S-CARSGO

I'm looking for some input from other 4.0T owners regarding what seems to be an extremely short spark plug lifespan... or potential dealer service fraud.

The car in question is a 2013 Audi S6 that was purchased by my father in May of 2017 from a private owner in Chandler, AZ. The car had a full dealer service history from a "highly rated" dealer in his town. Prior to my father purchasing the car, the previous owner had the 55k mile service completed at 45k miles. This included spark plug replacement, optional BG fuel system intake cleaning service and the dealership also wound up replacing the air/oil separator system under warranty.

Fast forward to October 22nd of this year and the car now has 58k miles. It has performed flawlessly since purchase needing only a battery replacement and oil changes. While returning home from a vacation the car developed a random misfire . VAG COM pointed to cylinder 3.

Luckily the misfire happened in Appleton, WI and there was an Audi dealer nearby. My parents got a hotel for the night (it was Sunday) and limped to the dealer the first thing on Monday morning. Since the plugs had only 13k on them I was thinking perhaps a weak ignition coil but the dealer found the plugs to be quite nasty looking. They had a hard time believing these plugs had only 13k on them. They inspected further and found no sign of leaking injectors. The plugs and air filter were replaced ($850) and the car runs perfectly once again.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this sort of issue. I've been a service manager of a German shop and have never come across plugs this nasty with such low miles in an otherwise perfectly running car. It does make me wonder if they were ever truly replaced or if the tech was less than honest. I've seen several Porsche 964s for example that had 11 out of 12 plugs replaced because the tech didn't want to move the PS pump to get to the last plug on the passenger side. Unfortunately corners get cut sometimes...


13k mile spark plugs?

gk1

Can you post a picture of the VW/Audi part number?
I am certain they changed/revised the part number and now the S6 gets RS7 plugs. So if the plugs were indeed replaced in 2017 they should have the new part number.
BTW the spark plug change interval on the 4.0T is 35k, then every 40k or every 6 years whichever occurs first.
New part = 06K-905-601-M
old part = 079-905-626-M or -G

I have a feeling your are right and they simply did not change the plugs previously.

S-CARSGO

Thanks. I did not know about the change in plugs being used.

When they were supposedly replaced in Arizona, the plugs were 079 905 626 M
The plugs just installed are 06K 905 601 M

turbonator

So it appears the dealer said they changed the plugs but didn't? Very bad - you should file a complaint with the dealer and corporate.

I'll have to ask for the old plugs back when I get mine changed. Even then they could just find some old plugs lying around but then they'd have to make sure they have 8 that matched with the same part #s.

S-CARSGO

We contacted Audi Customer Care about this issue as it seemed highly unlikely that the spark plugs had actually been changed during the last service at the Arizona dealer. If they had, then we have a pattern showing the car needs spark plug replacements every 10k miles or so. (A nearly $800 service at the dealer for an out-of-warranty car)

The car runs just fine otherwise and doesn't appear to have excessive oil use etc. Plug replacements were as follows...

35k miles / Chandler Audi: Spark plugs replaced due to misfire on cylinder 3 and other cyls. BG fuel system de-carbon service performed. (55k service menu)

47k miles / Chandler Audi: Spark plugs replaced again (supposedly?) and BG fuel system de-carbon service performed again. Air / oil separator system replaced due to leak.

58k miles / Bergstrom Audi: Spark plugs replaced yet again due to misfire on cylinder 3 and other cyls. Plugs looked like they might have been from the 35k mile service however.

At any rate, we contacted Audi seeking a refund of the last spark plug replacement cost OR a service credit at one of the Minneapolis based Audi dealers as we'd now like to have the car looked over as God only knows what the AZ dealer did or did not do.

The response from Audi was a bit interesting. They literally asked for a list of all of the prior Audis that our family had owned in order to establish our loyalty and enthusiasm for the brand. (Discarding the fact that I was also the original webmaster for Audi Quattro Club USA and a half dozen other Audi related sites) LOL
After coming up with a list of the nine Audis we've owned going back to 1991 we submitted it to Audi and awaited our judgement. Apparently they've taken Enzo Ferrari's rule book and decided to run with it. ;-)

As you might imagine, we were more or less told to pound sand. Yet another disappointment in what it becoming a long line of swings and misses from Audi of America. My loyalty is seriously waning and that says a lot considering what a fierce advocate I've been for the brand since the early 90's.

gk1

What is most strange is even if they did not replace them at 47k they should not be fouled by 58k.
Do you have a different angle picture of the worst one? Is it wet?
If it is dry soot then possibly the revised (hotter) plugs may help. However if it is wet then there are bigger problems, but they should have been able to diagnose that.
At this point you are right though, for your vehicle you will have to pull the plugs at 68k and check them out if you don't get misfires before then.

Agreed it does suck dealing with Audi CS where they question and want proof of everything. (Don't they keep all the sales and service records?)

S-CARSGO

I thought it was odd we needed to provide scans of all the service records to them as well. Apparently the "Advancement Through Technology" slogan didn't carry over to their service departments as AoA CS wasn't able to see them. They said they had to call the dealers to verify records etc. It's like the 80s in here... now, where did I park my UrQuattro.

gk1

Yep, exact same here, they wanted me to call the dealer and get the records over to them but in the end they called the dealer and got the service records. Worst part is it was just to prove loyalty of service. I had already explained the car had regular service at the dealer and in-between 5k oil changes by yours truly and since the work in question for myself was a 3.0T upper chain tensioners any competent mechanic could verify regular oil changes were done by the cleanliness of the motor. PLUS they already knew about the TSB regarding defect tensioners which should be replaced by revised parts. Uhhgg Frustration. They should issue an Audi Amex card with "member since..."

woodepic

What was the final resolution on this? Did the misfire / fouled spark plugs come back?

I'm having a similar issue on my S7 (same motor) where all 8 plugs are fouling extremely quickly. Assuming they did actually replace your plugs, we might have the same issue.

Thanks!

The Yeoman

Audi of America has zero control over dealer service, and there is no proof that they didn't change the plugs.. I don't think the response would be different from any other manufacturer