Audi S6 V10 manifold flaps

[grahame42]

I see on here that it's not uncommon to have problems with these flaps. I have the manifold off and thee are some loose flaps and ones that aren't working. The car is running just fine but I also see that these flaps alter the performance at various engine speeds. So I need to fix them. They don't appear to be serviceable - I can't find a way of removing them or ay spare parts. I can't find a replacement manifold in the UK but see I can get one from the States for about $2,100. What have other people done in this situation? Where's the best place to get a replacement (used or new) manifold in the UK? I have tried many part finder sites without success. Thanks for any help

[grahame42]

Thanks for the contributions. I spoke to someone at SW autos who said they could fix the flaps and map the engine...but didn't sound 100% convincing. He said he'd get the mapping engineer to call me to quote and discuss. He didn't.

Realistically they would need to see the broken manifold and have the car there and they are not too local to me.

So I have bought a new manifold. I think I'll just chuck the old one but what a waste of money.

Thanks for all the input.

[grahame42]

Barnet

[grahame42]

Sure. Unfortunately for me the car was repaired and ran for 45 minutes. Then left overnight, taken for a test drive and a piston has seized :-(. The garage are looking at it now. It's a bad week for my car

[grahame42]

One tip is to open the bonnet and start the engine. Get someone to slowly press the accelerator and if you hear a rattling from the manifold that gets noisier with the engine then you have a problem. Another tip is to have a look at the manifold at 70K miles anyway. However, at that point all you can do is replace it :-( - unless cleverer people than I have come across can repair or service it.

[grahame42]

So am I. The engine is out and they were dismantling it yesterday...I'll post an update when I know the details and have stopped crying :-).

[grahame42]

It's dead Jim. Now need a new (refurbished) engine block

[grahame42]

No and we might never no as currently the piston is stuck, the bore ruined so there seems little point going further

[grahame42]

Thanks for the advice. The garage fitted the manifold, ran the car for 45 mins. Next day they took her for a ride and boom! I really trust the guys and it could be that they messed up. They certainly plan on adjusting the bill accordingly.

[grahame42]

Rounding off this sorry tale: my garage looked around for a replacement engine. One in the UK didn't look great. Several on ebay.de looked good and they bought one...which never arrived. So there's a dead engine with a new manifold (costing £2K+) and €7K gone on an engine. They were going to claim the engine off their insurance and not charge me the labour. A new engine would make the car an insurance write off. In the end they offered to buy the car off me at any reasonable price I suggested - net of the manifold too. So I have "market" price for my car and no other costs - except replacement. (Merc E Class estate looking likely - sadly I think I am going to diesel).

Whilst it's an unpleasant experience, one of those "I'm glad that didn't happen to me!" ones, I couldn't have expected anything more from the garage.

[grahame42]

No it wasn't that car. I don't know how the garage are going to get the best return out of this but I'll be asking and wish them the best. Thanks for your kind note.