2004 audi a4 1.8t quattro engine

[cpcoop71]

Was thinking about some kind of provisional plan to have in place in case my 1.8t engine fails. It runs good now but afraid at some point it will fail. It's at 77000 miles now. Got it used and have no clue how well previous owner took care of it. would like to find a place to get a new/slightly used engine. Would not mind a newer 2.0. I hear it is slightly more reliable.

Either way I am looking at suggestions for websites that sell them. I know it's 4000-6000+ for a new 1.8t engine. I know that over time sludge blocks oil ports on the engines. even ones with the best care and proper oil can build up sludge. let me know what you think. I know this will help others besides me. Any of your experience will be helpful to all members. And last idea would be to rebuild my current engine. that will be considered also:0)

[doublezero30]

i think youre being pretty ridiculous. if you really want to know, go buy a new valve cover gasket and pull the valvecover off. if theres sludge, yea be worried. if not, calm down! plenty of us have well over 100,000 miles without issues. just stay up to date on your oil changes(every4-5k miles), use approved synthetic oil and the OEM filter, youll be ok.

but to answer your questions you can check car-part.com for used engines and parts.

[windsorblue]

even ones with the best care and proper oil can build up sludge.

Sorry, but this is just plain false.

By doing a bit of checking on your own, you can get a good idea about what the previous service history has been. If it has not already been done, it is a good time to change the timing belt, water pump, etc. and the valve cover gasket. While the valve cover is off you can see the top of the engine, if there is burnt oil everywhere and everything is very dark, then you know the service history has not been great. Conversely, if the surfaces exposed to oil are light in color, it has been well-maintained. Even if it looks a little dark, all is not lost, as there plenty of products out there to help break-down burnt oil(sludge) build-up. In the past I have used a BG Quick-Clean/MOA combo to good effect, and I know that Amsoil makes a similar product. I highly recommend using Red Line oil, especially if you are concerned with a lack of service history. At 77,000 mi. there should be no good reason to be concerned with rebuilding or replacing the engine unless it was subject to 20,000 mi oil change intervals. Unless, of course, you have been spending too much time on these forums and you want to blow $10,000+ on a BAT 2.0 engine build. If that is the case, search Douggyfresh's or MMMBoost's build threads. They both took the time to do their builds well and provide documentation of the process.

You mention the 2.0t being more reliable; while it is a wonderfully flexible engine that makes more power with lower fuel consumption and emissions, it is not more reliable. I really like the 2.0t and have often wondered how easy it would be to swap one into a B6. Maybe there are others on here that can answer that question.

Where to buy a new(er) engine? Forum classifieds is a good place to start, aside from that you could try a re-manufactured long-block from the dealer, or a used engine from an Audi specialty recycler like Shokan.

Good Luck
Tom

BTW, your sig says your car is stock so far. In my experience, the best way to improve your car is to first improve yourself, and that means driving school http://www.audiclubna.org/ . Audi club schools are some of the most well-run schools in the country, and one of you local-ish chapters(NEQ) runs schools all year long, including one or two winter schools every year. This is the best $$ you can spend on car "improvements" in my opinion.

If you have any questions about anyting in this post, please feel free to PM me on here.

[cpcoop71]

Not really looking for more power at the moment . just reliability. a contingency plan of sorts. I might spend about 20 mins a month on the forums. Give or take. Driving school is a good way to improve driving skill for everyone. I would like to think my skills are just slightly better then the average brake stomper at least. heck.. I pulled my car out of a nasty skid on the highway.. twice. Hit ice on highway and my rear end was coming up to meet the front end. :-)

got my T belt, water pump tensioner and so fourth replaced. my next move is the cam chain tensioner and the chain(if needed). Ordering the gasket kit for it soon. have my oil changed regularly. in summer I do it. In the winter I end up paying 129.00 to have it done every 3-5000 miles depending on if i go on a long trip or not. use total quartz 5000. Thats what my Audi tech uses so I do also.

