to recode and enable the paddle shifters.
I use a bluetooth to FM transmitter to stream music. Not as nice as AMI, but works pretty well. I recently bought this one ( ). works great and is pretty small.