Higher mileage RS4 alright?

[Pengui6668]

Everything I've read says they're pretty solid well into the 100k range, but I'm not sure what to look for on one. I'm rather sure there's no timing chain issue like the S4 (metal guides vs plastic) and I know the engine gunks up with carbon and should be cleaned every 50k or so, but there's gotta be other issues. Suspension bits? Interior trim stuff? Rust spots?

I've decided a B7 RS4 is going to be in my collection sooner rather than later, bit I want to gather all the info I can before engaging in a Nationwide search. Let me know what else I need to be looking at please.

[Kenny147]

By the time you get to around 80k, either it’s gone through a first time refresh of all the wear and tear items or it hasn’t and you’ll need to spend an extra 10k for a properly sorted car that you’d be happy with.

Items I’m talking about probably include....

Carbon Clean,
Injectors
PCV
Breather hoses
Dashboard switches
Main window switch
Drivers door handle
Gear knob and parking brake handle
Pedals
Reconditioned seats
Full suspension refresh
Coolant tank
Refurbed wheels
Front and rear brakes
Clutch/Flywheel
Various oil gaskets
Starter
Alternator

It all depends on how much you’re willing to spend. There are some outstanding 100k cars out there and there are some real dogs.

[Fourplay]

Things to be on the lookout for on a 100K+ mile car:

-Corrosion on oil cooler (it's ridiculously expensive to replace)
-Fuel injectors should be replaced because they will get clogged and cause the car to run lean. Very bad if you are tuned (can be done during carbon clean)
-If the car never had the final DRC recall (or even if it did), DRC can leak and typically is replaced with a coilover setup
-PCV system usually has failed, cheap fix that can be done during carbon cleaning
-Aforementioned carbon cleaning
-Tie rods and control arm bushings usually will be shot by 100K miles, so those may need replacing
-Brakes will likely have been done at least once, but are ~$1500 in parts alone if they need doing
-Stock clutch is pretty robust if the car wasn't launched a ton. Labor to replace is pretty steep but the actual clutch kit itself is very cheap (~$150 IIRC)
-Motor mounts are fluid filled and can leak
-Almost every B7 Audi has a broken glovebox hinge and a broken armrest hinge. You can just epoxy it back together or spend a ton of money to buy a new one (that will break again)

Obviously you can spend more on cosmetic stuff, but the interior of these cars holds up very well.

I would budget $5k for the above work if you are taking the car to a shop, maybe $3k if DIYing. It's good to try to find a car with some of the above maintenance work completed and not deferred (for example a car with newer brakes and tires and the DRC already replaced with coilovers).

[AA 954]

Whats your timeframe for the purchase? We have a fairly large owners International Whatsapp group where a big chunk are in North America and not all are in this forum, 2-3 have shared their intention to sell in the coming months and most of the cars are in great shape and have had most of the maintenance items already addressed.

Kenny and Fourplay have given you a rundown on the items to look out for and that might need to be worked on. Setting aside 5K in some cases will also not be enough depending on what parts you decide to purchase, if you are mechanically inclined you can save a bit of money on labor...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[axnjaksn]

Things to be on the lookout for on a 100K+ mile car:

-Corrosion on oil cooler (it's ridiculously expensive to replace)
-Fuel injectors should be replaced because they will get clogged and cause the car to run lean. Very bad if you are tuned (can be done during carbon clean)
-If the car never had the final DRC recall (or even if it did), DRC can leak and typically is replaced with a coilover setup
-PCV system usually has failed, cheap fix that can be done during carbon cleaning
-Aforementioned carbon cleaning
-Tie rods and control arm bushings usually will be shot by 100K miles, so those may need replacing
-Brakes will likely have been done at least once, but are ~$1500 in parts alone if they need doing
-Stock clutch is pretty robust if the car wasn't launched a ton. Labor to replace is pretty steep but the actual clutch kit itself is very cheap (~$150 IIRC)
-Motor mounts are fluid filled and can leak
-Almost every B7 Audi has a broken glovebox hinge and a broken armrest hinge. You can just epoxy it back together or spend a ton of money to buy a new one (that will break again)

Obviously you can spend more on cosmetic stuff, but the interior of these cars holds up very well.

