A4 2.0 TFSI SE220 BHP VANOS UNIT

[SNAKESASS]

Hi Folks ,
This is my first post so bear with me. I purchased my audi 12 months ago from a private dealership in Preston after months of searching. Found the love of my life and have loved driving my A4 eversince. About 3 months ago the engine started to make a gentle knocking noise on tick over once the car reached temperature. Did not appear to be any performance issues , had a full 60000 mile service and no faults registered. The noise started to get worse , took it to my usual garage and they discovered the fault.
At the back of the engine there is a VVT chain and tensioner , this was worn and replaced , however the noise continued. one of the tech guys ( ex vag mechanic ) said that he suspected the Vanos unit. This was replaced with new, along with an oil change and a bill for £930 ( ouch ). The difference in performance was significant and the engine purrrrs like a kitten thank god. I've read a lot of posts on a number of forums but have yet to find anyone with the same issue. Very surprised that a low milage A4 with full VAG history should suffer a fault like this. Any feed back would be very much appreciated.

 

[scotty76]

I've never seen this mentioned in my nearly two years here (I had to Google VANOS to see what it was!) but thank you for posting it. It's good to have as much information as possible about the kinds of issues that crop up. That's the real power of a good forum.

 

[Molnboman]

Is this the cam chain balancer at the back of the engine....which is a complete mind f&ck to get at? It's an engine out / up job if I am not mistaken. Hence the hefty bill and the reason why 2.0t engines can rattle quite a bit...more than usual hehe. There's also a bearing at the rear end which I am led to believe can go at anytime......Happy Days indeed!

Cheers
A

 

[SNAKESASS]

Hi Gents ,
Thanks for responding and yes this is the total mind f@ck to get at. I didn't witness the whole surgical procedure but engine mounts were slackend to get to it. The chain on the cam balancer was slack and was rattleing against the inside of the cover , the chain and tensioner were both replaced and it did improve but the knocking noise remained. The Vanos unit has a piston inside , the piston ring had broken and this was causing the knoking noise. The vanos unit came direct from Audi Germany as they were not stocked in the UK (£480.00 ) and took 3 days from order to delivery. The garage I use is RC MOTORS of Wrexham. Brilliant bunch of guys , totally trustworthy and labour costs a 3rd of Audi ( which is not difficult ).


Thanks. Karl

 

[Steve220]

You've got a BMW trademarked system on your audi?

 

[SNAKESASS]

You've got a BMW trademarked system on your audi?

I believe it's a very similar set up , but in all of my search I have never come accross it before, I even searched some BMW forums as well as VW.

 

[hades-]

Is this the cam chain balancer at the back of the engine....which is a complete mind f&ck to get at? It's an engine out / up job if I am not mistaken. Hence the hefty bill and the reason why 2.0t engines can rattle quite a bit...more than usual hehe. There's also a bearing at the rear end which I am led to believe can go at anytime......Happy Days indeed!

Cheers
A

you can get to it without lifting or droping the engine
audi do lift the enging thats why they charge so much labour
but it can be done.