We have a 2002 Allroad, with only 155,000 km. Not to bad. We bought it last year from a very dishonest man and found out after we got it home it was a rebuilt car. Please, no need to tell me we should have done xy&z before we bought it. We are well aware of our stupidity. Lesson learned I hope.

Last year we fixed the front end suspension with Arnott bags, thanks to reading reviews here. We also replaced the front control arms, flushed the transmission fluid and have been giving regular oil changes with synthetic oil. A couple grand for these things right off the bat.

It drives like a dream. Especially over all of our gravel roads to the farm.

But now...we took it in because the coolant was disappearing and now we have close to $6000 in repairs.

Our head gasket is busted so to fix it they recommend fixing both while doing it, plus while in there, they may as well change the timing belt and water pump because we don't know if the previous owner did it.*

The front axel on the drivers side needs to be repaired and an O2 sensor can be replaced as well. This all comes to $4200.

The transmission, is going to cost around 2 grand to fix the torque converter, if indeed that is all it is. Although the transmission has been performing great the last year. Just a couple heavy shifts when driving.

And catalytic converters. We've sort of been ignoring those.

So...if this were your car, would you fix it or junk it? Every day I change my mind. It's beautiful to look at and drive one day. It's a nightmare for the savings acct the next day. If we fix it, will it run for another 5 years fairly trouble free?

I'd appreciate your knowledge and thoughts.

Thanks.

 

Wow, I am sorry for the non-honest people we have in this world. To answer your question, I would keep it, but, instead of paying all these charges, there are Audi allroad/a6/s4 2.7t used engines from 1200-1900 with low mileage and a warranty. oxygen sensors can either be coded out or replaced from ecs tuning
(www.ecstuning.com ) ....

You can also contact Bryan at Auds4parts.com for either engines and/or transmissions. Also if you want to keep the 5sp tip tranny, but get a better stronger/upgraded torque converter? Contact www.517tans.com

PS: Welcome to AudiWorld

 

Here are a few examples:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-S4-A6-A...287d09&vxp=mtr


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ENGINE-2001-...23043a&vxp=mtr

 

Find a better garage. Why did the head gasket blow? Did it overheat?

I would check the compression on all cylinders, and if one bank is fine, then change the head gasket on one side only.

Doing the timing belt is a good idea, the early models interval specified 170K kms, but was later revised to 115K.

What is wrong with your torque converter and transmission? If it works right now, leave it.

Don't worry about catalytic converters. Even if they're below efficiency, it's fine.

Whats wrong with the O2 sensor? And how do you know that it's malfunctioning instead of the catalytic converter or the other way around?

Finally, is this a dealership or an independent shop?

 

That's great info about the upgraded torque converter. I had read a few days ago not to get one from another Allroad.

I would love to take it to another shop, but there is only one in our small city that works on German cars. Aside from the VW dealer in town, but when we took it there last year they couldn't even read the codes on the car, so I'm not going to bother with them. The Audi dealer is 3 hours away in Calgary.

I don't know why the head gasket blew. The car has been keeping temp. If it overheated it did it quickly, dumped the coolant and then calmed down. When we noticed the coolant was low 3 weeks ago, we kept our eye on it and topped it off when necessary. It has been a slow leak.

The shop suggested to do both...I should say the nice woman who answers the phone because I haven't been able to get past her to talk to an actual mechanic... because it is 17 hours to do one headgasket and 20 hours to do 2, so you might as well do both she said. But if you think one will do the job that would be great.

How do I know the torque converter is bad? I don't, other than assuming the mechanics computer codes tells them so. We knew last year it was "bad" when we took the car up to Audi in Calgary to the have car checked. We had them check it again at the mechanic here yesterday. All I can say is, no noticible transmission problems when we drive it except for the very occasional heavy shift. Probably from 3rd to 4th.

Same thing with the O2 sensors. I only know they are bad because the mechanic says so. I imagine the right codes are showing up.

Sorry for my complete ignorance. I'm thinking of cutting my diy mechanic teeth on this car!

 

Do you know anyone with a Vag Com ( http://ross-tech.com )near you? this will tell you if your TC is bad/failing, if your 02 sensors are also bad or failing and any other pertinent information about your specific vehicle.
Not sure where you live but check here to see if anyone is close by: http://www.batchgeo.com/map/?i=e0bc1...ad32&q=calgary

 

Call Bryan at audis4parts. I spoke with him today and he has a nice selection of motors he is listing for sale this week. Here is one he listed today:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Audi-S4-A6-A...ht_6241wt_1397

Also check with Sam at 517 trans for a torque converter.

 

Again, if i were you, just do the head gasket that is leaking. I'm assuming you took a careful look yourself to see that coolant is not dripping externally?

Also, i dont think it should take 3 hrs per side to do a head gasket. One, maybe, 2 of them should be less.

Doing the timing belt is not a bad idea, but are they going to discount the job itself? It's an 8 hr job. Ask to see a detailed breakdown of the costs.

If your transmission shifts fine 95% of the time, you can leave repairs until later, so you're not hit with a huge repair bill.

 

My 2 cents are: you could get out of the car now, and get a 'good' allroad...if you liked the way the lemon drove. They still are a good buy and not many wagons can compare. Bummer you got the wool pulled over your eyes with this one. Happens all the time.

Some of the repairs you need shouldn't be so expensive...throw on the O2 'spacers' ...that will take care of the cat/O2/CEL issue(s). Maybe $300 installed....vs. new $$$ cats/pipes.

T-belts can be, and prolly are being done in the 3-4 hour range my a good tech, and if they are doing the head gasket, alot of it is apart for that...so haggle with them on the book time to replace the t-belt.

If its the TC...try one of the aftermarket shift programs (Like APR or MTM)and fresh fluid/filter...you might get some more miles and better shifts out of it for alot less than a re-built TC install. TC issues can be common though on the autos...so don't think its b/c of the the previous owner(s)

Best of luck with whatever happens man !

 

I have been thinking of getting a VAG-Com for the Audi.

I did talk to the mechanic yesterday and he said the torque converters are failing and is leaning towards a solenoid not letting the TC shift into the highest gear on the highway and says it shouldn't be too expensive to fix. When I mentioned that to the tranny guy when I dropped it off yesterday he looked skeptical.

Two O2 sensors have failed not failing.

I'll have to think about dickering with the mechanic. since he's the only one in town I don't want to burn any bridges.

We are leaning towards leaving the transmision for now. I did ask the transmission guy if we could keep driving on it and he said that would not be a good idea. I'm wondering what damage we could do in the next year driving with the transmission the way it is.

Thanks for the all the input, it's been very helpful.