I would budget $5k for the above work if you are taking the car to a shop, maybe $3k if DIYing. It's good to try to find a car with some of the above maintenance work completed and not deferred (for example a car with newer brakes and tires and the DRC already replaced with coilovers).

can you describe symptoms of injectors failing? Will the car throw fault codes for lean running?? is there specific characteristics someone would notice?? just curious

[MYKMAC408]

regardless of all that stuff, still a fun weekend car.

[AA 954]

can you describe symptoms of injectors failing? Will the car throw fault codes for lean running?? is there specific characteristics someone would notice?? just curious

Can have codes or not, you can also perform one pull, no codes, injector fails and there goes your engine with no prior warning, at this point you are looking at a ~10k repair on the low side as long as you find a decent used BNS engine

Injectors, you can get the OEM Hitachis relatively cheap on Rockauto for ~55 each instead of the Audi Stamped Hitachis for 150+ each. The Clips that you will need for each injector are also available from Rockauto or Ebay.

If you have a Vagcom cable you can run a test to see how well the fuel rail holds pressure after turning the car off and then keeping the switch in the ON position, its not perfect as the pressure read will only be from one of the fuel rails that has the pressure sensor in it. If it increases in pressure then the risk of a leaky injector is quite low.

In any case you’ll get some mixed opinions of when to change but the majority of owners that I’ve chatted/spoken with will change their injectors during a carbon clean / ~50k miles


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Fourplay]

can you describe symptoms of injectors failing? Will the car throw fault codes for lean running?? is there specific characteristics someone would notice?? just curious

Best way is to log injector duty cycles/fuel trims. It will be readily apparent which ones are failing (exceeding 100% duty cycle for short or even long periods).

For peace of mind ($440 in injectors to save a $10K engine), you should do them every 100K, more often if tuned.

[S4Bennett]

A few more semi-typical problems areas. They’ll likely fail at some point; not as predictable as carbon clean or front UCA bushings. Higher mileage does increase chance of experiencing them.

Driveshaft support bearing - clunk when accelerating from dead stop
Shifter crossrod - obvious; loss of gear selection
Auxiliary radiators - visual for leaks
Headlight housing internal wiring insulation dry rot - visual and tactile inspection
3rd gear synchro - self explanatory

[RAudi Driver]

when does one know when to change injectors? do they give any tell tale sign of impending doom?

[axnjaksn]

Best way is to log injector duty cycles/fuel trims. It will be readily apparent which ones are failing (exceeding 100% duty cycle for short or even long periods).

For peace of mind ($440 in injectors to save a $10K engine), you should do them every 100K, more often if tuned.

i appreciate the feed back, i have genuine vcds cable, is it easy to log individual injectors?? I know how to see injector percentage on each bank for logging and tuning purposes, is that what your referring too?? Also how many of you have the JHM HPFP mod??

[mattshaver]

I've got almost 150k on mine. the comments here are spot on. I'd add:

Throttle body (go for a C6 Z06 tb with the silver plate, they're the exact same, it's what I have and is about $1200 less than the audi one)
Coolant expansion tank / leaks
Intake manifold solenoid / arms (though mine are still fine)
TPMS sensors (mine just started acting up, need to reset the codes or replace)

Honestly it's been pretty reliable for me. Wear and tear items are on par for German performance cars.


Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

[MugelloB7RS4]

I have 165K on mine and Its still worked pretty flawlessly. There have been some ups and down as it takes a little while to learn all the quarks and nuisances of these cars, but once they're sorted they're quite reliable.

I've had many of the issues listed above and some you can be proactive for and some you can't. I've done my best, kept the car as maintained as best as I can and it's been great.

The tricky part with any high mileage car is it's history. If it's been well maintained and by someone that sort of understands cars it could be a great car. Without that maybe not as much. So its tough to say. Alot of the issues above are good guides.

I saw someone made mention to HPFP upgrades. Those can be done but aren't necessary for a relatively stock car. FI cars will need them and you can elect to do them too, I've read that it can help prolong the life of the pump based on how much the solenoid would have to cycle, but the upgrade is more than the HPFP itself. I'm on my 3rd set of HPFP's and I guess hindsight is 20/20 but I may have been able to prolong their life with internal upgrades, but maybe I wouldn't have. Its not one of the more common upgrades done anyway.

[87vr6]

Injectors, you can get the OEM Hitachis relatively cheap on Rockauto for ~55 each instead of the Audi Stamped Hitachis for 150+ each.

I see this quoted everywhere.. And when i wanted/needed injectors, they were sold out with no ETA, so I had to go OEM. Lovely. 800+ later.

