New owner - 2007 A6 V8 Quattro 77k miles

[kocyk123]

Hello everyone,

I bought my Audi on Saturday and it is my 3rd Audi. I used to have 1996 A6Q but it is sold already. I have 2001 A8L as my second car and I had it for about 5 years already. I had 2007 Acura TL as my daily driver but it was such a boring car that I sold it and was looking into getting a nice C6. I am so in love with the car, the comfort and all the features. I bought the car from the first owner and it has been well kept. Is there anything that I should be scared of as far as the maintenance of that gorgeous V8? I plan on doing the oil change at the dealership and have them inspect the car. The only issue I found was a little clutter when starting up the car sometimes. It happens only on warm engine. Seems like it is coming from the back of the engine... I also have AirBag light on that poped up when adjusting passengers seat. The dealer where I bought the car from said that they will fixed... Keep my fingers crossed.

Here are some pics of my C6 (love the ambience lights):

[ryanhmusic]

Congrats on the new car -- I'd check if its a chain or belt timed engine now...if its a chain, you might have the rattle issue that a lot of the b6/7 guys deal with. Its not super fun, but its also not the end of the world. Sorry I don't know enough about the c6 chassis to give you an answer on the engine!

The airbag light is probably just the connector under the seat and a pretty easy fix.

[kocyk123]

The more I read about it the more scared I get... ;-) I will be visiting Audi Dealership today so I will have them tell me all the specs on my engine (4.2 FSI). I hope it has the timing belt instead of the chains so the maintenance will be cheaper... I will lift up passengers' seat on my lunch break and will take a look at all connectors. Other than that I am so in love with the car... The smell of the inside, heated steering wheel and quiet cabin mmmm :-)

[FormulaElement]

It has the chain, but the FSI versions aren't affected by the timing chain guides that we know of yet. I have heard of a couple people having leaking head gaskets around 120k miles. Keep a eye on your coolant level and if it's disappearing and your car is running hot, don't drive it!

Other than that there carbon buildup that happens, you may want to get a carbon cleaning done around 100k miles.

[c@@kieMonsta]

The more I read about it the more scared I get... ;-) I will be visiting Audi Dealership today so I will have them tell me all the specs on my engine (4.2 FSI). I hope it has the timing belt instead of the chains so the maintenance will be cheaper... I will lift up passengers' seat on my lunch break and will take a look at all connectors. Other than that I am so in love with the car... The smell of the inside, heated steering wheel and quiet cabin mmmm :-)

I'll squash that hope for you right now. It has a chain and not a belt. Don't let that scare you though. The chain will last a long time. Just make sure to use high-quality synthetic oil and change it with regular intervals. The upper chain tensioners have been know to break on the 3.2, but that isn't any more difficult to repair than a timing belt and water pump. The jury is still out on the 4.2 FSI.

[kocyk123]

Ok, so what should be the suspect of that startup noise when engine is warm? Car temperature is steady and it seems like it is regular hot. I will have the car inspected today and hopefully there won't be any major maintenance required. I am so in love with the car that I want to keep it for few years. Thanks a lot for your input! I am aware of carbon buildup and it will definitely be on my future TO DO list.

[kocyk123]

I'll squash that hope for you right now. It has a chain and not a belt. Don't let that scare you though. The chain will last a long time. Just make sure to use high-quality synthetic oil and change it with regular intervals. The upper chain tensioners have been know to break on the 3.2, but that isn't any more difficult to repair than a timing belt and water pump. The jury is still out on the 4.2 FSI.

Cool. I will be doing oil change today with Mobile 1 5W30. That is what the mechanic recommended. Is this good viscosity for upcoming winter in Chicago? Do you happen to know how much it is to fix the tensioner? Thanks in advance

[c@@kieMonsta]

Cool. I will be doing oil change today with Mobile 1 5W30. That is what the mechanic recommended. Is this good viscosity for upcoming winter in Chicago? Do you happen to know how much it is to fix the tensioner? Thanks in advance

No idea, but I'd imagine it's pricey depending on who you go to. FYI there are tensioners on both engine banks. You don't need to worry about it unless they actually go or you happen to be re-sealing the timing chain covers.

[FormulaElement]

A video of the clutter sound would be really helpful. It could be so many things...

[kocyk123]

No idea, but I'd imagine it's pricey depending on who you go to. FYI there are tensioners on both engine banks. You don't need to worry about it unless they actually go or you happen to be re-sealing the timing chain covers.

It does not seem like the covers were touched before but I might be wrong. I will have my mechanic inspect the engine thoroughly.

A video of the clutter sound would be really helpful. It could be so many things...

I will record a video and post it later. Thank you all!

[c@@kieMonsta]

It does not seem like the covers were touched before but I might be wrong. I will have my mechanic inspect the engine thoroughly.

