need help big time, 2 days ago was driving my car the red oil warning light came on i was stuck in traffic and couldnt stop right away, i would say i drove it maybe a few miles. then i hear this noise coming from the engine bay and pulled over in the middle of the highway. but anyway i had just checked the oil level about 20 minutes prior to this happening. now whenever i turn my car on i get this HORRIBLE AND I MEAN HORRIBLE knocking noise coming from the top of the head, the knocking is concentrated more towards the back of the engine. i will try and post a video. my car is a A4 B6 2003, 1.8T with 63000 miles and change. can you guys tell me what can be wrong and if its fixable or is my engine toast. i brought over a local mechanic and he says i might need to rebuild or replace the whole head. ive also been reading around and ive heard mention of camshaft tension chain or something like that. please any input thanks in advance. btw i had the car towed and didnt drive it home like that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwExglnSB4E

 

Do a search for oil sludge. Your engine is indeed toast, but there's a TSB that talks about it and Auid will reimburse the price of the rebuilt as long as you have service records of your oil changes.

 

Thats the cam tensioner your hearing, audi will need to fix it for you. The only way to tell if the engine is damaged is to take off the valve cover and pull a few cam caps and check the bearings for wear. If the wear is too great, audi will replace the engine under the TSB as long as you can provide proof of oil changes.

 

Does it smell like butter or jam?

 

I had the same exact thing happen. I was driving, and my oil pressure light came on(I was mistaking it for an oil level light 'i was very new to audis'). I have a 2002 B6 1.8t, and it had about 54k miles on it when it happened.

Within about 3 or 4 miles, I blew my turbo.
Drove it for way to many miles.
That is the same exact noise my car was making when I was finally able to get some where. Found out the dealership I bought it from overloaded the motor with oil, about 5 quarts to much. When some one pulled it apart the entire top half of the motor was fried because of lack of oil. Not to mention the turbo.

It ended up being cheaper to replace the motor, and getting a new turbo then fixing every thing.

Btw I got royally f***ed on the whole deal. I hope your situation turns out better than mine did.

Your motor is most likely done.

 

^^^^Nah, i would say about 35% of the cars that come into the dealer actually end up needing a motor, but thats still a high amount.

 

Yea, which is why I thought the stupid light was a oil level

The two other cars I got they needed oil. I figured why wouldn't this one be any different....But noooo it had to have sludge and cause hell