S4 cam chain replacement, is it inevitable or not and should I worry?

[GrahamS4]

Ok, so just over 2 months ago I bought my S4 cabriolet despite all I'd read about the cam chain woes this engine suffers. My car has just turned over 78,000 miles and at the moment I can't hear any rattle at all when I start it up.
Do all 4.2 S4's eventually succumb to this or are the reported failures disproportionate to the number of actual cars out there. In other words is it only a small percentage that have suffered failure that I've read about and there are thousands running round that have never had a problem or does every V8 S4 suffer this?

 

[cobraBLACK]

It is inevitable with a BBK engine but you should get symptoms beforehand. If you want to do the repair eventually it's probably worth tucking away funds for the event.

See here for more: http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/possible-s4-purchase-questions-questions.365966/#post-3212960

 

[mattyboyc]

I guess this is why the value of good S4’s with no evidence of this work having been carried out have plummeted.

 

[GrahamS4]

Thanks for the replies as I say touch wood mines as quiet as a church mouse when I start it up so I just wondered if it's a question of you only hear of this problem from those who suffer t but never hear from those who've never had a problem?

 

[cobraBLACK]

As I said in that other post:

JHM in California see a lot of these engines and every one they've had through with around 80k miles onwards has had some degree of guide damage

Guide damage means the timing will eventually fail. Some owners have no rattle but most seem to have a little at least.

 

[THQuattro]

My wife,s one does rattle a bit at start up but not always. Its done 110k now and i run 5w 40 oil and get it changed every 5k or once a year, also i let it warm up to temp before hearing the V8 growl. Isn't your car at 60k so i wouldn't worry just treat it as nice as possible and enjoy it mate.

 

[GrahamS4]

My wife,s one does rattle a bit at start up but not always. Its done 110k now and i run 5w 40 oil and get it changed every 5k or once a year, also i let it warm up to temp before hearing the V8 growl. Isn't your car at 60k so i wouldn't worry just treat it as nice as possible and enjoy it mate.

Mines at 78k, I just had it serviced as the light came up on 12 months rather than mileage, it had done 1600 miles since the last service in 2017, my local indy uses the VW 5w-40 fully synthetic oil which they assure me is fine, I never push it much above 3,000 rpm until the engine is up to temperature. I guess it's just as you say treat it right and drive it and worry about it if and when it happens.

 

[s4mark]

Mine had a one second rattle for the first 3 years I owned it, (purchased the car with 86k miles), and as they say this is normal. Some people report the rattle, some people have no rattle at all. At 105k miles I noticed mine would rattle on warm restarts after being switched off for just a few minutes. At 110k the timing chain for the exhaust side jumped. Car sounded very deep and had the dreaded codes pop up. Spent just shy of 5k having engine taken out and all components replaced and now on 129k all is well. Some people have reported failures as soon as 40k on the later BBK engines, and some have done 150k with no bother. My advice would be that if you get any rattle when starting the car when the engine is warm then its time to get your wallet out

 

[GrahamS4]

I got my wallet out and traded the car in last Monday and went back to a Mercedes SL, as despite the lowish mileage on my S4 there were a few things that had been flagged up on the service. I'm sure most of these were there when I bought it and the MOT station right next door to the dealer I bought it from was lets say generous. All four lower control arms needed replacing, the rear shocks and rear flexible brake hoses and auxiliary drive belt. I did the rear shocks, bought the lower control arms but when I went to fit them I just lost interest. I loved the performance and the sound of the S4 but in all honesty to me it never felt a special place to be.
I could have been in pretty much any VAG group car of the time. Apart from the colour of the dash it was nigh on identical to a 2002 Passat 20v Turbo I had. Despite spending more money on it than I should have, most through choice than necessity, I realised it was a car that I was never going to fall in love with other than on the few occasions you found room to use the performance. So although it meant I lost a lot of money I decided it was time to go when every time I saw an SL I wished I was in it so here it is.