hojbjerg

Just bought a CPO Q5 3.2 2010 with 57k miles and I started to notice a smell of gas from the engine compartment. It seems to come from the left side (facing the car). There are no obvious leaks to see but the left side parts seem to have a moist / greasy coating.

The engine starts fine even under cold conditions. It can seem a little sluggish when cold but at temperature it accelerates fine.

Are these the signs of carbon build up?

As far as I can tell from the service history no carbon cleaning has been done previously.

If it is carbon build up how do you approach Audi service? Do I tell them about the gas smell only and ask to check for carbon build up?

Thanks

ryanaudi

I have not heard of this but since its a CPO no need to worry. Just take it in and let the dealership figure it out. Thats the nice thing about having a car still under warranty!

Enjoy it. I have about 108k on my 2010 right now.

ELEVENS

Exactly right - diagnosis is the dealer's job. Tell them the symptoms (fuel odor) and they'll take care of it for you, and we hope it's fixed on the the first visit.

Regarding carbon buildup, yes they all have it, and they all have it in two areas: intake valves and secondary air injection exhaust ports. With a performance car like the RS4, where it's a $20,000 premium for a fancy high output motor, most owners manually clean the carbon on a regular basis such as every 15K-30K miles. That cleaning is good for restoring 25-30 horsepower on the dyno.

With a non-performance family grocery getter car like the Q5, we just wait until the idiot light turns on and bring it into the stealer for repairs and are grateful to give the dealer first dibs on that very, very dirty job. Until the 120,000 Q5 carbon warranty runs out, that is. Then the smart move is to sell the Q5 to avoid thousands in repairs.

ex-quattro PETE

Which Q5 model years have this warranty?

ELEVENS

According to the letter:
"Certain 2009-2012 Model Year Audi Vehicles with 3.2L Engine, and
Certain 2009-2013 Model Year Audi Vehicles with 3.0T Engine"

10 years or 120,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

ex-quattro PETE

Thanks!

Now I'm wondering if they modified the 3.0T engine starting with 2014 model year where carbon deposits are no longer an issue, or whether that letter was written in 2013, and hence 2013 was the latest model year covered by it.

ryanaudi

I'm guessing the latter...

ELEVENS

Letter is dated "August 2013" if that helps any

ex-quattro PETE

Thanks. Wondering if AoA is planning to release a similar letter for the newer 3.0T. Time will tell, I guess.

m1964

Gas smell is what it is: gas smell, it is NOT a sign of carbon build up.

AND
No, not all of them have the issue- ours is 5 y. old and no carbon build up (so far). We always use premium good quality gas, and I have been doing oil changes every 6-7 K miles, not 10K miles as per Audi.