There is really no good way to tell unless the job was shoddy and the person doing it left a mess with the RTV sealant. They are all the way in the back and it's really hard to see them.

[kocyk123]

Copy that. I will make sure that my mechanic will take a closer look at it. I just picked up new carpeted floor mats from the dealership since the factory ones were gone... At least I have the fresh ones now :)

[kocyk123]

Here is the link to the video:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...103_153018.mp4

I just changed the oil and oil filter was really filthy. I stared up the car 3 times on warm engine so far and no clutter... That mechanic said that I should return the car or sell it asap since the engine will fall apart soon. I think that he was overreacting. I don't usually service my cars at this guy's shop but he is located 5 minutes away from where I leave so it was convenient. I have another guy that specializes in German cars and I serviced all my cars at his place but you always need to make an appointment and I needed to get the oil changed asap. Please let me know how does the noise sound to you. Thank you!

[FormulaElement]

It doesn't sound that bad, but that is strange sound for a warm engine to be making. Glad to hear the new oil fixed it, maybe the oil was low?

Sad to hear the oil was filthy, hopefully theres no sludge buildup.

Anyways i would definitely get a leak down and compression test done at a mechanic you trust or the dealer to really assess the health of the engine.

[kocyk123]

Yea, it was really strange... Started up the car again with no noise and I pray that it will stay that way. I hope that there is no sludge buildup... I will drop the car off at the mechanic I trust probably next week to have it fully inspected. So far, I found leaking oil pan but that is no biggie. Thank you all for help.

[sun_dance]

congrats on the ride...man that's a lot of red on those interior night pics ;) LOL. Also, I use Mobil 1 0w40 for all my needs.

[ryanhmusic]

congrats on the ride...man that's a lot of red on those interior night pics ;) LOL. Also, I use Mobil 1 0w40 for all my needs.

...ALL your needs?

[kocyk123]

congrats on the ride...man that's a lot of red on those interior night pics ;) LOL. Also, I use Mobil 1 0w40 for all my needs.

Thanks. I always loved Audis at night the most!

[sun_dance]

...ALL your needs?

it was late...meant to type "I use Mobil 0w40 for all my oil changes"...now it would get weird of I actually used it for "all my needs" LOL

[kocyk123]

Well oil change did not fix the issue. I still get that noise but to me it does not sound that really bad... yet ;-) However, it scares me when I think of paying all $$ to get rid of that problem... Do you guys know of any extended warranties for our cars? Again, it is 2007 A6 4.2 FSI with 77k miles. Thanks!

[jdevoid]

I bought an 06 A6 4.2 with 48k in January. Car is awesome.. My Audi tech buddy told me not to worry about any chain rattling-(just change oil with 5-40 syn oil.) He has been driving a 3.2 with a good rattle for 50k and it stills runs good. However, did you get the Carfax and/or service receipts from previous owner? You really want to see the history of oil changes and maint. If the PO had a poor oil change ritual then you may have an issue. Did the guy use SYN oil- or cheap out and use jiffy lube conventional oil or Rotella?

[Kevin1]

I bought an 06 A6 4.2 with 48k in January. Car is awesome.. My Audi tech buddy told me not to worry about any chain rattling-(just change oil with 5-40 syn oil.) He has been driving a 3.2 with a good rattle for 50k and it stills runs good. However, did you get the Carfax and/or service receipts from previous owner? You really want to see the history of oil changes and maint. If the PO had a poor oil change ritual then you may have an issue. Did the guy use SYN oil- or cheap out and use jiffy lube conventional oil or Rotella?

I was the original owner of a 2005 A6 4.2 and I had the oil changed every 5k miles at the dealership. Notwithstanding the fact that I changed the oil twice as often as recommended, I experienced the timing chain rattle and the resulting $10,000 repair. Your Audi tech buddy is simply wrong. The reason why he is wrong is that the problem is not the chain itself. Instead the problem with our motors is the PLASTIC guides for the chains that simply get old and brittle. The fact that it is an age issue with the plastic is shown by the fact that the issues were first reported by the owners of the 2005 model, it then started in the 2006 model and we are now starting to hear about it in the 2007 models. The plastic guides are ticking time bombs that oil changes can't save.

[kocyk123]

I think that it depends. In my case, I hear it for about a second and only when starting up the warm car. It does not rattle on the cold start at all. Shouldn't you experience constant rattling when your guides are broken? I think that in my case it is the tensioner but I might be wrong...

[jdevoid]

Yeah yeah KEVIN, I wanted to hang myself after speaking with you here back in January. I thought I was doomed. You certainly experienced 1 out of 1 million shit car. However, my Audi Tech buddy laughed at me. He works everyday on these cars and of course he knows the guides break but didn't seem concerned with his 3.2 with the same issue only much worse. He did suggest taking it easy on the car at startup. KEVIN I have no idea how you drove your car or where you drive. Who is to say you didn't beat the car up. For most of us just change oil, stay on top of service and enjoy. Kevin you got 142k on your car?