I think your comments are very helpful however doublezero30 says making a plan and researching is ridiculous.. possibly. It could be. It costs me nothing to be ready for a problem since anything can happen in life. Either way I appreciate your both your comments.

[doublezero30]

i was saying buying a new engine to keep as a spare is ridiculous(which to me it sounds like thats what you want to do), not making a plan. but as an on-the-go type of person, to me a plan is kind of ridiculous also, but i was never one to worry/plan ahead. i can understand some people are a little more worried about some things than others.

[PhunkFX]

Does cpcoop71 work for IBM? Completely over planned and under informed.

[BASARAB]

i was saying buying a new engine to keep as a spare is ridiculous

Yeah, this sounds crazy and just plain funny lol

[alpinestar180]

no offense cpcoop71, but you really don't need to go this crazy. take good care of your engine starting now and it should last at least 100k, unless you do something ridiculous with it or run sand for oil. These cars really aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. I am in the same situation as you, I got the car (a 2002 1.8t q m) with 73k on it last july, and it has been great. i have 103K on it now and its running like the day i got it. I maintain it well and it keeps on ticking. i assume it was taken care of before though.

in any case, even if you do blow your engine, just get it rebuilt. most times, in the case of an engine that needs to be rebuilt from high mileage, its just a question of replacing seals, bearings, and belts and some pumps as well as the gaskets and hardware that acompany them. Its not like you are going to need to mortgage your house to put new seals in the engine.

As long as you start maintaining your engine well NOW, it should keep you from encountering any total catastrophic failure regardless of what the previous owner did unless he was an absolute total moron. As long as you dont shoot a piston through the head, its not that big a deal to have the rings redone every 150k miles or so.

[cpcoop71]

I dont really over plan however getting to work is important to me. Having my car down too long means I have to get a rental car. When I owned a hyundai the whole car started to fail at once, including the engine. Hopefully the Audi does not have the same problem. It's true keeping a spare engine is more for race outfits..lol It's true I could just rebuild it if I have to.

[A4SoftWalker]

These cars are reliable as any other - given the maintenance.

I laugh any time I heard the summer Toyota advertising campaign where the "owner" said that his truck had over 95k on it and so was "VERY RELIABLE"

I am over 119k now myself.
Change the oil and do the preventive maintenance... enjoy

[widgget]

130k on my stage 3 car which is rock solid and has no sludge. i use Mobile 1 0w-40 synthetic and run an engine cleaner though about once a year (the kind you add to the oil and idel the car for 10 minutes before an oil change).

just keep up on the maintenance and you will be fine. if you really want a backup plan take that cash you were going to buy a spare engine with and just stick it in a savings account. would suck to have a new $4000 engine sitting in the garage when it's the transmission your car that needed to be replaced, catch my drift?

speaking of backup plans: coilpacks are always good to have in the car. they do loose power after awhile so i change mine out once a year and keep the old set in the trunk for emergencies. at $80 for a set of 4 coils it's worth it to do them once a year.

[PRY4SNO]

Total Energy 5000 is semi-synthetic. First thing to do is switch to Total 5w40 Energy 9000 and be secure knowing you're running full synthetic oil.

To answer your question regarding the 2.0T swap, it's not worth the hassle. That engine has as much if not more sludging issues and a swap needs the pedals, instrument cluster and more to be done properly.

Otherwise just heed the aforementioned advice and you'll be just fine.

[alpinestar180]

130k on my stage 3 car which is rock solid and has no sludge. i use Mobile 1 0w-40 synthetic and run an engine cleaner though about once a year (the kind you add to the oil and idel the car for 10 minutes before an oil change).

just keep up on the maintenance and you will be fine. if you really want a backup plan take that cash you were going to buy a spare engine with and just stick it in a savings account. would suck to have a new $4000 engine sitting in the garage when it's the transmission your car that needed to be replaced, catch my drift?

speaking of backup plans: coilpacks are always good to have in the car. they do loose power after awhile so i change mine out once a year and keep the old set in the trunk for emergencies. at $80 for a set of 4 coils it's worth it to do them once a year.

this used to be exactly what i did (as far as coilpacks), but with the new revision D packs is it necessary? i havent heard of any problems with them. have you?

