OK so I bought a 1.8T & got the Oil Pressure Warning. Oil pump job in the pipeline!

[BKZ187]

Hey peeps I am the owner of 2 lovely B6 A4s The first is my trusty 2003 A4 1.9 TDi Sport 130 [6] - love it so much I went out and bought a 2003 A4 1.8T Sport 190 [6].
So I drove it from London to Manchester on Sunday and it drove without fault for 180 miles at a steady 75mph. Smooth, plenty of torque and quiet. Got to Manchester exit, left the M6, slowed down for the roundabout and shock horror - RED CAN WARNING WITH 3 BEEPS. Clicked on "check" button and it read "check oil level".Oil level was on max and oil looked clean.Waited for it to cool and drove home very slowly with RED CAN coming on intermittent. Shat myself the whole way.

Got on the net and spent hours trawling thread after thread - pretty much unanimous that its the oil-pump pick-up pipe that clogs up with sludge from the sump and stops the oil pump from doing it's job.

Drove it next day from cold and it drove fine for 15 minutes before the RED CAN came up. Stopped and parked up.Drove it to my garage today and again it was fine for 15 mins. Garage just said engine flush and new oil pump required. They were not keen on doing ONLY the pick up pipe. No damage done to engine just yet (finds wood) but looking to get this sorted asap.

I have sourced most of the parts from TPS but not purchased anything yet because I have a few questions to clear first.
1 - Anyone pushed Audi to fix and pick up the bill for this infamous and known problem?
2 - Is there any way to determine that the oil pump is fine and only the pick up pipe needs replacing? Wouldn't want to find out oil pump is knackered after putting it all back together with new oil!
3 - Should I flush the engine before the sump comes off? or after? or both?
4 - Do I use diesel to flush the engine? or normal off-the-shelf items?
5 - Is it really necessary to buy the larger oil filter?
6 - Should I also replace the oil level sensor and the pressure switch as a matter of course?
7 - Have I missed anything? Looking to tackle this job Thursday or Friday - any info appreciated

 

[Turkster]

iv heard of the 2 or 3 engine flush jobs to fix this one,

 

[BKZ187]

this one? U mean I might be panicking and jumping the gun?

 

[Avo]

I had the same but i combined my repairs with a Major service ie Belts etc etc ..

Unfortunately my pump was knackered so had the lot replaced, £450 mates rates for all the work inc parts/labour

 

[Turkster]

this one? U mean I might be panicking and jumping the gun?

yep, iv seen a 1.8T with this one, they put engine flush through and emptied the oil out, fresh oil in, problem still there, put 2 lots of engine flush in, ran it for a few hours on tick over to really mix it round, emptied out the oil again, the new oil came out and had nasty black blobs in it, then re loaded it again with fresh oil again and all was well and as far i heard is still well,

 

[BKZ187]

what did you use to flush the engine with? I would normally use Forte engine flush but have read on the forums to use 2 litres of diesel after removing 2 litres of the oil already in the engine

 

[BKZ187]

Spoke to my local Audi stealer who bluntly said "nothing's free in this life mate"

I told them thousands of cars are affected and they should be ashamed to deny a problem exists. BMW would fix this on their goodwill scheme. He said I would have to pay for an initial investigation (approx £300) and then they would submit the estimate to Audi UK.

Funniest part of it is when I rang TPS they knew all about it and sell the suspect parts so often that they actually keep them in stock!!!!!

 

[hades-]

dont flush the car
2 3 4 times you will still have a blocked pick up thats just silly advise
read all the posts on it
also from what u describe in your 1st post you have a level sensor problem if it was the preasure warning light you would prob have a ****ed engine with the driveing you have done
was is it the big warning or small ?
take a pic of the light
i never flush any audi unless i know its history
say you get 1 on 100k been on longlife etc and you flush u dislodge all the **** and block you pick up
if you have a good history with changes every 5/6k then you wouldnt need to flush anyway

 

[BKZ187]

its been on longlife servicing and currently on 60k miles so in need of service
it's only been to audi 3 times
one of which was for the ignition coil recall

The warning that come up was the big red can symbol on the large middle display - i'll take a picture next time it happens

I also thought it could be the level sensor but from my reading the level sensor is associated with the yellow can symbol with "service" next to it.

 

[BKZ187]

bez, all the posts say you should flush the engine, remove sump, clean out and change the pick up pipe!

In my case, I'll be doing the level sensor too for good measure.

