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Hello all, so I figured I'd share this. I've had this car for a little over 2 years and bought it used (duh). Been a good car, always thought it would idle a little rough. It would kind of feel like there was a car next to you with decent bass playing. It was off an on and not consistent. It was deemed "within spec" and a characteristic of the car. I'm probably mored sensitive because my last car was an acura, and the 3 before that were Hondas, so I'm used to the way that engine feels. HOWEVER! It was found that something could be done to improve it. So, the car had all the motor mounts replaced, that helped some, but not really that much. It also had an induction service (I didn't pay for this or the mounts), didn't notice a difference.
I then started noticing that I had that rattle at 1300rpms from my resonator / exhaust pipes. I was motivated to get this fixed but again, was within spec. I had always thought about a carbon cleaning and just paying it myself, especially to know what I was dealing with anyway since I bought it used. I read that guy had the same rattle and he had a carbon cleaning done that made it go away. So, given this, and that I wanted to see about improving the idle, I had the carbon cleaning done. There is a noticeable difference, but its not 100% better.
Good info right there. So you are saying the carbon cleaning did NOT help with with the idle being a bit rough?
Did you ever clean your MAF, When I did that at 60K miles, idle smoothed immediately, but only for about a week or 2. It did help some. Perhaps consider that to make it smoother yet.
Good info right there. So you are saying the carbon cleaning did NOT help with with the idle being a bit rough?
Did you ever clean your MAF, When I did that at 60K miles, idle smoothed immediately, but only for about a week or 2. It did help some. Perhaps consider that to make it smoother yet.
The 3.0T does not have a MAF sensor. It uses MAP sensors.
You wouldn't happen to have a DIY on removing the parts to do the carbon cleaning would you? Is it just removing the supercharger and the the intake manifold on each side? Do I need to remove any fuel line or fuel injector?
Interesting. I would have thought the carbon cleaning would have resolved all of it. My dealers service department talks like it does. When i was talking to them about it, they told me that every Audi will need carbon cleaning, bar none and that it develops like clock work at 60k. I guess i will find out eventually, buti am only at 10k right now.
The compressor belt recommended service is at 55k miles, so it sounds like that would be a good time for this cleaning.
FYI - when I bought mine I test drove 3-4 used 3.0 A6's and none of them had smooth idles - some worse/better than others. So don't expect Lexus-like smoothness. It's just a characteristic of the engine.
The dealer actually took the before/after photos for you?
In furtherance of gguy and lardog's posts above I'll add my 2 cents. I have a pretty good relationship with the service manager at local Audi dealer. They have been very fair and great to work with. I was told that best to drive car aggressively from time to time -- easy city driving builds up more carbon (who knows if this is accurate or not). I was also told that this issue does not necessarily manifest itself at 60K miles -- they have seen many 3.0Ts without this issue at 80 and 90K miles. I was also told that they can do the carbon cleaning for under $1,000. I'm not too worried about this (although this potential issue is yet another nail in the Audi coffin for me once I'm done with my A6 and the A4 comes off lease) as I intend to keep the A6 for only another 2 years and I'm at 34,500 miles at present. I don't expect to exceed 60K miles during my period of ownership.
As for the idle I too questioned the dealer and had the car in to check it out. Bottom line is that a slightly uneven idle is simply a normal characteristic of the layout of this engine. Our /13 Volvo S80T6 has a much smoother idle but it is a straight six. My idle is sometimes very smooth but at other times I feel a bit of vibration in steering wheel or seat when stopped at a traffic light. Nothing terribly egregious though.
The advice I give myself over and over is just drive the thing and try not to worry!
11-20-2018, 09:50 AM
3.0 carbon cleaning before/after
