Mr.D-'97 A4q 12v

I purchased a 2010 A6 3.0T about 6 months ago. It now has 65k on the odo and last week while at WOT I felt a loss of power and then the TPMS, ESC, and check engine lights came on (in that order). I also discovered later it was puffing blue smoke. I was close to my mechanic so I dropped it off. Turns out cylinder 1 was was low on compression (40psi vs. 140psi) and the spark plug was oily. My mechanic is sure it's a problem in the block and suggested replacing the engine with a used one.

I was under the impression these are fairly reliable engines and the guy who runs the shop was beside himself, echoing the sentiment that he can't believe this happened.

I am going to contact my local Audi dealer and if I don't get any where with them possibly AOA to see if I can get any monetary assistance with the repair. I'm not holding my breath since it's out of warranty but it's worth a shot. I have nearly 200k miles on my A4.

Is this a problem others have seen with this engine?

Also, if anyone knows of a place where I can purchase a reconditioned short block that would be helpful. Haven't been able to find much since the car is so new. There are a few engines on car-part.com but none particularly close to my area.

Thanks!

Kris Hansen

Head gasket? I'd assume that before I thought block..

ericA6

Sorry to thread jack.....

@ Kris... Have you really posted 66.5 million times?!

Mr.D-'97 A4q 12v

Thanks Kris. I just had that conversation with my Audi mechanic and he was stating that he has never seen a head gasket go on an Audi V6 before and he's been working on Audi's for a long time. However, we did talk about how this is a supercharged engine and he admitted not having a lot of experience on the 3.0T but the supercharger could introduce the greater likelihood that its the head gasket. He's going to follow-up with a colleague who has more experience on this engine to discuss the possibility of it being the head gasket.

On an additional note, there is no coolant in the oil and only one cylinder is down on compression but I guess its possible for an oil passage to have blown in to that one cylinder.

Has anyone seen head gasket issues with the 3.0T?

I really hope it is the head gasket because otherwise I'm looking at a $5000 - $6000 repair, likely.

Thanks!

4Driver4

Is the block aluminum? Sounds like a broken ring.

newa6er

Tell him to do a leak down test, if the are bubbles in the coolant tank then your head gasket may be blown, if there is air pressure coming from the dipstick hole then your rings are fried and so on. It is not a fool proof test, but it can help diagnose your motor without taking it apart. If he does not know what a leak down test is, well then.....

Kris Hansen

Agreed..

Kris Hansen

HAHA! Actually no, when we were playing around with the new software I decided to try to see if we could change the post counts.. turns out we could.. my actual post count is closer to 50k...

FL C6.5 Avant

Block is aluminum with some alloying (AluSil) no liner.
I was thinking rings also.
Mr D--what was your oil consumption over the 6 months and x miles?
Do you have increased boost (smaller diameter blower pulley)?

mine 'uses' when i get on it. it is all stock.
redlined 1st and 2nd on the way to work (after 20 minute warmup of course....) this morning.
may have to back off a bit....

Mr.D-'97 A4q 12v

The car is stock AFAIK. I haven't personally done any mods to it and the mechanic who has driven these before does not believe it has had the software flashed.

I didn't check the oil before the oil was changed less than 4000 miles ago. (I've put about 7k on the car myself). I did have to add about a 1/2 quart about 2400 miles after the oil was changed. Unfortunately I didn't check the level right after it was changed. (I negotiated a free oil change when I bought the car since it needed to be changed soon so it was changed by the dealer from which I purchased the car.) Coincidentally, I checked the oil the weekend before the catastrophe and it was right at the bottom of the "Do not add oil" section of the dipstick so I decided not to add oil yet. It's been less than 1500 miles since I added the 1/2 quart.

Does that sound like "normal" oil usage for a 3.0T of this mileage? I bought the car with about 58k and it has 65k on it now.

Unfortunately, I do not have any relevant service records from the previous owner, who only seemed to own the car for about a year but did put a lot of miles on the car. The first owner seemed to have gotten it serviced regularly but I don't have details, only what showed up on the Carfax.

I do like to stand on the throttle, but I'm not someone who is going to be doing 130 mph on the highway. I don't consider myself someone who abuses his cars but I do enjoy driving "spiritedly". I also take good care of my cars and keep great service records.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm definitely going to mention the leak down test on Monday.