Life expectancy of the 1.8T and CVT transmission

[thedoc46]

Hey all,

So ok, I'm not a modder. But I'd like to hear people's opinions on what they reckon is their best guess on the life expectancy of the 1.8T engine and the CVT tranmission mileage wise on a B6..

All stock, and having all the service schedule met like clockwork. How many miles do you reckon you could clock up before running into issues. I'm not talking about replacing the clutch plates or TCM on the tranny. I mean complete failure, on the engine or tranny.

At the very least, what mileage would you say, you're now running at a high risk of something v.expensive going wrong.

[Pothole]

300,000,000,001

[Charles.waite]

The CVT? Any day now.

The 1.8t. I would peg it at 300k.

/pure conjecture

[walky_talky20]

How often are you changing the fluid in the CVT? How often are you changing the oil in the 1.8T?

If you have to think about those answers for more than 2 seconds, it does not bode well.

[Elliott]

There are WAY too many variables to make an accurate prediction. There are plenty of 1.8T's with over 200k miles, some of them have grenaded at 30k miles. As long as you keep up on basic maintenance, your odds of long life are much improved but there's no accounting for premature failure. The CVT (in my opinion) was poorly designed from the factory but likewise some people have had great luck with them and others, not so much.

[thedoc46]

Well, my car has only ever had the Castrol Syntec SAE 5-40W & audi filter put in, every 10k or 12months, and the CVT oil changed twice now (by Audi ensuring the correct stuff was used)

The TCM which i know is the weakest link in the CVT has already been replaced, and is currently under warranty.

Bottom line, I love my Audi, I have no payments to make on it, & its only got 50k on the clock, but i was thinking about selling it.. But to get anything comparable I'm gonna have to put a heck of a lot down...

Given the TCM has already been replaced, i'm thinking it would be silly to sell it now, for well, not a lot i guess. The car has been bullet proof outside of the TCM, and given that I'm uber careful, the car still looks and drives new.

[Audi Skate Snow]

[DownhillA4]

Well, my car has only ever had the Castrol Syntec SAE 5-40W & audi filter put in, every 10k or 12months

Oil changed every 10,000 miles!? I change my oil every 2,500-3000 miles. Manual says to change every 5,000 miles.

[ReniA4]

i change the oil every 3000 miles, and the cvt one every 30k. 90k currently stage 1+, thanks god runs still strong

[walky_talky20]

i change the oil every 3000 miles, and the cvt one every 30k. 90k currently stage 1+, thanks god runs still strong

^Observe: This is how you keep your Audi running a long time. 10k oil changes? Not so much.

OP, I'd say you're doing good on the CVT end of things. Keep changing the fluid every 30k and go easy on the launching and getting 100k+ out of it probably won't be an issue. On the 1.8T side of things, I'd be willing to bet that car will have oil pressure problems sometime before 100k-ish. I'd accelerate the oil change interval to 5k/6 months at the most. Be prepared for the oil pressure warning. Have a plan in place. Said plan should include turning off the engine immediately and towing the car for service at the first warning. This should facilitate a cheap repair instead of something major. Nothing kills a 1.8T like oil starvation...or t-belt failure. Steer clear of those and 100k+ is no problem.

IMHO, 100-120k is a good time to dump one of these cars (the other good time is just out of warranty). Much past 120k and things can start adding up and getting expensive. If you love the car and are in it for the long haul, you can put in the maintenance and keep her going. For some people that's a bit too much love to give. I'd say keep it until 90k-ish and start looking, especially with the CVT. If you feel problems coming on with the trans though, you may want to accelerate the schedule. Good Luck.

[thedoc46]

Oil changed every 10,000 miles!? I change my oil every 2,500-3000 miles. Manual says to change every 5,000 miles.

Manual and service schedule says 12months or 10k, whichever comes first. I think there's a big difference in US mentality to European mentality. No cars in Europe are ever expected to change the oil at 3k, yet all people in the US feel its nessecary. All US car manufacturers says 3k, yet German say 10k. Actually Merc Benz say every 13k, providing you use the correct stuff.

