RENN 951

For about the last 10 days, I've noticed that after starting the car when cold and just giving a slight amount of gas in 1st or 2nd, I had a metallic rattling sound coming from under the front of the car. When I gave more gas, or after the car warmed up I didn't hear anything. Figured it was a loose heat shield or pipe hanger.

Took the car in today to replace a coolant temp sensor, which apparently was causing my "check engine" light to stay on (the part had been on order 3 weeks and just came in.) I said, "by the way, could you check out this rattle coming from under the car?" Find out this afternoon that when they removed an engine cover a piece of metal falls out that's part of a support bracket for the exhaust manifold. It's not causing an immediate problem other than the noise, but they said it will very likely get worse and cause more trouble.

Funny thing is, they have another S4 up on the lift that had the SAME problem. Seems they tried welding the bracket back in place once, but it broke again so they're replacing the manifold. Bad news is you've got to drop the engine to do this, and they estimate up to two weeks before they'll have mine done. At least the part is available...

I hate to think what this would cost if it wasn't under warranty - probably around $5K. It worries me that this may be a design issue, what with the other S4 in at the same time. My car has just under 16K miles, and will be a year old this Friday. I asked them to check with Audi and see whether the turbo's need to be replaced with the new part number as long as the engine is out already.

Needless to say, this is a total downer to deal with, but thankfully I've got a good dealer and they've got a master mechanic who's been with them 30 years doing the major work. The loaner car isn't terrific, a Mitsubishi Mirage from Thrifty Rental, but it's transportation for to and from work. I'll be driving my wife's A6 Avant every chance I can get in the mean time. Until this happened my S4 has been pretty much trouble-free, and I never expected any major issue like this, but this is something everyone may want to be aware of.

Another Drew

Sorry to hear. Is your S4 at Heishman's?

frame

I hear lots of these stories, it's what scares me from buying an S4 for the long haul

Audi Dudey

The dastardly sword of MODERATION might fall upon you!

P.S. Hope you get it fixed quickly.

RENN 951

It's really fascinating seeing what it looks like with everything removed, kind of like watching open-heart surgery. But it gives you pause when you realize it's YOUR heart that's being operated on next!

RENN 951

Just out of curiosity I checked my RB Repair Manual CD to see the procedure for removing the exhaust manifold:
1. Remove engine
2. Remove turbo
3. Remove manifold

And like I said, maybe they'll decide to install the new turbo's as long as everything is apart. I'm sure AoA won't want to ever have to pay to drop the engine twice! I don't expect any issues from them at all, the car is virtually bone stock.

LCP

...wonder if this is an after-effect of a redesigned part that solves the cracking?

Yellow S4 in N. VA.-TRB

I understand the "expert" that was working on it had to take the week off for personal reasons. That has delayed everything, now they are saying next week! Hope they got you a better rental car than the Mitsu tin can they gave me.

I also asked them to check into the turbo updates as long as the engine was out, but they have not received word back from AoA yet.

Good Luck!

Yellow S4 in N. VA.-TRB

I feel your pain!

O0 Ia

I only hear it in the parking garage at work, maybe I'll drop it off Heishman's and have them take a look at it.