All in the hope my Oil pump is OK

 

[hades-]

to be honest i have no isea what you have been reading ?
why flush the car when you are removeing the sump ?
any **** is in the sump so you will clean when its off
have you got any extra noise etc ?
dont go into this head 1st as when its blocked its blocked no inbetween and will fry the turbo etc in 1/2 miles
and it seems you have done a few sinse geting the light ?
take it to a garage that know what there doing with this problem and get a preasure test it could be as simple as the preasure sensor
as you get it when you have been driveing for 15 mins

 

[hades-]

all the posts say you should flush the engine, remove sump, clean out and change the pick up pipe

if you DO have a blocked pick up or ****ed pump
just haveing the engine ticking over for a few mins can fry the lot

 

[BKZ187]

I think mine is in early stages and the 2 times I drove it, it drove perfect

I guess you are right.. get the pressure checked first

 

[hades-]

thats just it theres no early stages
iv done so many rebuilds when ppl keep on driveing or ticking over

 

[BKZ187]

i'm not driving it now - but as I said, the warning didn't come up for the first 15 mins so it's a though the oil thins out and then loses pressure

If I do end up doing the oil pump, is it easy to change the cambelt while it's all in pieces?

 

[hades-]

to do the sump you dont have to put it in service position
so doing pump wont make cam any easier

 

[BKZ187]

2 - Is there any way to determine that the oil pump is fine and only the pick up pipe needs replacing? Wouldn't want to find out oil pump is knackered after putting it all back together with new oil!

 

[BKZ187]

OK so after spending two days faffing about with this it turns out that my problem is not the usual sludge problem but actually a breathing problem!!

As soon as you start the car the oil cap is tough to take off!! When the RED CAN oil light comes on, we noticed the revs rise.. when you forcefully remove the oil cap the revs come back down to normal!!

We believe the suspect item is the pressure regular valve 06a129101a

How likely is this to cause my problems?

Everythings closed now til Tuesday. My mechanic says you should only be able to blow into one side - not both. But mine blows both ways.

Anybody know how much they are?
and are there any other suppliers other than TPS?

 

[Broken Byzan]

wont be that. The reason the light only comes on when the revs are higher is that Audi made it so the light comes on after around 1500 rpm instead of idle, so your poor PCV system is making it rev and then make the light come on. When you remove it the revs drop and the light goes out.

 

[BKZ187]

There is a ALOT of pressure under the oil cap!

I should probably describe my symptoms clearer

When driving, it drives fine.. but after 15 mins or so the RED OIL CAN light appears and it beeps 3 times
I noticed that when this happens, the revs also sit higher

I pulled into the garage and the mechanic turned the oil cap and found it difficult to remove the cap. He said this must be the pressure problem as the engine is struggling/suffering and can cause a OIL PRESSURE warning.

He inspected inside the oil cap area, opened the PCV system and said it looked clear. So we dropped the oil, which looked decent. Then removed the oil filter which seemed new (although non-genuine) and without issue.

He commented that there was no obvious carbon build up or sludge in suspect places.

We done an engine flush and put the new quantum platinum 5w40 with OE oil filter. But he told me not to drive it with so much pressure being built up because I could blow the turbo/engine.

I have to wait til Tuesday for TPS to open to get this hockey puck valve. And most likely the Crankcase Breather Valve too.

 

[BKZ187]

so I guess the question for you chaps here is

Can this PCV pressure build up in my engine cause the RED CAN Oil Pressure warning to occur?

 

[Tooks]

If the oil filler cap is hard to get off, doesn't that suggest a vacuum rather than pressure?

One thing I've learnt about the B6 is that you can often be looking at two separate faults at once, and they may be related, or they may not.

It could be that the sludge has blocked the breather system, that could also be blocking the oil pick up, or it could be a separate issue.

Obviously, as the breather parts are cheap, it makes sense to replace those first, and they will probably need changing if it's the sludge issue anyway.

But, I've never heard of those parts failing causing the red/3 beep warning?

 

[Broken Byzan]

so I guess the question for you chaps here is

Can this PCV pressure build up in my engine cause the RED CAN Oil Pressure warning to occur?