Not being a chemist, i don't know for sure, but I think the Germans would have put it to the test and decided that 10k was more than good enough. I am aware of the sludge problem, but once again, i think this is mainly down to people putting the wrong oil in their cars and not following the manufacturers recommended vicosity. The wrong oil every 3k is probably doing more damage then the right oil every 10k. If you're using the wrong stuff.

Audi also sent me a letter saying they'll warranty against the oil pressure (sludge prob) up until 120k, or 10yrs, providing that we keep the receipts for the oil changes. For that reason, I've made video recordings of each time I've done the change.

[Dubsport Inc]

Manual and service schedule says 12months or 10k, whichever comes first.

That is why these engines have so many problems... I have been a VW/Audi mechanic for 15 years, believe me 3000 mile oil change will save you a lot of money in the long run! Pay a little bit now or a whole lot later!
HTH

[onceover]

I've heard from my friend thats an audi tech that they constantly get CVT's with TCM's that fail every 40-60k even if theyve been replaced.

That would be the part that will fail most commonly

[thedoc46]

I've heard from my friend thats an audi tech that they constantly get CVT's with TCM's that fail every 40-60k even if theyve been replaced.

That would be the part that will fail most commonly

Yeah, mine went at 37k, this is most certainly the weakest link. Could be quite dangerous too, since often it just looses complete drive, and you're just left sitting there. I'm suprised they didn't do a recall on it.

[ANDROID184]

IMHO, 100-120k is a good time to dump one of these cars (the other good time is just out of warranty). Much past 120k and things can start adding up and getting expensive. If you love the car and are in it for the long haul, you can put in the maintenance and keep her going. For some people that's a bit too much love to give. I'd say keep it until 90k-ish and start looking, especially with the CVT. If you feel problems coming on with the trans though, you may want to accelerate the schedule. Good Luck.

I know, tell me about im at 135k, not 1.8t/cvt am 3.0/tip(quattro). Atleast, audi put a new tip in it at 99.5k under cpo warranty. Sorry for thread jack

[Sam091990]

Well, my car has only ever had the Castrol Syntec SAE 5-40W & audi filter put in, every 10k or 12months, and the CVT oil changed twice now (by Audi ensuring the correct stuff was used)

The TCM which i know is the weakest link in the CVT has already been replaced, and is currently under warranty.

Bottom line, I love my Audi, I have no payments to make on it, & its only got 50k on the clock, but i was thinking about selling it.. But to get anything comparable I'm gonna have to put a heck of a lot down...

Given the TCM has already been replaced, i'm thinking it would be silly to sell it now, for well, not a lot i guess. The car has been bullet proof outside of the TCM, and given that I'm uber careful, the car still looks and drives new.

Manual and service schedule says 12months or 10k, whichever comes first. I think there's a big difference in US mentality to European mentality. No cars in Europe are ever expected to change the oil at 3k, yet all people in the US feel its nessecary. All US car manufacturers says 3k, yet German say 10k. Actually Merc Benz say every 13k, providing you use the correct stuff.

Not being a chemist, i don't know for sure, but I think the Germans would have put it to the test and decided that 10k was more than good enough. I am aware of the sludge problem, but once again, i think this is mainly down to people putting the wrong oil in their cars and not following the manufacturers recommended vicosity. The wrong oil every 3k is probably doing more damage then the right oil every 10k. If you're using the wrong stuff.

Audi also sent me a letter saying they'll warranty against the oil pressure (sludge prob) up until 120k, or 10yrs, providing that we keep the receipts for the oil changes. For that reason, I've made video recordings of each time I've done the change.

Just because the manual says 10k it doesn't mean it's a good idea. I believe VW claims 1 qt. of oil consumption every 2,000 miles to be normal or something like that. Well, let's say you have a 2.0 TSI (which takes about 5 qts.) and you do your oil change every 10k, then by what they claim you'd be out of oil before your next oil change.