[Kevin1]

The issue appears to be age related, not miles related. Since my 05 was ordered 3 weeks after the C6 was released in the US, I got to enjoy all of the age related items first. LOL

As far as driving style, every hair left on my head is gray and I am old. I wish that I could drive with the young guns. However, the car was basically driven back and forth to work in rush hour traffic.

I hope that you don't get to experience the timing chain issues, but based on my experience and having followed the issue on the various forums it is a ticking time bomb as the cars age. Good luck.

[kocyk123]

Thank you Gentleman for your input. My mechanic had it checked and said not to worry about it yet. I will eventually need to do the whole chain work if I decide to keep the car. Within the two weeks of ownership I had to get new carpets since the originals were missing. Car died on me and it was due to high pressure pump that needed to be replaced and now I am facing low oil level error message (oil is max on the dip stick). I assume that it needs new OEM oil level sensor. So far I spent about $850 and there is much more to come... I still love and enjoy the car!

[kocyk123]

Few questions/issues on my car (I tried to gather all issue and questions regarding my new C6 and post them in one thread as recommended by SinCityA6):

1. Minimum Oil Level (Yellow) Message on MID - right after my first oil change, I got the message about low oil. I pulled to the side, waited about 10 mins and checked dip stick - no oil so I added a qt. Message was gone. few days later I got a message again while driving on the hwy. I pulled to the side - waited about 10 mins and checked the dip stick. Oil is full. Started up the car and no warning message. I researched it and it seems like oil level sensor needs to be replaced. I just ordered OEM oil level sensor from ECS tuning for $138 and hopefully that will solve the issue. (I did 300miles on the new oil so far and it looks good).

2. Coolant temperature gauge - I noticed that it takes a long time for the car to warm up according to the cluster. When it reaches its normal operating temperature it looks like that:

(picture borrowed from internet) - looks exactly the same as mine.
It does not look right since it should be perfectly in the middle. When I start the car after 3 or 4 hours of sitting then it warms up quicker according to the cluster. I am not experiencing any excessive heat coming from the engine bay. Do you think that it might be related to faulty coolant temperature sensor? I have just ordered OEM from ECS Tuning and I hope that this will also fix it.

3. Transmission - ohh boy, so scared to get your feedback on this one. I am not sure if anyone of you ever experienced it before or not. When I drive a car and then ease off the gas pedal I can feel slight "bump" (could not find better word to describe it). You really need to pay attention to notice that but is it something that I should worry about?

Some recent experience with the car:
Last week it left me stranded by the store. It didn't want start. I got ESP Fault message on MID along with ECP light and 3 engine codes:
P0087
P2296
P0174

It wouldn't start. I tried new battery, it started and ran for about 5 secons and it stalled. I towed it to my mechanic and he was able to find that high pressure fuel pump keept blowing the fuse. He replaced the pump and the issue was gone.

Overally I love the car! It is so nice, smooth and quiet on high speeds. I love to drive it on cold mornings since it has heated steering wheel and it really does magic. Interior is really unique and new premium carpeted floor mats make the car look brand new inside. I also freaking love the smell of the inside, especially when you turn the heating on. I don't know how to describe it but my D2 A8L smells the same when heating is on. It makes you feel like you drive really expensive car if you know what I mean :) I didn't have that in my ex Acura TL.

Thank you in advance!

[FormulaElement]

These cars have a error message for low oil level, and oil level sensors. I'm not sure why its only tripping the low oil level when it's full. Maybe a wire is loose or the sensor really is bad and the car doesn't know it. It's troublesome that your oil level was below the dipstick right after a oil change, think twice about going back to where you took it.

Maybe your thermostat is stuck open, making it take longer to warm up. After reading you use your heat its normal to take a while to heat up. My car takes 15-20 minutes of driving in the cold (32˚F) to warm up.

Also, your temp gauge should sit right above the half way mark, that is normal.

When you say "ease off the gas", does that mean you completely take your foot off the throttle or just decrease the throttle. Anyways i wouldn't worry about it.

[kocyk123]

These cars have a error message for low oil level, and oil level sensors. I'm not sure why its only tripping the low oil level when it's full. Maybe a wire is loose or the sensor really is bad and the car doesn't know it. It's troublesome that your oil level was below the dipstick right after a oil change, think twice about going back to where you took it.

Maybe your thermostat is stuck open, making it take longer to warm up. After reading you use your heat its normal to take a while to heat up. My car takes 15-20 minutes of driving in the cold (32˚F) to warm up.

Also, your temp gauge should sit right above the half way mark, that is normal.

