'01
Audi TT 225HP
6 Spd.
~64,000 Miles


Just got this car not too long ago and love it. I have had a few issues and am hoping to hear your experience.

1) Doing your own oil change sucks. The filter is in the oddest place and is not easy to remove. How do you get your filter off? Do you take it out from above or below?
I am using Mobile 1 synthetic and plan to change every 6000 miles. Do you think I could run it longer than 6000 on synthetic?

2) My temperature gauge bounces between dead cold and mid way intermittently. Now I have also seen the oil pressure warning come on quite regularly. I think they are related. My oil level is fine. I think this is an electrical issue and was wondering if you have advice how to check it or confirm? Is this common?

3) My gas gauge takes about 6 hours to come all the way to full after I fill up. Is this common?

4) How much would you expect to pay for a timing belt change and at what mileage should this be done?

Thanks

C
Seattle

 

TT's have been known to have bad instrument clusters. If no check engine lights are coming on then I would guess the instrument panel.

 

and timing belt, if you do it yourself, will cost you about $250, for a garage, maybe 3 times that. Do it by 60K, or you're playing russian roulette with your engine, even though Audi says 105K miles.

 

So I just discovered that earlier in the year Audi UK has recalled their TT's for bad instrument clusters. Has anyone heard of Audi USA doing the same???

http://tinyurl.com/kf2rb

I suggest we get after Audi USA to make the same consideration for US buyers. We paid for the design and engineering costs the first time we purchased the car and expecting to fork over $1000+ to change out a faulty instrument cluster would be unjust.

Looks like someone is taking up the cause in CA: http://www.classcounsel.com/news/audi.html

 

you're not the first to raise a complaint. good luck with it, but people have been complaining for a few years now, and it doesn't seem like Audi plans on doing anything about it.

Oh, and on the oil change topic, I pull the plastic covers off the engine, drain and unscrew the filter from below, prop it on some coolant hoses, and then retrieve it from the top, so you can keep it upright, and not dump oil everywhere. Also helps to wedge rags around the underside of the filter when you unscrew it to catch extra oil. I guess I'd also have to consider I'm using a pit to change my oil, so i can see, and move around alot easier than most.