A6 3.0 Avant 2015 - engine, timing chain, cam shaft issue???
Discussion
Hi all,
First time poster to this community So here goes (fingers crossed) Sorry it’s a long one.
Until today I thought I was extremely lucky to own an A6 avant 3.0 Quattro S-line black edition, even as a 2015 plate with 76k on her. Today she been into the local audi for a gearbox oil change and investigation into an odd noise/hesitation on the auto gearbox whilst changing up from 3rd to 4th, in normal auto mode (i.e. not manual or sport).
I should of known something was wrong when they called me to find out if I’d rather trade her in than get the work done, as ‘the work could cost quite a bit’. What work? They’d had her 3hrs and I’d heard nothing so what work could she possibly need doing? Apparently at this point they hadn’t completed the gearbox oil change either!!!! When asked they mentioned about a possible oil leak so I asked them to check it out, but also mentioned to them that the other local Audi had only recent completed the oil inspection service and changed / replaced the oil filter cap as that had cracked and I wondered if that could explain the possible leak (especially as I’ve not noticed anything on the drive/parking spaces).
So they go away, change to gearbox oil and check it for swarf (of which they find none, phew!) and confirm no recorded faults in the memory (fabulous). The Audicam (not sure if I can add a link in - https://audicam.audi.co.uk/customer/523215/b73cdb1... shows oil on the under side from three different points, this seems odd to me now.
Eventually I get a call from a different agent saying they are done with her and that I need to go back to the other Audi (that completed the service) about the oil leak. When I asked why they didn’t know, fine maybe they didn’t get the message / crossed wires. They then went on to confirm that following a test drive the noise/hesitation wasn’t the gearbox (again result) but then said ‘that was the least of my worries’!! What!!! Now what’s wrong!!! Panic!!! I finally get passed back to the main agent I was dealing with throughout the day who very politely say ‘yes the gearbox is all fine, but the oil leak from the engine is concerning’. They have apparently cleaned the oil away and we will need to keep an eye on it and they’d recommend I leave the car with them for 2days so they can investigate. I have to budget £500 to start the investigation and ‘they'll take it from there’.
I asked what they suspected might need 2days to investigate and was told it could be a timing chain or camshaft issue. They’ve said that I’m ok to drive the car ‘cautiously’ as there are no warnings / alerts showing on the car currently. Thankfully I’ve already got her booked in at an independent audi specialist next week for rear pads and discs and have asked them to look at her.
Anyone else had a similar / heard of a similar issue? Just feels like there are so many things this could be I don’t know where to get started / focus investigations on.
Thanks in advance
First time poster to this community So here goes (fingers crossed) Sorry it’s a long one.
Until today I thought I was extremely lucky to own an A6 avant 3.0 Quattro S-line black edition, even as a 2015 plate with 76k on her. Today she been into the local audi for a gearbox oil change and investigation into an odd noise/hesitation on the auto gearbox whilst changing up from 3rd to 4th, in normal auto mode (i.e. not manual or sport).
I should of known something was wrong when they called me to find out if I’d rather trade her in than get the work done, as ‘the work could cost quite a bit’. What work? They’d had her 3hrs and I’d heard nothing so what work could she possibly need doing? Apparently at this point they hadn’t completed the gearbox oil change either!!!! When asked they mentioned about a possible oil leak so I asked them to check it out, but also mentioned to them that the other local Audi had only recent completed the oil inspection service and changed / replaced the oil filter cap as that had cracked and I wondered if that could explain the possible leak (especially as I’ve not noticed anything on the drive/parking spaces).
So they go away, change to gearbox oil and check it for swarf (of which they find none, phew!) and confirm no recorded faults in the memory (fabulous). The Audicam (not sure if I can add a link in - https://audicam.audi.co.uk/customer/523215/b73cdb1... shows oil on the under side from three different points, this seems odd to me now.
Eventually I get a call from a different agent saying they are done with her and that I need to go back to the other Audi (that completed the service) about the oil leak. When I asked why they didn’t know, fine maybe they didn’t get the message / crossed wires. They then went on to confirm that following a test drive the noise/hesitation wasn’t the gearbox (again result) but then said ‘that was the least of my worries’!! What!!! Now what’s wrong!!! Panic!!! I finally get passed back to the main agent I was dealing with throughout the day who very politely say ‘yes the gearbox is all fine, but the oil leak from the engine is concerning’. They have apparently cleaned the oil away and we will need to keep an eye on it and they’d recommend I leave the car with them for 2days so they can investigate. I have to budget £500 to start the investigation and ‘they'll take it from there’.
I asked what they suspected might need 2days to investigate and was told it could be a timing chain or camshaft issue. They’ve said that I’m ok to drive the car ‘cautiously’ as there are no warnings / alerts showing on the car currently. Thankfully I’ve already got her booked in at an independent audi specialist next week for rear pads and discs and have asked them to look at her.
Anyone else had a similar / heard of a similar issue? Just feels like there are so many things this could be I don’t know where to get started / focus investigations on.
Thanks in advance
Edited by HA11WED on Friday 11th October 19:28
On the early engines (2005-2007), they tend to leak oil from the fuel pump drive on the front end of the cam on bank 1, the later engines switched to dual fuel pumps so uncertain if it's applicable.
On mine, the Fuel pump drive is on the front of the engine at the top, it's usually relatively easy to get at, basically open the belt cover and check for oil, no idea on what would be needed to fix it.
At the same time, I am shooting in the dark a bit and could be wrong, oil leaks can be coming from anywhere and if it was bad enough to coat the engine masking the source, then this is why they are asking for this course of action.
As I guess this is a dealer, a specialist may be more affordable.
On mine, the Fuel pump drive is on the front of the engine at the top, it's usually relatively easy to get at, basically open the belt cover and check for oil, no idea on what would be needed to fix it.
At the same time, I am shooting in the dark a bit and could be wrong, oil leaks can be coming from anywhere and if it was bad enough to coat the engine masking the source, then this is why they are asking for this course of action.
As I guess this is a dealer, a specialist may be more affordable.
We’ve had to oil cleaned off the engine and are keeping an eye on it for leaks, so far so good.
The gearbox oil change hasn’t solved the change from 3rd to 4th hesitation / noise. I’ve noticed that it is now also doing the same whilst in sport mode, albeit intermittently as well.
It’s still doing it’s strange pulling and drifting intermittently as well. I’m going to get the tracking / 4 wheel alignment checked this weekend, so fingers crossed it fixes that issue.
The gearbox oil change hasn’t solved the change from 3rd to 4th hesitation / noise. I’ve noticed that it is now also doing the same whilst in sport mode, albeit intermittently as well.
It’s still doing it’s strange pulling and drifting intermittently as well. I’m going to get the tracking / 4 wheel alignment checked this weekend, so fingers crossed it fixes that issue.
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