When you say "ease off the gas", does that mean you completely take your foot off the throttle or just decrease the throttle. Anyways i wouldn't worry about it.

Thank you for your input. I will never go back to that place again. I was not able to go to my car mechanic at that time because I always need to make an appointment and I really wanted to get the oil change done asap.

Well, my car took the same amount of time to fully warm up at 32˚F two days ago early in the morning and that is actually what it takes to fully warm up.

By saying "ease off the gas" I meant to say that I take my foot completely of the gas pedal. I might be overreacting a little bit but it is always worth asking. Thanks!

[SinCityA6]

I agree with @Formula in not taking the car back to the facility that changed your oil. Sounds like they did not properly fill, start and top off the system. Since the oil filter is on the top of the motor, it takes a good amount of oil to push through and get to the filter which would explain the low oil on the first check.

As for the coolant temp, the position of the needle is normal. Mine sits right there as well. What is a "long time"? Are you letting the car come off high idle before driving?

The tranny concern is a non issue IMHO. These transmissions are so complicated and what I would call "active" in order to get the best fuel economy possible.

[kocyk123]

I will never go back there. When I was there for the oil change I wanted him to diagnose the rattle/knock noise on the startup and he said that I should sell or return the car ASAP. He said that friend of his had the same car and engine broke down at 70k and costed him $12k. I assume that his engine was running with no oil. Anyways, I took the car out of there ASAP. I had it inspected by my mechanic and he said that it is in a great shape. The only thing was the rattle but he said that I should not worry about it until I get the CEL with cam position fault. He quoted me for $5k for labor and all parts. I found another place where they can do it all for $3600 but I don't know them and not sure what parts are included and how reliable they are so probable wouldn't risk it.

I will get the oil level sensor replaced anyways and I will make sure that my mechanic will double check all the wiring.
By saying long time I meant 15-20 minutes as FormulaElement mentioned above. For some reason it just seemed too long... I always wait 3 - 5 minutes after starting up the car before taking off. I also make sure that it comes off the high idle (it usually takes around 1min)
I will keep an eye on the transmission. I appreciate all your feedback. It calms me down.. :-)

[kocyk123]

Update

Hello everyone. I was able to resolve an issue with a message of low oil level popping on the MID. I ordered OEM oil level sensor ($138) and swapped it yesterday along with an oil change. Drove the car for over 80 miles and nothing popped up yay! It usually came up after driving ~40 miles. However, when we removed the sensor, I stuck my finer inside the oil pan and found some oil/sludge buildup. The top of the engine seems clean since there is no buildup on oil cap and also whatever you can see through oil hole is clean. I will be dropping oil pan next week and have the shop inspect it. Have a safe Holiday weekend everyone!

PK

[SinCityA6]

Congrats on the fix!! Also, thanks for updating as the more information that gets posted, the better for all of us!

[kocyk123]

Hello again,

I am looking to get VCDS and I am not sure which is the right one. I found many of them on Amazon but I want to make sure that I get the right one. Could someone guide me, please? Thank you in advance!

PK

[FormulaElement]

http://www.ross-tech.com

Most people get the HEX-USB+CAN unlimited VIN

[SinCityA6]

Do yourself a favor and buy a genuine Ross-Tech VCDS cable and not some generic ODBII scanner. It is a little more expensive, but You will be able to diagnose so much more and do so much more. There is a forum advertiser here that sells it and offers free shipping. Europaparts.com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kocyk123]

Thank you Gents! Will be getting it soon.

Another question....

While I had my intake removed due to leaking oil from oil cooler I asked my mechanic to do the carbon cleaning. He cleaned it up and now my question is how do I prevent or at least slow down the buildup? I spend around 2k on the regular and preventive maintenance since I got the car about a month ago and will definitely like to keep it for a longer time. I read some other forums and people put BG 44K every couple gas fills but I don't really trust any of the cleaners...

Thank you,
PK

[ichi d]

Don't idle your car if you don't have to and drive it hard! The engine needs to be hot to burn off some of the carbon.

[kocyk123]

Makes sense. Thanks! I just picked up my car from the shop and I noticed that it starts up as soon as you hit start button. It used to crank longer before it would start up. Mmmm love it! My mechanic recommended using g001770a2 every 2-3 gas tank fills.

http://www.audiusaparts.com/oe-audi/g001770a2

[SinCityA6]

Our motors are all direct inject motors so any additives to the fuel will do very little to combat carbon build up becasue the fuel is sprayed directly into the combustion chamber and never hit the back side of the valves. The carbon is a by-product of the PCV/emmisions system that is routing crankcase air back into the intakes. This will generaly contain trace amounts of oil, etc which lands on the valvues and carbonizes from the engine heat, etc. Some owners in the B7 S4/RS4 forums have used "catch cans" to try and filter the air from the motor before entering the valve train. I cant speak to thier success.