Oil light on a3 1.8t 2002, pump strainer blockage?

aaron88v

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Hi im new to audi's just made a change from vauxhalls :)

I always buy broken cars and repair them i love a project,

any advice from you guys would be well appreciated as i've never woked on an audi or vw before

Audi A3 1.8T 2002 bought cheap from a friend

Oil light flashing and the head is rattling, still starts and drives but hasnt been since the oil light has come on.

there are no leaks plenty of oil in the engine

im thinking this is either due to pump failure, or i have hear about the strainer getting blocked?

as for the head. will fixing the oil pressure problem stop this or has the damage been done and what are the heads like to rebuild?

im a total newbie to this engine so please dont slate me im just trying to gauge how much work i am going to need to do to her.

Thanks. Regards Aaron
 
yep your along the right line, also cam chain tensioner is oil driven and often rattles when the pump get blocked. It's often refered to as 1.8t 'sludge' so have a search for that, the oil pick up is cheap, maybe £16, about 3 hours to remove and clean sump, but if it's noisy, looks like you might be into more work than that. Basically the sludge will need cleaning out of engine, breather pipes etc....
Have a look at this http://www.audi-forums.com/b6-forum/44086-i-8-t-oil-pressure-light.html
 
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cheers guys quick reply will be getting my hands dirty mid next week so will update this thread and post pics etc ;)
 
Right... success with the oil pressure, just had to clean/burn all the nasty deposits out of the strainer, and clean out sump hydraulic lifters now silent. all is ok BUT.

Start the car from cold and the engine runs smoothly with no nasty noises. once it has been running for a minute and the revs drop down you can hear a rattling sound. I was thinking that it could be the cam shaft tensioner but the sound seems to be comming from the other end of the head??? can anyone shed some light, will be taking off the cam cover to inspect soon. cheers :)
 
Matt 82 has a several page thread on this, i suggest you search and look. so we can keep all releveny info in one place rather than diluting it across several threads.

Cheers
 
Right... success with the oil pressure, just had to clean/burn all the nasty deposits out of the strainer, and clean out sump hydraulic lifters now silent. all is ok BUT.

Start the car from cold and the engine runs smoothly with no nasty noises. once it has been running for a minute and the revs drop down you can hear a rattling sound. I was thinking that it could be the cam shaft tensioner but the sound seems to be comming from the other end of the head??? can anyone shed some light, will be taking off the cam cover to inspect soon. cheers :)

Cam belt tensioner damper possibly.... I would hope not though. When was the belt changed last?
 
Cam belt tensioner damper possibly.... I would hope not though. When was the belt changed last?

yeah i'd 2nd that, if you did the strainer yourself the cambelt shouldn't be too hard, £80 in parts? my old Leon had a rattle which turned out to be the cambelt tensioner damper, make sure you only use OEM parts not, and definately not a ECS kit!!
 
Yeah im starting to think this must be it since the car runs and drives faultlessly it only does it when the revs drop and the belt is flapping a bit too! will be changing it my self next week. I never let a mechanic touch my cars i always fix them my self, then i know the work has been done properly :)
 
so is the rattle worse under 2000rpm? my leon would only rattle under 2k
 
so is the rattle worse under 2000rpm? my leon would only rattle under 2k

Yeah it only rattles under 2000 rpm, above that and it dissapears?! what was the prob on your leon?

cheers aaron.
 
if your still driving it, i'd stop!!

Mine was the hydraulic cam belt tensioner, which is very rare to fail and not normally changed at a cambelt service. It could be one of the cambelt rollers but, as it's under 2k does seem very similar to mine, either way if it fails your engine is likely to be finished!!

Mine sounded like it could of been a loose heat shield until you popped the bonnet and listened to the cambelt

EDIT just seen you said the cambelt is flaping around, that can not be a good sign!!!
 
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