I have an '06 A3 2.0T - bought it as soon as it became available in the US during the summer of 2005... Since then, I've had recurring "oil pan & bolt" issues that have cost at least $2k in repairs so far. I have a Southern California layman's understanding of car science & anatomy so please bear with me.

Question 1: What is this "bolt" everyone refers to? It's supposedly not the drain plug - and the only bolts I can find mention in relation to the oil pan are the ones that attach it to the transmission and the underside of the engine - which is like 13 bolts. Not one bolt to save them all. Yet, mechanics are always telling me this one bolt is stripped and needs to be replaced. Someone please explain to me where this bolt is, what its purpose is, and why the F it keeps failing miserably at its one job.

Question 2: Do Audis, or A3s, have notoriously horrible oil-pan-to-bolt connections? My most recent mechanic explained that the pan is made of aluminum and the bolt made of steel. This, to me (again, general layman), seems inane. I thought you wanted to avoid smushing two different metals together and exposing them to oil and extreme temperatures as much as possible...? Should the bolt be aluminum and little green men (ahem, Jiffy Lube) are coming in and replacing them with steel bolts?

Question 3: Can I buy just the bolts somewhere? Like 10 of them? So that every time I go in for an oil change, I can just request that they (a) remove the existing bolt BY HAND, and then (b) replace it with this nice new one I bought on the interwebs?? Allegedly, 90% of the reason I've had to replace my entire oilpan twice in the past 5 years now is because people overtighten them after they've drained my oil during routine oil changes... is this true? Or b.s.?

Question 4: Am I being bamboozled??

Thanks in advance.

 

You have many questions but they all sound like the same problem - bad mechanic/shop!

I'm assuming the bolt they are referring to is the drain plug. There is no other "bolt" that fits the description of the information you provided. It is certainly possibly to strip the thread of the oil pan at which point you have to replace the entire thing - resulting in a nice bill.

In regards to question number 3 - the bolt should never be re-used anyway. I bought a pack of 10 for 2 bucks per bolt that comes with a crush washer making sure there are no leaks after every oil change. Once I got close to stripping the thread myself at home I decided to throw them all away and go with a Fumoto drain valve. This awesome drain valve screws in where the drain bolt is and doesn't have to be removed for like 80k miles or so. You simply open it up, drain the oil, close it again. No more stripped threads or leaks. Once that thing is in there (if properly installed) it last for 10-20 oil changes (depending on how long the washer will stay leak free). If it ever leaks - replace the washer (50 cents) and go another 20 oil changes.

Another thing if you haven't had to replace it yet will be the plastic oil filter housing. It usually fails within the first 80k miles or 7 years (due to material stress of heat, cold, age). That is only a hundred bucks I think but I decided I didn't want to wait for it to start cracking and leaking and replace it with an aluminum one - it will not crack or leak like the plastic one (only 90 bucks at ECS tuning).

I hope this information helps you. I Would seriously look for a more reliable place to change your oil or do it yourself.