Finny

Hi all,

I brought my 08 RS4 into the dealer for its standard maintenance, and to check an AC issue. It has 64k miles I got the car last March with about 47k miles and had a [needed] carbon cleaning at about 49k. This was done at a local, well respected shop.

While it was in, and I had use of a free loaner, I asked them to price a carbon cleaning. When they checked for faults, a couple popped up that would be caused by carbon build up, and my service rep said Audi would cover the cc. Yay!

I had told the rep the car had aftermarket intake spacers. When the techs got into the engine he found that the intake baffle place was missing. He said this could be cause for carbon build up, and with it missing (and the dealer un able to send parts in to Audi USA), the cleaning would not be covered under warranty.

Thoughts? I haven't been able to talk to the shop that did the cleaning last year to see if they removed the baffle plate, and if they did, was it required to get the spacers in. I also know that this engine is prone to carbon build up, regardless of intake spacers, baffle plates, etc.

And since I was planning on paying for the cc anyway, I can't be too upset--despite getting really excited--that I do have to pay. I'm also not blaming the shop that did the first clean or Audi.

I was just wondering if anyone here knew anything about the role of the baffle plates and anything else that might be relevant.

In the interim, I putting real miles on a TDI Q7, and loving the gas mileage it gets!