amchuu

All. The car in question is a 2010 Q5 3.0 with 70k mikes i purchased CPO in 2011. The check engine light came on and the car was idling rough. I had it towed to the nearest dealer.

Service advisor claims the fuel injector system needs replacement. He said the system was injection too much fuel and was flooding the engine. He recommended replacing all fuel injectors, doing a decarbon to clean all deposits, replacing all spark plugs and all engine coils. The cost he is quoting is $3,100.

He also said in addition to above I could also need a new fuel pump if the problem isn’t resolved after the above repairs.

The car is out of warranty. Private party sale price for car is probably around $10-12k. Want to keep it but also don’t want it to become a money pit.

What do you all think of the diagnosis and the cost?

Thanks

rdA4WtQ5

Before having the dealer do anything, have you used a strong dose of Techron (2 bottles per tank)? If not, do that and report back.
What are the codes? If you clear them do they come right back?
With only 70K miles the fuel injectors may need cleaning but should not need replacement.
The dealer sounds terrible. Run, find a another dealer if you can.

uncleiggy

Considering the age of the car I’d take it to a reputable Indy shop in your area, but first of all I’d scan it using VAG COM and report the codes here, never go to a dealer/mechanic without knowing what your car reports, the more educated you are the less prone to rip offs you’ll be. Regarding if it’s worth repairing it, that’s completely up to you, you have owned it for 8 years now, if you still like the car and repairs come for let’s say $1,500 - $2,000 then I’d keep it, you’ll have a hard time finding a similar car for that money. However if you are tired of the car and want to try something newer then don’t even bother and sell it as it is.

apoelistas

Can’t speak without diagnostic scan. VCDs would help. Consider it. If you had one you would know before visiting the dealer of possible sources of failure.

Dealer probably covered all possibilities.

Is there cabin smell of fuel?? If not probably it is not the fuel pump. Can’t tell without reading the scan trouble codes. Being proactive is the way forward.

From other cases probably it is the carbon build up. This is my best guess. I would not change the injectors unless I have to. That would save you a lot.

apoelistas

Also this may also be part of the problem.

Diesels have external fuel filter. Will start with servicing the filter with new one this just in case the filter is blocked.

amchuu

Thanks for the all the comments. It is not a diesel. This is my parents car and they live away from me - so looking up codes on their own is not possible.

I feel the dealer is taking advantage and adding up unnecessary services at expensive rates. But my parents won’t be able to find a reputable mechanic nearby on their own and then also go back in case the problem is not solved.

Love driving Audi’s. HATE servicing them.

Bob Petruska

I'm going to lean towards carbon buildup as the a probable cause for your problem. These engines in 2009 - 2013 had big problems with carbon buildup, which caused rough running.

Audi issued an extended warranty for carbon removal with these engines for up to 10 years, 120K miles which ever comes first. Your Q5 is getting close to the 10 years, when was the vehicle produced? There's a label on the driver's door jam when you open the door that
indicates the build date.

I bet your dealer didn't tell your parents about this major free fix, before you change injectors, coils, and plugs, etc.

amchuu

Wow. I will ask about this. Car has 70k miles.

apoelistas

So if this is not diesel did you mean 3.2?? This number makes a lot of difference.nif it is petrol there is a magic VW/Audi fuel additive Part which I will suggest later that goes in the petrol tank to eliminate carbon build up. Please check and let me know if it is 3.2. if I remember well the only 3.0l engines made in 2010 were diesel.

mancerator

Agreed that the best first step would be to know which codes and what they indicate. The vibration is likely from a single non-firing cylinder that can be either a bad spark plug, coil or injector. From the dealer's perspective if one component goes bad the others aren't far behind so recommends replacing all at the same time. Short of the tool that tells you which cylinder has the problem an easy diagnostic is to let the car idle, unplug the spark plug wires one by one and see which one doesn't result in worse idling. That's the one with the issue. The coil can be tested to see if it's delivering spark to the plug. If so replace the plug. If that doesn't fix it it's probably the injector.
That said, the Q5 has low miles for it's age but is 9 years old so in the long run and for peace of mind, it may be worth getting all the maintenance done now rather than fixing the one misfire only to have it occur again. Doesn't really sound like a bad fuel pump and they can pressure test that without/before doing any of the other work they quoted.
If the decision is to sell it, fixing just the one problem will make it much easier but also consider what will it cost to buy a replacement vehicle better than the one they have now.