About to purchase, Advice much needed!

[A-U-D-I IRL]

Hey all,

Long time reader, first time poster. (Forgive me if i should of added this to another thread).

I am looking for advise if possible. I am about to purchase the below vehicle. Have good general car knowledge from working in garages panelbeating for years during my time in college, but mechanically i will admit I am not an Audi Expert. Have always aspired to owning an S3, So this is the first time ive been in the position to own one financially (I think lol). Went to view Tuesday and the vehicle is very clean, drove well on the test drive and never crashed from my eye, but again mechanically i am a little unsure as to what i should be looking for....

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/au...034619?SOURCE_ID=SOURCE_ID_FPA_FROM_FEAT_LIST

It has a total 94K KM (56K Miles) on the clock. 40,000km of this has been put on since the car was imported in November 2018 from UK (Is this something i should be worried about?). Before this, service history was quite good as the photos below show.

I have trawled through the preventative maintenance thread on here and highlighted the common issues to the garage before i buy, but my main question to you all is..... What should i be adamant is done on the vehicle before i proceed with the purchase?

I have seen Haldex service is supposed to be 60k miles and i highlighted the cam belt as something i would like done. However, I was told Haldex is not a serviceable item and the Car has a chain instead of belt so its not needed. (Again forgive my lack of mechanical knowledge on these areas).

I would really appreciate all the help i can get on this before i dive two foot into S3 world!

Thanks!

 

[samuelh_888]

Hello @A-U-D-I IRL, welcome!

These cars (the EA113 engine) have a cam-belt on the left and a cam-chain on the right, when looking at the engine. I can't remember the miles both need to be replaced at (5yrs or 40k miles?), but if you're unsure of it's history then either get the dealer to do it or budget for it - say £350 for each.

Note that:

• When the cam-belt is replaced it makes sense to do the water pump at the same time.
• When the cam-chain is replaced, the tensioner will be replaced too as part of the kit.

As this is a 2012 model, the haldex is Gen4. VW/Audi do not list a part for this as they say it's no serviceable/sealed for life. This is clearly not correct - the genuine parts can be purchased from Auto Fault Finder.

If it was me, at a minimum I'd get the cam-belt and water pump changed (more if they're up for it) and budget for cam-chain, haldex and cam-follower.

40,000 km is a lot in 8 months but as long as it's been maintained you'll be fine.

 

[prt57]

Looking at the service record do you not think it was serviced at 50,000 miles in Nov 18 rather than in km? If so it has not done 40k km in 9 months. Mixing up the units here?
However, if it has done 40k km without a service I would walk away. It seems like the garage don’t know what they are talking about and could be a problem if there is an issue down the line.

 

[A-U-D-I IRL]

Hello @A-U-D-I IRL, welcome!

These cars (the EA113 engine) have a cam-belt on the left and a cam-chain on the right, when looking at the engine. I can't remember the miles both need to be replaced at (5yrs or 40k miles?), but if you're unsure of it's history then either get the dealer to do it or budget for it - say £350 for each.

Note that:

• When the cam-belt is replaced it makes sense to do the water pump at the same time.
• When the cam-chain is replaced, the tensioner will be replaced too as part of the kit.

As this is a 2012 model, the haldex is Gen4. VW/Audi do not list a part for this as they say it's no serviceable/sealed for life. This is clearly not correct - the genuine parts can be purchased from Auto Fault Finder.

If it was me, at a minimum I'd get the cam-belt and water pump changed (more if they're up for it) and budget for cam-chain, haldex and cam-follower.

40,000 km is a lot in 8 months but as long as it's been maintained you'll be fine.

Thanks for this mate!

I think the last service odometer was in Miles actually, so that puts my mind at rest. (Only 5K miles since last service)

They are still adamant there is no belt, so I'm having them check this and am sticking to my guns on that to make sure its done. They say they have an Audi technician in house who is saying there is no cam belt on the engine, which makes me worried.

Im sure there are tonnes of online videos, but is the Haldex Oil change something i could do on my ramp at home or would this be too big of job??

Thanks for the help again!

 

[samuelh_888]

They say they have an Audi technician in house who is saying there is no cam belt on the engine

Yeah, this is exactly what I’d expect from an Audi technician.

The haldex - yes, you could do it at home. It can be fiddly getting the filter out but if you can get access to a VCDS cable that would help with removing. YouTube vids would help too.

 

[A-U-D-I IRL]

Yeah, this is exactly what I’d expect from an Audi technician..

Why so?

Apparently the model i am looking at is a later one and so doesn't have a Cam belt...... Very confused tbh haha

 

[samuelh_888]

The 8V, which was from MY2013 only has one - I can’t recall whether it’s the chain or belt.

The 8P (2.0 tfsi CDLA engine code of the EA113 series) deffo have both.

My comment re the Audi Tech - based on all my dealings with main dealers in London (West London, Heathrow, Surrey), very few have known what they are doing. I’m sure there is good ones but based on your message above I’m not surprised.

 

[A-U-D-I IRL]

The 8V, which was from MY2013 only has one - I can’t recall whether it’s the chain or belt.

The 8P (2.0 tfsi CDLA engine code of the EA113 series) deffo have both.

My comment re the Audi Tech - based on all my dealings with main dealers in London (West London, Heathrow, Surrey), very few have knows what they are doing. I’m sure there is good ones but based on your message above I’m not surprised.

Yeah i agree from my dealings so far. Will not be letting this one slide to be honest!

Again, much appreciate the help on this....

 

[mechanic69]

The guys have said most of it

Your car definitely has a cam belt which would need doing, I bought a kit inc water pump for 100 and garage charged 150 to swap it out - must do.

The haldex is also a must do, these guys know what they are doing, all the parts and vids etc it’s an easy job with the right kit, haldexrepair.co.uk

If it’s DSG the oil and filter need doing as well


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[SootySport]

I wouldn’t bother arguing with the salesman, just make an offer bearing in mind you’ll need about £500 to change the belt and Haldex service.

 

[prt57]

It definitely has a cambelt and a cam chain. All S3 8P cars have this engine. The FSI engines have a chain only. The early chain driven engines has problems with these chains due to low oil pressure at start up causing the chain to jump teeth on the sprocket causing the pistons to hit the valves. Fixed in later versions with an improved cam chain tensioner.
On this car, the cam belt is on the left of the engine as you are looking at it and the cam chain is on the right, hidden under the standard engine cover.
On another forum there was a discussion about the best cam belt kit to use. The definitive answer given by one of the most highly respected people in the U.K. regarding these engines is to use a genuine Audi kit. The kit contains a more reliable water pump than some of the after market companies. That is what will be fitted into my S3 next month.

 

[A-U-D-I IRL]

Hi all,

Sorry for the Silence on this. Finally have an update!

So the dealer stuck to his guns initially, and backed the "Audi technician" they have in house, saying there was no belt.

I responded with an strong email saying that i was happy to go with this, but i was making it plain and clear, when i got the car home, it would be up on the ramp, stripped and if there was a belt, he would be refunding me all the money for the vehicle.

So, long story shortened, i was due to pick it up tomorrow. But, this morning, i got a call out of the blue. The dealer back with his tail between his legs saying you guys were right, the vehicle has both a belt and chain. With that in mind he is now changing the Cam and water pump belt, along with new front brake discs & pads and two new rear tyres. Only issue is i have to wait until Monday to pick it up now .

But i suppose all is well that ends well, so massive thanks to you all for the advice and guidance. Look forward to posting pictures of the work i plan to do on the vehicle over the coming years and months!