[alpinestar180]

also, op, make sure you are running the "large" oil filter. The original filters that our cars came with were kind of small, so after a bit, audi basically doubled the size of the filter in order to catch more sludge and gunk. the old ones get gummed up much faster. The new one is about the size of a small coffee tin. the old one was just wider than a beer can and a little shorter.

[doublezero30]

I dont really over plan however getting to work is important to me. Having my car down too long means I have to get a rental car. When I owned a hyundai the whole car started to fail at once, including the engine. Hopefully the Audi does not have the same problem. It's true keeping a spare engine is more for race outfits..lol It's true I could just rebuild it if I have to.

the problem lies in the bold.

[rbj325]

also, op, make sure you are running the "large" oil filter. The original filters that our cars came with were kind of small, so after a bit, audi basically doubled the size of the filter in order to catch more sludge and gunk. the old ones get gummed up much faster. The new one is about the size of a small coffee tin. the old one was just wider than a beer can and a little shorter.

I was gonna say the only time I have ever personally seen a sludge issue the person was running a small oil filter and non-synthetic oil.

[windsorblue]

Not really looking for more power at the moment . just reliability. a contingency plan of sorts. I might spend about 20 mins a month on the forums. Give or take. Driving school is a good way to improve driving skill for everyone. I would like to think my skills are just slightly better then the average brake stomper at least. heck.. I pulled my car out of a nasty skid on the highway.. twice. Hit ice on highway and my rear end was coming up to meet the front end. :-)

got my T belt, water pump tensioner and so fourth replaced. my next move is the cam chain tensioner and the chain(if needed). Ordering the gasket kit for it soon. have my oil changed regularly. in summer I do it. In the winter I end up paying 129.00 to have it done every 3-5000 miles depending on if i go on a long trip or not. use total quartz 5000. Thats what my Audi tech uses so I do also.

I think your comments are very helpful however doublezero30 says making a plan and researching is ridiculous.. possibly. It could be. It costs me nothing to be ready for a problem since anything can happen in life. Either way I appreciate your both your comments.

If you are taking your car to a competent Audi Technician every 3-5k mi., you are well on your way to a well-maintained car with little to no unscheduled downtime. This is especially true if the vehicle is kept in near-stock form. If you want to start making maintenance plans; look to other wear prone systems of the car such as, suspension, brake, and the often neglected engine mounts. All of these areas will need to be addressed within the next 30,000-40,000mi.

Overall, very few of the cam tensioners or chains fail but the gasket between the tensioner and the cylinder head is a known weak area(expected life is usually 50,000-70,000mi.) If you are planning on doing the work yourself, take a look the the breather pipe that runs along the right(passenger) side of the cyl. head. The pipe will need to be moved out of the way, so have some hose clamps on hand to re-attach it as the factory clamps are single-use type.

I don't doubt your driving skill, but our cars do have ESP, quattro, and a natural aversion to oversteer(the rear of the car "coming around") so you may have had a little help from the men and women in Inglostadt ☺. Do yourself a favor and check-out the club and attend just one school. You will be amazed at what you learn, and the people are some of the nicest you will meet.

-Tom

[jumungi5]

Look after her and she will look after you, to coin a term. I have 320kms(200miles) on my AEB and she's never been opened, orig K03, normal maintenance with belts, tensioners,W/P etc.... . I've been running a 'tame' Neuspeed P chip since 120kms(14#, 2.8bar, stock inj/195hp) and oil analysis has not turned up any wear metal out of spec.