punkncat

So....I purchased a 2013 A4 Quattro 2.0T Premium Plus on Friday. It has 165K on the clock. The engine code on the label in the trunk says it's a CPMA. When we first looked at the car it had not been detailed yet. Engine was pretty clean, nothing out of the ordinary for typical road grime. After we picked it up the bay was detailed and there is a LOT of new looking stuff in there. The car ran superbly over the weekend aside from a couple of codes related to fuel (I have another thread for that) which I think is related to running out of gas and pulling crud from the tank. The codes were reset and haven't come back on, yet. (P-2293/0177/2177)
My drive today was pretty pedestrian, traffic driving at speed limit. At one point I got an opening and got on it a bit to a very impressive plume of oil smoke out back. Check engine light promptly came on and upon closer inspection found that I was low about 3/4 a quart in just over 300 miles since purchase on Friday. Adding some synthetic 5-40 "Euro Blend" Castrol cleared the check engine light. The car has not smoked like that since, but have been beating on it just a little to see....anyway, on to the point.

I have been doing a good bit of reading here and seems indicative that my engine is possibly tired and/or the turbo could be going out. I talked to two different Audi shops today. Neither of them can even look at my car till Dec. They both suggested that I check/replace the PCV valve, pull and check the downpipe for oil, and both recommended that given the unknown service history, to put a good oil change on the car. Both of them mentioned a price between 4-5000$ for a "low mile" used motor from the likes of LKQ, IF they can find one. Both those places as well as two others I called completely refuse to even consider doing a rebuild on an engine with that amount of presumed mileage.

My first quest for knowledge would be to ask, where on the motor will be a code or number that I can verify what engine is in this car? I cannot imagine this is the stock engine with that mileage based simply on reading. I have no idea if a stock motor can go that long.

IF the car had the wrong oil in it, would it use far more oil than normal? I have no idea what oil or additives were put into the car by the seller. I have on schedule to change the oil and filter this week/weekend when I can carve out some time.

I am not completely ignorant about mechanics, in a very general way, but know absolutely ZERO about these motors in particular. I have rebuilt things like rotary engines, had a hand in a couple of V8 builds, and know how to read and follow directions. In my mind I think, well why not just take it down, have the block bored over with some bigger rings and run it till the next time for a fraction of the cost....having no idea if that is possible. I see rebuild kits starting at ~$600 and going up from there.

I intend to do the oil change, check the down pipe and check the PCV valve before moving forward. I would like to be able to verify this is the motor that came in the car (or not) and develop a more informed game plan from there. Any advice or suggestions, links, personal experience you can lend would be greatly appreciated. I am already faced with the fact that to further enjoy this car, which I happen to like a lot, that I am going well upside down in it for the privilege. In spite of this possible unknown (group of) issue, the car pulls strong and drives good. I would prefer to fix it and beat on it some considering I own it....

Thanks for any perspective you can offer.

punkncat

As a complete side note, buddy of mine who is into small turbo cars suggested that if I were looking to do a rebuild that I should go ahead and put a meth injection kit on it in order to start knocking down some carbon buildup? You think this is advisable whether good motor or bad, on these?

SMac770

CPMA 211hp flex fuel engine - metal intake manifold, sticker on the upper timing cover (front center of the engine bay) should say CPM.
CAEB 211hp gas only engine- plastic intake manifold, sticker on the upper timing cover (front center of the engine bay) should say CAE.

If you suspect the turbo is not delivering the requested boost, then you need to log charge air pressure actual vs specified and see what's really what.
The typical turbo failure on these cars is the wastegate getting loose and no longer developing full boost at low rpm (the boost specified drops as rpms increase). You can back the cat off the turbo to inspect wastegate play. Plate should be firm/tight against the housing; if it can be rotated easily, it's not good anymore.

I don't know what a "tired" engine is. Did you dyno it to see if it's far below original spec (after compensating for crank vs wheel)?
There's no way to absolutely validate the physical engine in the car is the one the factory put in it. You can only confirm it's the same kind.

I'm on my original engine at 13 years and 230k miles. Does fine; would be better if I renewed the turbo, but not worth the $1k right now.

You can't really "check" the PCV other than throwing vacuum/pressure gauge on the dipstick tube and confirming the crankcase pressure is correct. Should be a white cap PCV on a 2013, and should be 3.0 inHg vacuum at idle. You might also check the IM vacuum at idle, should be around 20 inHg, ranging from 17-23 I guess.

It sounds like right now you've had some events, but you have no persistent issue?
Remember, the bar display in the FID (front information display) is only the top quart or so. Top is full, bottom is qt down. Roughly. On mine, the bar has to be gone a while before I get the yellow oil level warning light.

punkncat

Lol, I suppose it could be related to new owner unfamiliarity...but even my RX7's didn't use 3/4 of a quart in 300 miles.

Without trying to be too reactive (and panicked) I will try a couple of the easy and cheap fixes. I appreciate the advice given and will attempt to check some of that. I have a very limited ability to do so here...but my friend's dad has a bitchin' set of tools, lol.

drgertol

Calibrated dipstick tool AU40178 is useful; AST makes this: https://asttool.com/detail_page.php?...number=AU40178
Ross-Tech VCDS OBD-II tool is a good investment if you expect to keep the car for a while. --g