nkakatsis

Guys,

Firstly I want to apologize in advance if this post seems rather lentghy in my effort to describe the issue and ask for guidance.

I bought 6 months ago an RS4 Avant, with 78k km. The car works just fine. I took it at 83000km for its service to an authorized garage. After picking it up I must admit the car had become more rev. I always thought this was due to the intake valve clean up I have asked to perform. All of a sudden i noticed an increase in fuel consumption (+15%!) while also the car was operating at high oil temp of 105-110 Celcius vs. 95-105 right before. Other than that the car drove smoothly. I initially thought "bad oil" and I changed oil again at 85000km. The operating temp did improve I must say (depending always on the ambient temps of each commuting day and the driving style). Now even if I really push it on the highways it will not rise above 105 Celcius. So this was solved. The problem is that for the past 3000km, now it has 89000, I started to notice a rather strong whining noise at idle. This noise is rather apparent when a cold start takes place. I originally thought it is due to cold weather and it will go away when the car reaches an appropriate temp. I was disappointed to discover that even after an hour of drivig the noise did not disappear. It disappeared however if i turned the ignition off, left it for 10' and turned it back on. I took it to the garage that had performed the service and the intake clean up, they plugged it in the VAG or some other software, did some stuff (which I do not know what exactly) and said that they see no problem except a fault on the clutch ( a sensor that had to be replaced). They did that for a 20Euro cost and on to my way. Unfortunately the sound did not disappear.

I am rather worried as this sound was never apparent and the idle was smoother before the service. The strange thing is that after the last inspection the consumption returned to what it was before! Now to decribe the sound, You know that after 2500 rpms our engine starts to whistle somehow? This noise is apparent at idle. It sounds as if when we turn the wheel all the way to one direction and the ECU gives more power to assist the steering. Only it is apparent at idle and straight wheel.

I am afraid that the guys who perfomred the service changed the ECU mapping to justify a work they never performed (intake clean up) by somehow altering the mix of fuel and air. And when I took it back they re-programmed it somehow hence the return of the consumption to its normal levels. Could it be that what they may have done has caused some malfunction? Can this be done through VAG COM?

I think it would be helpful to say that neither VAG has any faults recorded, nor the car has the usual cranking time it took to start right before the service. The cranking time is a couple of secs (1-2) now regardless of ambient temperature.

Since I am planning of taking it to another garage, I would be reallly grateful if you could put in your 2 cents as to what that may be.

Thanks for the help and apologies for this lengthy post.

Reggie

I would say you are on the right track to look at a different shop - I am assuming you are in Europe right? Or Canada as we do not have the RS4 avants here in the US.

I would say the sound could be either a bearing on something (alternator, Power steering pump) or the serpentine belt or the power steering reservoir is low on fluid. These are all things that could be checked.

nkakatsis

Hi Reggie,

Thanks for the input.
I am actually in Europe and you are also right on the fact that I am going to check to another shop.

I'll make sure the check the areas you mentioned. Thanks a lot for the feedback.

nkakatsis

Hi Reggie,

Apologies for the double post. What do you mean by serpentine belt? Do you refer to the one right behind the fridge?

Reggie

It is the belt that powers all the accessories