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Just spoke to the service tech. Apparently it's a faulty oil separator (the cyclonic system the S6 uses) that was allowing oil into the cylinders and fouling the plugs. Part is coming from Germany and will be at least a week. Apparently the front bumper has to come off to replace it, so let's hope it's not a common out-of-warranty failure. Hope that's all it is. Right now I'm rockin' a loaner Q5. Whee!
Hmm, why do they keep potentially defective replacement engines? Cheaper to fix them when they are in the crate and not in the car. Someone at Audi is covering up something in my view. Good luck. I will definitely get a long-term warranty if I keep the car. Which is best and are discounts available on Audi warranties? I really want a V8 and not the 6 cyl that will debut in 2018, so its either keep my late 2013 car - with only 21K mi - or buy a 2017 S6. Thoughts?
Originally Posted by gpinard
I agree with you - my problem didnt show up for 60,000 km. I don't know how quickly after the new engine was installed the problem reoccurred but the inference was that it was fairly rapid.
The ultimate diagnostic on my car was a check valve in the oil system (internal to the engine). Audi tells me that the check valve failed and the new one they installed was a new part number. I dont know if they believe it was a defective design and they redesigned it or if it was a particular supplier/manufacturing date and changed suppliers or purged the defective inventory. I think the implication is that the new engine contained the same defective check valve as the old engine. My rebuilt engine has the upgraded part.
It is still a mystery to me what these 7 cars had in common - why did the check valve fail on these particular engines. That part and supplier must have been used in multiple engines. It is also a mystery to me how they were able to get a check valve with a new part number so quickly (hard to believe it was a redesign). The expert from Germany torn down an engine with the same problem as mine at a nearby dealership, diagnosed the check valve and within 1 week the new parts were on order (arrived in two weeks) - that hardly seems like enough time for any sort of change to the part.
Audi believes it to be something internal to the engine, not a supporting system that would impact new or rebuild engines.
They did not share any commonality between the cars but did indicate they believed the check valve was the common failure mechanism.
I am not sure if that provides any clarity or just adds to the confusion.
BTW - It was a typo . . . my loaner was a 2.0 L A6, not an S6. It was adequate but definitely a far cry from the S6.
Hmm, why do they keep potentially defective replacement engines? Cheaper to fix them when they are in the crate and not in the car. Someone at Audi is covering up something in my view. Good luck. I will definitely get a long-term warranty if I keep the car. Which is best and are discounts available on Audi warranties? I really want a V8 and not the 6 cyl that will debut in 2018, so its either keep my late 2013 car - with only 21K mi - or buy a 2017 S6. Thoughts?
Apparently, at the time they replaced the engine with the same problem as mine, they had not diagnosed the check valve. Since it failed and they diagnosed the check valve, one would assume that the engines on the shelf now contain potentially defective parts. Guess we could speculate on how they will handle that but we will never know. After this experience I have no interest owning this car out of warranty - I have 3 years and 60,000 km to figure out my next car . . .
I got my car back last week and, other than ACC/Brake Guard not working (my guess is they forgot to reconnect a sensor when the bumper went back on), no more CEL or hesitation. Here's a copy of my work order:
gpinard, can you please have a look and see if the pcv/oil separator noted is the same problematic part you had replaced (albeit with a lot more engine work)? My SA said mine is the second car they've had with my particular problem, but says that the replacement part and corresponding software update should prevent recurrence.
Sorry for the delay in replying - Here is the eMail that my mechanic received from Audi authorizing the work. It is the brass check valve and the screen that they believe were the root of the problem. There is a schematic on the second page that shows the location of the check valve. I cant quite figure out the schematic but it looks like the check valve is located under the Turbo's - i am not sure why the engine needs to come out for this repair.
The eMail makes reference to changing the PCV valve in addition to the check valve so I think it is a different part. I went through the detailed parts list and can not find a PCV Valve listed. The file is too large to attach so I will figure out a way to attach it so you can see the full list of parts
Attached is the workorder for the job - not a great write up but it does show the parts used. Deehunter, there are a couple of similar parts to your list but a number of your are missing. I dont see anything on my list, or yours, that appears to be a PCV valve,
Yeah, there's pretty much no commonality in parts used (except for perhaps some gaskets and minor items), so it's a different procedure altogether.
Checking out the 4.0 Self-Study Guide, your part is indeed in the inner V (under the turbos). I would also say there was no reason to remove the engine, except to do all the other things on the list. The question is, were all those things strictly necessary?
I also included pics of the module (as far as I can tell) that was replaced on my car. The tech said it was attached to the intercooler, which was why the front end had to come off the car.
Thanks for replying on this. I still don't know if we had the same symptoms with completely different fixes. Head scratcher.
I think you are right about being able to do the repair in the car - the engine originally came out as part of the diagnostic to check for a head gasket issue or a cracked head. I suspect if someone went in today with the same symptoms they would proceed to remove the turbos and change out the check valve before they started removing the engine.
Any idea what error code you got? Mine was P0300 general engine misfire P0308 which indicated the misfire was in cylinder #8, If your was a similar problem, different cylinder I would think the fault codes would be P0300 and P0305.
Thanks for attaching the self study guide - much better picture than they had in the eMail.
Any idea what error code you got? Mine was P0300 general engine misfire P0308 which indicated the misfire was in cylinder #8, If your was a similar problem, different cylinder I would think the fault codes would be P0300 and P0305.
I'm actually not sure. The worksheet makes no note of it. I'm also puzzled about the bleeding-down of fuel pressure. Nothing in the repair appears to address that (unless it's fixable with a software update). Really strange that our symptoms are so similar yet the repairs so different (even discounting the full rebuild on your side). Direction came from Audi in both cases, and one would hope one hand knows what the other is doing. Fingers crossed that fixes it once and for all.
When I picked up the car, my oil sensor indicated the level was high - Audi says this is normal, and will go away on its own. It has happened to me previously and that is exactly what happened, within a few hundred km. Between the first fault (Nov '15) and the most recent event (March '16) I was tracking my oil consumption and had to add oil every 4000 km. Since the repair I have almost 2000 km on the car and my oil still indicates the level is high. Either they grossly overfilled the oil or there is a noticeable improvement in oil consumption (I am hoping it is the latter).
I will keep monitoring it but so far indications are favourable.
04-21-2016, 11:58 AM
