warrior84

MY 2018 q7 started to shake bad (engine) and got the warning message "Drive system malfunction". Took it to the dealer where I've had all routine maintenance completed. They said cylinder 4 had 0 compression and scope found a damaged/cracked exhaust valve and will have to replace the cylinder head. 80k miles. Just had new plugs and belts put on less than a month ago. Waiting to hear back on estimate and options.

Is this common? Any recommendations/ options?

mhoran89

this is definitely not common at all. this might be the first exhaust valve or cylinder head issue I have heard on a Q7 with the 3.0T in almost 5 years of ownership and I have been on these forums for a while. keep us posted and best of luck!

warrior84

Dealer came back with $15K estimate for new cylinder head. I obviously am not happy that a luxury car would blow a valve/cylinder at 80K that was properly maintained, and concerned about further issues even if this was fixed.. Also, told them its very strange this happened less than a month after they replaced the plugs. They are going to discuss with Audi HQ to see what other options are available.

thamlyn

That sucks! I can relate as I'm working through a similar issue. I'm awaiting a response from Audi of America. I'll post an update to my thread when I hear back.

Good luck!
-Tom

warrior84

If you don't mind letting me know what AoA says I will do the same.

thamlyn

I'm still working through the issue. AoA got back to me a said that anything beyond the warranty is at the discretion of the dealership. I then stopped in a spoke with the service manager. He's worked with my service advisor to build a case and they have a meeting with AoA to discuss the help. I expect to hear back this week.

How's your case?

warrior84

They offered to repair the cylinder head for 4500, original estimate was 15k. Also offered me a trade in of 17500 as is. Dealer didn't have any cars I wanted so I told them to move forward with the repairs.

kelisko

About the same thing happened to me. Same engine and there are many many others reporting this.
Engine: 3.0 TFSI CREC
When new spec: 160 - 200 psi
Wear limit spec: 145 psi
My cylinders, 1-6 (psi): 105, 110, 115, 115, 110, 0
Details here: Beware of oil consumption
This is what I decided to do: Selling my Audis for cheap and leaving the brand
I am adding this thread to the list of threads discussing this issue in my main thread.

warrior84

I read your thread. My Q7 was drinking oil for a little over a year prior to this, 1 qt every 500-1K miles. I reported this to Audi but they acted like it was normal. Maybe this is why they are going all electric as it seems they can't manufacture a gas engine.

kelisko

It's what I think too. This explains why they are one of the first legacy auto manufacturers to announce that they are going fully electric. They know they are incapable of building any reliable engine. The newer engines in the latest generations of cars must be even worse than ours. I suspect one of the reasons they renamed these engines is to make people think those are different whereas it is the same crap in an even worse way. 40 TFSI, 45 TFSI, 55 TFSI, 60 TFSI... The 3.0T is now the 55 TFSI. From what I found, it has the same underpinnings as the previous 3.0 TFSI CREC engine just that this one has a turbocharger instead of a supercharger. These new engines will probably start failing soon as well.

This is such an embarrassment! They could have ditched the turbos and make more reliable naturally aspirated engines that would be less powerful but had a big chip on their shoulder and decided to roll out these crappy engines that are powerful but would die fast and render the whole car unusable. So much for sustainability...