engine replacement????

[shelene]

Hi, im new to this so here i go.

Over the weekend we have had to be recovered by the AA

We were driving our P reg Audi A4 (1.8t) and the oil light came on, so we stopped at the nearest garage and topped it up. - though that was that.

However next day went out driving and the oil light was still flashing but we knew the oil was okay - so knowing nothing about cars thought it might be a faulty light.

Anyhow the car started running noisily, like a diesel engine then pop, pop and the engine died

Wed only had the car 5 months, with 12 mot, full service history, and love the car. The car is currently at a garage but the AA man said it may need a new engine !!!

Cant believe it, i presume if indeed this is the case i have 2 options -

1) find a new engine and get it fitted

2) if this is too costly then getting rid of my Audi, which i doubt no one will want and end up with a cheap and nasty car

Anyone with suggestions/advice??? please

 

[Broken Byzan]

A used AEB engine will cost you around £500 to buy. Had you stopped when the light first came on and been recovered home you could have fixed the sludge issue for a gallon of diesel , a gallon of oil and an oil filter as sadly it's quite common for the oil pick up to block up

 

[aragorn]

Unfortunately the red oil light means no oil pressure, rather than a physically low oil level.

The oil level sensor (if fitted) would show up a yellow warning, not red.

The 1.8T engine is known for oil pressure issues, ususally caused by a lack of oil changes and crap quality oil causing sludge building up inside the motor.

Once the sludge builds up to a terminal level the oil pickup gets blocked and the oil cant circulate, causing what you experianced

I've seen replacement engines sell from anything from 300-500quid, so imo thats the sensible option.

 

[Matt82]

and also if the pump ran dry, adding more oil may not have been enough to get it reprimed. oil pressure lights = bad bad news

 

[docurley]

If you do need to get a new engine get the AEB version as this was one of the better engine designs.

 

[shelene]

Thankyou for your information and advice, just wish i was a little more car savvy! would have saved me alot of money and hassle!

Ill best get looking for audi engines by sound of it

whats a AEB engine??? what does that stand for??? just so i know what im looking for

 

[docurley]

Audi changed the engine design at different times throughout the B5 1.8T's life but the AEB engine was regarded as the strongest and more tuneable engine with a larger ported head. But to be honest any 1.8t engine will fit even from a B6 but some thing might have changed like the water pump and stuff.

So the engine code is just a code given so Audi new what configuration they had created and to know what parts to fit when they go wrong.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Audi-a4-1-8-t...s_SM?hash=item45edfc912c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Make sure you fit a new oil pump, pickup pipe, water pump, timing belt and tensioners if buying secondhand and flush the engine while they are at it.

 

[Broken Byzan]

Sorry, AEB is Audis designation for the engine, you could use an AJL , APU or AEB for ease of fitment. You may need to swap a few sensors around and or manifolds if usins anything except AEb. On the plus side the same engines were used in VW passats too, and tend to fetch less than the Audi ones despite them actually being the same thing

 

[jcb]

and don't throw your old one away! you can get some of your hard earned back on the bits if you can be bothered

 

[Broken Byzan]

Ed, depends on how extensive the oil starvation was, head could be US as could Cams etc. Shame as they could net back a good £150 from the head otherwise.

I also suspect the pop noise they heard was a rod going, probably into the side of the block sadly

 

[jcb]

I got £50 for a set of used pistons/rods alone. £30 for a crank albeit that will be shagged in yours
Anyone looking for a rebore project will take the block of your hands for a £10-20 regardless of bearing damage. its going to be bored, stripped and re-bearing'd anyway.
Its how I got mine.

thats before you start on the head. short of melting cam journals and burning valves it is unlikely to be too shagged to salvage anything at all.

you would be amased at the crap..[cough] I mean highly valuable stuff... you can sell on eBay!

 

[Broken Byzan]

******, i launched mine into a skip !! Bar the head, that was still warm when it was bought on a buy it now for £200,lol

 

[colinurquhart]

I read this post last week then this morning got into my 1.8 avant and the red oil light flashed on so turned around straight away and took my other car to work, so only drove about half a mile if that. I'm at work just now so will look at car when i get home but is it possible i have the same problem with the oil pick up thing being blocked and if so is it easy to fix. Cheers :icon_thumright:

 

[docurley]

If you check the oil and it reads normal then I would say 99.9% it will be the oil pick-up pipe is blocked.

It's a bitch of a job as you need to lower the front sub frame to get at the sump and it will be best to change the oil pump and oil pick-up pipe all at the same time as well as doing a engine flush to clean all the crap out while your at it.

Some people have gotten away just doing a engine flush or even a complete drain of the oil then fill her up to the brim with diesel left over night then drain fill up with cheap oil and a cheap oil filter run for 30min drain and then fill up with the good stuff and a new oil filter.

 

[colinurquhart]

Ouch!! Well I looked at starting my oil pump Wednesday and put the car on my ramps on the drive, looked underneath and thought ****** this lower sub frames etc and shoved it into my local garage to change. Well after 5 hours labour costs and a genuine audi pump I had the pleasure of handing over £408 for it. The funny thing is my 98' 1.8 se avant only cost me £655 on good old ebay in april. Does that price sound about right for a genuine oil pump to be fitted. I know the garage well and know they wouldn't rip me off.

 

[aragorn]

what did they charge for the pump itself?

The pumps cost about £100 from euro car parts, no idea if they're genuine though, probably not. Vagcat recons around 135euros for genuine, but i've always found UK dealers prices a bit higher than the prices on there.

If we assume £150 for the pump as a top dollar price, then £250 is labour, pricey but not unheard of i guess.

 

[colinurquhart]

Think it was £179 for Genuine Audi oil pump and £35 an hour labour then plus vat. I supplied him with the oil, filter and engine flush.