Hello everyone!

New owner here and I have some issues and questions. First, I purchased a 2002 A6 3.0 Quattro with 72K miles back in November 2009. I haven't driven it much for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is because of a possible engine issue that happened shortly after I purchased the car. I love the A6 and hope the problem isn't as dire as I'm lead to believe.

I had the car inspected at two different places. The first place (prior to the engine problem) found only that the control arms need to be replaced. Everything else looked good. The second place completed a 130+ point inspection and confirmed the control arm problem as well as found a few miscellaneous small problems (none that are worth mentioning). No codes, drivetrain looks great, etc. Before I took the car to the second shop, I noticed that a loud ticking noise had started in the engine. I asked the second shop to take a look and they couldn't find an external problem. I asked them to open up the engine to see if there was anything obvious and they discovered the likely problem.

To quote, "Remove valve covers and inspect the valvetrain for wear, found excessive wear on passenger side cylinder head, cylinder #2 exhaust lifter has top broken off and the lifter bore is damaged, exhaust camshaft has excessive wear on the lobe at cylinder #2, all camshafts have more wear than normal."

Having said that, the car runs great. No problems what-so-ever. The engine sounds and runs just fine. The only thing you notice is a ticking noise coming from the #2 cylinder area when the engine is running. Other than that, it's all good. Given the extent of damage (in their opinion) the shop recommends replacing the engine rather than trying to fix it (or getting rid of the car). However, a used engine would run $6000 while a new one would set me back over $10000 (well more than I paid for the car). The shop that performed the check is a very reputable local shop that specializes in European cars. I have no reason to doubt what they found or recommend, but still wonder if there's another solution.

I have very little experience working with cars, but have read and studied a ton and don't mind doing some/all of the work myself. I also have some friends who are very skilled with engine work. Does anyone think I could simply replace the problem parts (not counting the head) and be okay? I'd really like to keep the Audi, but can't drop $6000 into the car right now. In case it matters, I will only be driving the car about 35 highway miles 2-3 times a week.

Also, I've read several threads about people replacing their own timing belts. Other than being tedious, exacting and labor intensive, is it particularly difficult or dangerous to replace your own timing belt?

Thanks so much for any feedback/help/suggestions!

 

It sounds like the shop you went to want's things to be perfect.
But we are in an imperfect world.

Why not replace the passenger side head and cam instead of the whole motor?

Given your driving -- I'd find a mechanic that would do enough to ensure the vehicle did not continue to damage itself.

OH almost forgot -- it would be interesting to determine why there is so much wear at 75K miles. Makes me think the oil was not changed or they ran it low or out of oil at some point.

 

My first worry would be "cylinder #2 exhaust lifter has top broken off " - where is the broken part?

Plugged oil gallery definitelly could cause an oil starvation.

Do you have any related photos?

 

Thanks guys. The shop speculated that the car had run low on oil for an extended period of time and that's what caused the damage. They also noted that there were metal shavings in the oil (hence the "dire" nature of the problem). They did not mention anything about the broken-off part (and I failed to ask). I do not have any pictures...I wish I had thought to ask them for pictures when it was opened-up.

Someone suggested having a pressure test done on the engine to determine the state of the cylinders. While it won't answer everything, the thought was that if the pressure test came back good, the bottom-end was probably okay and it may be worth fixing/replacing the top-end.

 

I drove the car for the first time in at least two months. Dang I love that car. I drove it to a used car dealer to see what I'd get. Offer was $4000 *with* the problems. Hmmm. I also noticed that the second shop had continued their recommendation onto a second sheet, so the quote in my first quote was not complete. They recommend a minimum of replacing the passenger side head and the drivers side valvetrain.

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position where I can pay a shop to do the work. Like I mentioned, I have knowledgeable friends and am thinking about a head swap myself. Surprisingly, there's *very* little information or write-ups about that on any of the forums. Other than the service manual, does anyone have any good information/write-ups about changing the heads?

 

I have a 2007 A6 Certified Pre Owned with 91K. I have complained to the dealer for several years about excessive oil consumption. I am now adding a quart about every 12-1800 miles. They finally with urging from Audi America dug into the engine and are going to replace the engine with a new engine. That's fine with me. I was just wondering if a new engine would put a strain on other components such as transmission etc. Love the car, just wondering if I'm looking at more costly problems down the road.
Steve

 

I am going to give you my opinion only, FWIW. First, from your description the car is in good shape and otherwise drives well, with low miles. Secondly, a $4k trade sounds like a loss, possibly of a couple $000. Based on my experience years ago rebuilding a TR6 and a 48 Chevrolet, pulling off the heads and rebuilding the valve train and replacing the camshafts, may not be horribly expensive. Plus, while you have it apart, you can do the full TB service. Caveat: I no longer do my own engine work and have a reliable indie mechanic.

Before I purchased my daughter's 2003 A4 3.0 I spoke to my mechanic and he showed me the camshaft from a 3.0 that he had just replaced due to excessive wear. (It sounds like the 3.0 is sensitive to low oil.) I think he said it was about $1000 in parts and labor. Don't hold me to that number -- it was four years ago. BTW, the daughter's A4 has 100+K and when we did the full TB at 85k, it was about $1100. Mentioned because I have had two TBs on my A6 and they run about $950. Although I live in constant fear of losing a turbo, I have 209k on the A6 and it does not burn any oil between changes (~8k intervals).

So, if I were you, I would get a couple quotes for replacing the camshafts and rebuilding the valves, and a TB at the same time.