A few quick 1.8T questions - hopefully no duplicate things posted

[rick_j]

Hey guys,

I picked up my new A4 a week ago and am really pleased with it. I used to have a Peugeot 406 coupe V6 and got used to doing some repairs to it - the Audi does scare me a bit as its put together in a better way than I'm used to.

My car is a 53 reg and is the 190 Sport:

I've been looking through all the documentation and it has a full Audi service history and has done only 69k miles. I'm quite keen for it not to fail on me so have been looking at a few things:

1) changing the cambelt - should I wait until 75k miles or change it now (I see no record in the service history - probably due to the 115k mile interval)?

2) does the clutch have a high bite and judder a bit? - it seems to bite quite close to the top of the travel but my coupe did and that clutch was fine

3) I went to change the spark plugs today - I got the NGK PFR6Q platinum ones as recommended by NGK (I enquired about the twin core copper NGKs but was told they aren't really worth the extra price for a stock engine). However, when I took the coil packs off the 2 front plugs I discovered the well to be about and inch full of oil - I can only guess that previous people have been sloppy with filling the car with oil as I wouldn't have thought oil would escape from the cylinder. I did read something about the coil pack recall - what did this entail?Has anyone else had oil in the spark plug wells?

4) I have the covers over the master brake cylinder and battery - are the grommets necessary to be changed as well? Is the additional cover over the ABS lines part of the recall as well?

5) A quick search revealed the sump pan difficult to remove - is this correct? I want to make sure there isn't a build up of sludge as I did think my engine was a bit 'tappety' when cold the other morning. If its a bit awkward, will a few cans of the Wynn's engine flush do the job (I bought a few to do the sump on the last car, along with some gasket sealant)?

6) Finally, will Audi let me have all previous work/invoices done at Audi garages? I also have an invoice where the parts prices listed match the final parts price, the labour cost looks reasonable but then there is an extra 'Sublet' price of over £400 that I cant see what this is for - anyone know?

I did some searching and couldn't find the answers so decided to post the questions - I'm sorry if some things are fairly easy to find.

Many thanks, Rick

 

[beachbuggy]

Ok

1) change it now.. Don't bother waiting as if it snaps you'll have a huge bill. Peace of mind is worth everything. 60k is the max you should really, safely let it go to.
2) my a4 does seem higher than our s3 but a judder may indicate its worn, it's never going to blow the engine so see how it goes.
3) oil in well is from a shaky hand when filling... Don't worry...
4) it's a cover , cosmetic really...
5) it is difficult to remove compared with a transverse a3/s3 but easily enough done.. Like the Cambelt, get it done, pickup costs £12 from Audi.. New engine £000's it again is peace of mind. 2 things I would always change on a srcond hamnd Audi is Cambelt and and oil pickup,
6) yes, I've bought an Audi before and phoned Audi and got a full set of invoices and receipts emailed to me... You need to eak to head office though.

 

[rick_j]

hey, thanks for the comprehensive reply :thumbsup:

i lived in fear with the last car regarding the cambelt - a v6 with 24v mounted transverse was a pain in the **** to do - dealers used to say £600 labour to do so I never did it. This car is worth a fair bit more so dont want to risk it - I wasn't sure whether to believe Audi or all other manufacturers

Regarding the oil, I do find it quite bad of Audi to say a turbo-charged car should only have the oil changed every 2 years - I would have thought 1 year or 10k at the max. Reading the service handbook im also surprised it says to wait 2 years from new to change it - I would have thought it a good idea to change the oil pretty quickly after the bedding in.

Do you reckon a garage/mechanic would do the clutch + belt for a reduction seeing as they take half of the engine ancillaries apart to do each job?

Thanks

 

[Pabs]

The 190's are engine code BEX the oil in these should be changed every 6mths or 5000 miles, The audi longlife servicing is what has caused all of the sludge problems which affect these engines really badly, i do mine every 6mths and only buy Genuine Audi Oil Filters, the ones on BEX Engines are massive.

The clutch biting point is high on these cars, not sure about judder, mines same engine but S-Line spec and the car is on 105K now with a stage 2 map and the clutch is just starting to slip, my mates is on 150K stage 1 map and his is still original but on its way out. So yours should be fine if its only on 69K unless its had a hard life

Not sure about a deal but worth asking, Cambelt is £349 at audi if your getting that done get the water pump done at the same time and get all the tensioners and pulleys done it will save you money in the long run if you are keeping the car, Clutch is £649 for fwd and approx 6 - 10hr job to change from what i have read

 

[CMD]

As stated by Pads. The 1.8T's oil should be changed every 6 months regardless of mileage. The cambelt again changed every 5 years regardless of mileage. Audi Longlife service is a No go for the 1.8T's. The Clutch and cambelt should be done by a VAG specialist as both are big job's..

 

[Tooks]

Just to add to what has been posted.

The cambelt service interval was changed retrospectively on 1.8T's from 115k to 75k or 5 years.

Oil in the plug wells is likely to be the cam cover gasket, cheap enough fix.

I would warn against the oil flush product, it was using that on mine that dislodged loads of muck from inside the engine and blocked the pickup strainer. I got 3 warning beeps and a red oil can on the DIS within a mile of driving off after the service. Fortunately, I stopped the car immediately and the pump/strainer was replaced and no damage done. I now change my oil every 6k. I purchased my car when it had done 75k, and it had been on long life servicing...

