rh0514

Hi guys! Please help me out here... All i have to offer in return is I can run a carfax report if anyone needs (i have 2 left)


Although I am new to the forum, I am not new to Audis. Currently I have an 2002 A4 1.8T, 5speed that I bought as a commuter but prior to that I owned a beautiful B5 S4 6 speed. I loved my old S4, and I absolutely regret getting rid of it for a BMW 540. Id like to pick up another S4, 6 speed with 75k or less for $20K and my search has begun!



Right now I am looking at a 2004 S4, 6 speed with around 65K for $17k but it may have a few issues. I checked it out today and it is beautiful looking with black 19"s and very clean inside and out. The clutch, serpentine belt and head gasket were replaced within the last 10k miles and he has most maintnance records. But there are a few issues Ive noticed.


1. Oil leak- She is leaking some oil. A quick look underneath the car was all i needed to notice some oil present on the plastic shround under the engine. I looked at the guys assigned parking spot and there were a few small stains, no large puddles. This is not necessarily a huge deal breaker, every one of my audis has leaked unfortunately.

2. Shifting- A few shifts from 1st to 2nd were tough at lower RPMs. The seller tells me that the RPMS need to be higher for the "gears to mesh". OK well another time around 3500 it didnt exactly go into 2nd smoothly. I assume this is the syrchros or the shift collars? This is unlikely to be clutch related if there is only 10K on the clutch.

3. Head gasket- The head gasket was replaced around 55k I believe. I was somewhat surprised by this because in my limited experience I have only blown head gaskets on cars with much higher mileage. Is this a sign of abuse or the norm?

I plan on having the car inspected by a shop I trust Monday or tuesday and then negeotiating the price from there. Perhaps the car can be had for 15k.....


Thanks!

David

1. No specifics. A few drips is all? Oil cooler? Maybe... Front or rear main seals, not usual.
2. Any noises? Like gears not liking each other when shifting? All the time or goes away when tranny warm? Any creeping forward when shifting from neutral while still? Waiting for "gears to mesh" usually means worn our syncros. Need more info.
3. Oil in the coolant? Coolant in the oil? No? Unusual unless run dry of coolant. Then not likely head gaskets. Look at the cam covers, common leak. No bid deal. Head gaskets, big deal.
Best of luck! Love my S4, 80K+ and I don't drive easy...

rh0514

No real specifics on the oil leak, the mechanical inspection will hopefully shed some light.I did notice some weeping around the valve covers but there could be more.

I didnt notice any noises from the tranny and I was upshifting and downshifting constanlty. I just ran into a few times it literally didnt want to go into 2nd gear. Certainly sounds like the synchros especially since the 1st to 2nd transition sees a ton of abuse under heavy power.

There are no issues with the headgasket, it was replaced 10k miles ago which i found odd. I was wondering if this is common for v8 S4s or maybe a sign of abuse.I checked both the coolant and the oil seems to be no problems with the HG now.

If i am looking at 2nd gear synchros, valve cover gaskets and cam gaskets what would that run me maybe $1500 or so? My question is where do you think I should draw the line between buying this car and looking elsewhere.

rh0514

bump... anybody?

David

a few oil weeps are no bid deal, even around the oil filter console. Mine does. Even the cam covers may, only a problem when you smell oil burning because it runs down on the manifolds.
Sounds like your biggest risk here is the tranny. You are right about the 1-2 shift, especially if the previous owner commuted in the city. Gear oil change may help, some symptoms can be cured with a flush and proper synthetics. Good luck!