No

 

[BKZ187]

hmm not good.. so my new indestructible audi has 2 dangerous issues

 

[vr6gordy]

mine did the same as yours .. it turned out to be the oil presure switch next to the oil filter .. very cheap fix do that before you start messing

 

[BKZ187]

ahh yes, I have already changed that.. not driven it since though.. but now need to resolve this crankcase pressure problem

 

[olly quattro]

stop starting your car up , you will kill it, get that oil pump changed

 

[Slinepete]

Happened to me after only an hour of ownership turned it off straight away and had new pump and pickup pipe touch wood all is good now I know that feeling though I **** me self when it happened good luck chap

 

[T0m]

Hey guys just wondered has anyone ever done a 'how to' for replacing the pick up pipe?

 

[BKZ187]

My sincere apologies.. I committed the most heinous crime.. by not coming back to this thread and updating. Well what happened was that I bought a new pickup pipe, a new breather valve and a new oil pressure switch.

Did an engine flush, new oil and filter, changed the pressure switch and the breather valve and my problems were all fixed.
I returned the pickup pipe for a refund.

So it cost me less than £100 to fix my car. Regardless, I lost faith in the 1.8T and put it up for sale straight away and sold it.

I will just stick to my trusty B6 1.9TDi 130. I love it. SO reliable and economical.

Hey guys just wondered has anyone ever done a 'how to' for replacing the pick up pipe?

There are quite a few write ups available but to be honest its not that difficult.

Get your mechanic to put the car on a ramp, do an engine flush, drop the sump, clean out all the gunk from the sump and what ever else you can get to. Replace the pickup pipe (£10 part). Refit the sump with a new seal. New oil. Bobs your uncle.

 

[Slinepete]

Could of been the one I bought lol

 

[BKZ187]

Could of been the one I bought lol

Doubt it mate

whats your year, colour and mileage?

 

[Slinepete]

04 akoya 70000

 

[BKZ187]

mine was a 53 with less miles

regardless, there was nothing else wrong with mine so the new owner should see plenty of happy motoring

 

[Slinepete]

Well touch wood il be happy motoring now too

 

[T0m]

My sincere apologies.. I committed the most heinous crime.. by not coming back to this thread and updating. Well what happened was that I bought a new pickup pipe, a new breather valve and a new oil pressure switch.

Did an engine flush, new oil and filter, changed the pressure switch and the breather valve and my problems were all fixed.
I returned the pickup pipe for a refund.

So it cost me less than £100 to fix my car. Regardless, I lost faith in the 1.8T and put it up for sale straight away and sold it.

I will just stick to my trusty B6 1.9TDi 130. I love it. SO reliable and economical.



There are quite a few write ups available but to be honest its not that difficult.

Get your mechanic to put the car on a ramp, do an engine flush, drop the sump, clean out all the gunk from the sump and what ever else you can get to. Replace the pickup pipe (£10 part). Refit the sump with a new seal. New oil. Bobs your uncle.

Hey BKZ I read somewhere its not as easy as that as you have to lift the engine up to clear some parts that restrict you from removing the sump?!

 

[Kingfisher]

and certainly on quattros you have to drop the front subframe.... that really means a 4 wheel alignment afterwards as well.I think Aragorn managed the job by undoing engine mounts and lifting the engine up to get the sump off.

I did read a number of years ago that in the USA they were emptying engine oil, replacing with diesel, allowing at least several days to soak, emptying diesel, flush a couple of times with fresh oil, and in a number of cases that was sufficient to cure.

Of course regular oil changes with quality oil should help to prevent problem in the first place.
Our B5 & B6 quattros ( both 1.8T) get quality oil every 5/6000 miles and have had that since new ( currently 83k and 48k form new)

 

[BKZ187]

your mechanic will have his preferred way of doing it

thats why I said, leave it to the mechanic

 

[T0m]

your mechanic will have his preferred way of doing it

thats why I said, leave it to the mechanic

BKZ but when you get someone who is handy with a spanner and not afraid to have a go at things like these why bother with a mechanic when you can do it yourself?!

I am not going to do it now as mine has an oil change every year or 10k which ever one comes first but i may do it in the future!!!!

 

[ckl139]

Hi guys. Looking to buy b6 s line Avant with same engine. Reading this worries me. My question is is it better to wait for a b7 Petrol - would they be any better.

B6 I’m looking at has following history (all Audi)

27 Sept 2005 – Service – 14000

07 March 2007 – Service – 28623

26 Sept 2008 – Service 35385

7 June 2010 – Service 37986

7 June 2011 Inspection Service and MOT 39094

19 June 2013 MOT 40156

18 June 2014 Inspection Service – 40720

June 2015 – MOT – 40899

23 Aug 16 – PASS MOT - 41456

2017 has independent garage do service and cam belt and water pump change.