Look after it, and it'll look after you! Mine had a few niggly little issues around the 100k mark, but fingers crossed its fine now and I've just gone past 140k.

 

[Yanzman]

i think cambelt got to be done by miles,genuine cambelt is made to do 80k u can do more but thats your own risk.

 

[rick_j]

Thanks for the good responses guys, I'm off to York Audi to ask about getting the cambelt done. I think I'll leave the clutch for now, hopefully it will survive quite a while after reading what pabs said. Its only had 2.5 owners from new (1st owner had it for 5 months so was probably a garage car) so would hope its not been abused too badly. I'll do the oil soon, the people I bought it off said that they did it earlier in the month and said they used the full £60 proper oil - i'm guessing they meant the longlife oil which will come out in the summer at the latest. I'll have to keep an eye on the rocker cover gasket, I've found the guide to fixing it and it looks within my modest mechanic skills.

Thanks again

 

[rick_j]

I must say I'm quite impressed with JCT600/York Audi - very helpful friendly staff. I spent about 10 mins talking to the service guy, got more informaiton than I thought.

He looked up the Audi details on the computer but apparently had limited info due to a recent change in the service record storage. He was willing to print out my service history certificate which matches the records in the service schedule book / mileage / mots. He also printed out my vehicle history which details repairs or services along with claims under warranty for discolouration of the drink holder and stowage box - he reckoned someone had used a plugin air freshener and affected all the fittings in that area. There was also some work on the activated charcoal thing and one other thing which was small but couldnt be printed out. I also have 4 pages of all the vehicle data listing the option codes - I had some of this from my own research but at least I have side air-bags confirmed and a few other things.

He did reckon that £399 for a new cam belt was more realistic but this could just be a downside of living in York. I'm tempted to take in in a few months for this and they can check the coil pack recall which was also listed on their system.

Really impressed with Audi in general so far

 

[Pabs]

You can normally get a good relationship going with your local Audi especially if you have a bit of work done there, servicing is a bit expensive for what they do but for the big jobs they come in handy. Anything else just ask on here there is normally someone who has had the same problem or knows how to fix it.

 

[GrayT]

I have the exact same model as yours (now with a remap). I would agree that the clutch does sit high compared with most other cars I've driven - is it possible you are getting judder because you are not used to the height of the clutch? Give it a while and your technique will adjust, but if there really is judder then of course it is likely to deteriorate. Mine still feels very strong at 80k.

The only other thing I would check is what I think you were referring to in question 4)? As far as I'm aware there is no issue with the covers but I would check the plenum chamber for water. Even if there is no water currently underneath the battery or the servo I would pop out the grommets (as per the sticky thread in this section). So many people ignore the advice until it affects them and they get blocked drain holes and they end up with 20 litres of water sloshing around the battery, the servo and the ECU. The battery is a bit of a pig to remove - in that sense Audi are not toofriendly for DIY tasks you would normally take for granted, but keep at it and just get shot of the grommets - don't bother to modify or replace them.

 

[rick_j]

I changed to the A4 from a 406 coupe 3.0 V6 - this engine is rather underwhelming for a 3.0 but I read one site that said it offered 84% torque for idle. The V part also made me really lasy - pulling off in 3rd faster than most cars do wasn't too much of a struggle. The more I drive it the more I think it is me not being a brilliant driver. The clutch shows no signs of slipping, basing it on the speed it accelerates in 1st and 2nd gears. I may do the handbrake test but I think I need to learn the car more.

As far as the battery/brake cylinder covers go, I had read and understood that the covers were part of an Audi recall on earlier models and that they solved the issue? Think I'll spend a few mins having a look soon and also do the glovebox fix, thinking about it I have to pull the box down so am stressing the hinges...

I'm not too afraid of a bit of DIY - I have managed to change all the bulbs to higher rated H7s without removing the headlights (I missed the 4th hidden bolt when trying to remove the headlight). On my previous car I decided to upgrade the car hifi and managed to route a 0 AWG wire from the split charge relay in the engine bay and put a separate battery in the boot - it wasnt done well but I learnt that things dont scare me too much if I have pictures and a guide - glad to be on such a helpful forum

On a separate note, I can't change the car too much - the compromise I had to make with the misses for not getting one more sensible is that it is ours and she shares the cost. This means that most mods are out of the question, I am not even allowed a remap

 

[Pabs]

Just dont tell her its had a remap , driving normally you can't tell its only when you give it a boot that you get a big grin on your face

 

[GrayT]

I'm not aware of the battery covers being a recall issue. They are really only cosmetic to tidy up the engine bay. Sorry, I thought the grommet issue was a sticky but it isn't. Have a read of this - is this what you are thinking of? Either way I would advise getting it done - this was a recall on some models but a number of people have been affected who did not have a recall:

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a4-a4-...-every-a4-b6-owner-affected-common-fault.html

You will get used to the clutch eventually. Coming from a V5 I wasn't used to working the revs so much through the gears. It's shame about not being able to get a remap as it totally transforms the car and would probably resolve the issues you have driving it at the moment. Maybe you could sell it to your wife as making the car more driveable (therefore saving slaughtering the clutch) and arguably more economical. There is so much more torque available lower down the rev range - that's where the difference really lies and it really has made it the car it was meant to be.