2.0 TFSI low oil pressure warning while driving and rattling noise from chain

[mark5616]

Hi,
I'm new here and wanted to hear if anyone has experienced this issue I have with my Audi A6 C6 4F 2.0 TFSI 2007.

At cold start there is no problems, but after driving a little bit the oil pressure low warning comes on, but only when driving and not while at idle.
Shortly after a rattle noise starts coming from the chain, and does not go away untill the engine is cold again.

I can't figure out what is causing it, and I hope someone might have an idea what it is?

 

[Charlie Farley]

can you confirm engine code.?
BPJ or BYK ?

Both engines along with several other engine codes suffer from Oil pump issues which are common across the EA113 engines fitted to a whole raft of VW / audi group cars, of which you A6 is included.

Oil pumps develop issues with the sprockets /chain and balance shafts assemblies caused by numerous other issues and resulting in oil pressure issues, inc low oil pressure to all engine components inc cam chain and tensioner etc.
Since your issues dont specifically indicate cam chain rattle on start up the problem maybe at the pump at the moment but thats not to say the cam chain etc are not also effected.

realistaclly it is going to be a sump off job to see whats going on , possibly suction pipe is clogged etc also pressure relief valve in pump blocked or clogged.

best to not drive it either with low oil pressure issues, whatever the reason for the low oil pressure running the engine will just make things worse and possibly beyond economical repair depending on what damage has occured within the engine,

 

[mark5616]

can you confirm engine code.?
BPJ or BYK ?

Both engines along with several other engine codes suffer from Oil pump issues which are common across the EA113 engines fitted to a whole raft of VW / audi group cars, of which you A6 is included.

Oil pumps develop issues with the sprockets /chain and balance shafts assemblies caused by numerous other issues and resulting in oil pressure issues, inc low oil pressure to all engine components inc cam chain and tensioner etc.
Since your issues dont specifically indicate cam chain rattle on start up the problem maybe at the pump at the moment but thats not to say the cam chain etc are not also effected.

realistaclly it is going to be a sump off job to see whats going on , possibly suction pipe is clogged etc also pressure relief valve in pump blocked or clogged.

best to not drive it either with low oil pressure issues, whatever the reason for the low oil pressure running the engine will just make things worse and possibly beyond economical repair depending on what damage has occured within the engine,

Thank you for your response! Is there anyway to confirm the oil pump is the issue? I believe the engine code is BPJ, but will have to confirm later since the car is at the workshop and i’m currently at work. Is there any way to check without looking at the block?

 

[Charlie Farley]

You could get a more precise oil pressure check which would confirm there was a low oil pressure condition and it would rule out an oil pressure sensor fault, but it wouldnt really shed any light on the rattle.
Given there is only a limited amounts of possible points of failure assuming it is a low oil pressure problem, the likely hood of one being able to diagnose it fully without seeing the car in the flesh is difficult.
Engine warm or cold is not really a factor as the oil pressure is created by the oil pump which is driven by the gear and chain mechanism on the end of the crankshaft
If the pressure is low it can only be due to oil starvation as mentioned in my previous reply or internal parts failure within the pump itself, both are interconnected issues as the pump needs an unrestricted flow of oil to be sucked in, but if that is impeded it will also have an effect on the operation of the pump, and then the pump drive mechanism may be defective and or issues with the pressure relief valve resulting in low oil pressure, so you can see the relevance of dropping the sump and looking into the problem.

When the engine is idling the pump will be operating at its lowest speed as it is driven from the crankshaft, any problems with the drive sprocket/chain or tensioner in the pump will be threr but less obvious but as soon as engine RPM increases so will the pump speed and any issues will then become apparent.

You have a slight advantage as your car is a 2wd varaint so dropping the sump is a more straight forward process, it will still incur a degree of cost as new oil will required plus sundry parts related to the pump and sump cover etc, and that just to investigate things.

On a side note, the camshaft chain/tensioner won't itself be a cause of the low oil pressure as it also requires sufficient pressure to control the tensioner correctly, it too needs that important pressure generated in the oil pump in the sump, so you can see thing narrow down all the time to the most likely point to investigate.

Thats about as far as I can advise really, I'm just offering you a possible route to explore the problem via a web chat, the rest is down to you I'm afraid, bets of luck.

With this little insight you maybe a bit clearer on what it could be and how to proceed.

rob