The extended warranty coverage for the oil sludge issue is 8 yrs. and unlimited mileage. I do believe it is only covered if you have paperwork and receipts from an Audi dealer or licensed shop so your video recording might not be accepted.

[fla4sline]

^ the oil sludge warranty CAN be up to 10yr, unlimited mileage IF you are not the original owner OR can't show records of regular oil changes. It's kinda like grandfathering in your car from that point in time.
They will accept reciepts for oil and filter done DIY, as long as its in the manufacturer's specified time frame and all other service (ie 15,000, 30,000, etc) have been up to date. Just went through this with the dealer here who said I didn't need to worry about it with my car, but I showed him the lawsuit, the recommendations from Audi, and that my VIN fell in the range.
As for the 3000 mile oil change, IMHO, I think we're not gonna see it change much with these particular cars due to liability and reliability issues. In the very near future, the limits are going to go up. We are already at 3,750+ miles for most conventional oils and 5,000+ for synthetic oils.

[thedoc46]

Yes, my other car (or should I say the wife's) is a VW Gti 2.0T and that drinks a quart every 2000miles. I just top it up every 500miles, and still maintain the 10k oil change. The manual also states you should check your oil before every use. The service interval doesn't take into account the fact that you need to top up every so often, even though I've refreshed my oil just by the changes.

[thedoc46]

So do you guys think its worth doing some preventive on the oil sludge problem? It's the tube from the pump that eventually becomes blocked isn't it? What is amount of labor in hrs req'd to take this apart and have it cleaned, ensuring you'll get another good amount of time before 'expecting' the oil pressure light to come on.

Also I have to question, given that Audi now warranties against the problem, surely given the cost to replace an oil starved engine, why do they not do a recall? or at least a maintenance recall to clean it out every 50k or so, to keep it well within the safe limits.

If we do decide to just run with it, and the oil pressure light does come on and you kill the engine immediately and get the car towed, what sort of costs are you looking at? Same as above? or are the chances are you've gone and done more than what the preventive would have taken care of? Obviously if you drive it home, bye bye engine, but what I'm saying is if you kill it right away, is it any worse off, than just doing a preventive clean prior?

[Sam091990]

So do you guys think its worth doing some preventive on the oil sludge problem? It's the tube from the pump that eventually becomes blocked isn't it? What is amount of labor in hrs req'd to take this apart and have it cleaned, ensuring you'll get another good amount of time before 'expecting' the oil pressure light to come on.

Also I have to question, given that Audi now warranties against the problem, surely given the cost to replace an oil starved engine, why do they not do a recall? or at least a maintenance recall to clean it out every 50k or so, to keep it well within the safe limits.

If we do decide to just run with it, and the oil pressure light does come on and you kill the engine immediately and get the car towed, what sort of costs are you looking at? Same as above? or are the chances are you've gone and done more than what the preventive would have taken care of? Obviously if you drive it home, bye bye engine, but what I'm saying is if you kill it right away, is it any worse off, than just doing a preventive clean prior?

If they do a recall then they HAVE TO repair it. Right now they only have to repair it if there is a problem. Also, if I'm not mistaken, a recall should fix the issue permanently and I really don't think they have a way of doing that.

[codyS4]

My car's original owner had his 1.8T grenade at 60k miles. Oil starvation from a bad oil pump, if I remember correctly.

[onlyaudis]

5000 miles is a good interval for oil changes on turbo charged cars.you can probably go 7500 to 10,000 on synthetic oil on non turbo cars without any long term damage. you can really see a huge difference in the quality of the waste oil at 5000 miles compared to 10,000 miles on our 1.8T cars though, especially if they are modified for more boost. . we just did mine at 5000 miles, and the audi specialist said that was about max you can go and still be getting top notch lubrication on these cars, even using the exotic synthetics. 3000 miles oil changes aren't needed anymore on any modern car. that is the 1960's intervals on older technology cars. waste of money and resources at that point.