[AA 954]

I see this quoted everywhere.. And when i wanted/needed injectors, they were sold out with no ETA, so I had to go OEM. Lovely. 800+ later.

Geez, usually FCP and Rockauto are the go to places for this, you also buy the clips while at it or they came with the injectors?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Thruxton900]

Hey everyone, more specifically for the folks who've had their RS4 beyond 100k miles...

...the clock on mine is about to hit 86k, and thus far I've had zero issues. The DRC still seems good to go, I had a carbon clean out around 65k with new plugs and coil packs, but my injectors are the originals and my girl still pulls strong. No issues.

My clutch is getting a little spongy, so I know that's coming. I know the DRC will shit the bed sooner or later too, so I know that's coming as well. However, I'm curious for those over 100k miles, have you had timing chain issues at all. I know that the motors in the RS4 differ from those in the S4 of the B7 generation, nevertheless I wanted to find out how that was working out for you.

Let me know when you get a chance, thanks.

[AA 954]

Hey everyone, more specifically for the folks who've had their RS4 beyond 100k miles...

...the clock on mine is about to hit 86k, and thus far I've had zero issues. The DRC still seems good to go, I had a carbon clean out around 65k with new plugs and coil packs, but my injectors are the originals and my girl still pulls strong. No issues.

My clutch is getting a little spongy, so I know that's coming. I know the DRC will shit the bed sooner or later too, so I know that's coming as well. However, I'm curious for those over 100k miles, have you had timing chain issues at all. I know that the motors in the RS4 differ from those in the S4 of the B7 generation, nevertheless I wanted to find out how that was working out for you.

Let me know when you get a chance, thanks.

Out of ~200 owners in our whatsapp group, more than half are probably in the 100k plus group and I know of only one that had to have his timing chains changed.

There is another owner that recently pulled his engine out to change the rear coolant gaskets that go into the timing covers and he preventively also did his chains and guides even though the OEM ones were in good shape.

RS4’s in general do not suffer from the timing issues that the S4’s have

If theres something that would concern me more at your current mileage is the injectors, I had mine recently changed at 72k and even though there are owners high up there that have not changed them, I wouldn’t risk it after seeing what a few people are paying for used BNS engines or rebuilds


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Thruxton900]

Out of ~200 owners in our whatsapp group, more than half are probably in the 100k plus group and I know of only one that had to have his timing chains changed.

There is another owner that recently pulled his engine out to change the rear coolant gaskets that go into the timing covers and he preventively also did his chains and guides even though the OEM ones were in good shape.

RS4’s in general do not suffer from the timing issues that the S4’s have

If theres something that would concern me more at your current mileage is the injectors, I had mine recently changed at 72k and even though there are owners high up there that have not changed them, I wouldn’t risk it after seeing what a few people are paying for used BNS engines or rebuilds


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thank you...let me ask. How do bad injectors lead to needing a new motor? What "tell" should I make sure I don't overlook?

[jcmii]

I had an injector fail at about 88k. All other service and maintenance done. Mine failed with no warning on the freeway and started vibrating a tad with a CEL. Within about a minute it was shaking pretty bad. I pulled over and had it towed. Injector was stuck open and dumped into cylinder 8. No compression. Bought a new used motor with about 90k and I’m back in business about $10k later. I would recommend changing them now since everything else is done.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[AA 954]

Thank you...let me ask. How do bad injectors lead to needing a new motor? What "tell" should I make sure I don't overlook?

Faulty injectors can lead to either preignition or detonation, not good for any engine...

Personally I wouldn’t risk it to the point you start getting some initial signs while driving under normal conditions as this is not necesarilly how we drive the car, it just takes one pull and an injector to fail to destroy a good engine...

Logging misfire counts by cylinder or testing if the fuel rail maintains pressure after turning the car off are some ways to identify if an injector could be failing but no better guarantee than changing these with each ~50K CC, overkill, perhaps but just buy from FCP for the lifetime warranty...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Thruxton900]

Faulty injectors can lead to either preignition or detonation, not good for any engine...

Personally I wouldn’t risk it to the point you start getting some initial signs while driving under normal conditions as this is not necesarilly how we drive the car, it just takes one pull and an injector to fail to destroy a good engine...

Logging misfire counts by cylinder or testing if the fuel rail maintains pressure after turning the car off are some ways to identify if an injector could be failing but no better guarantee than changing these with each ~50K CC, overkill, perhaps but just buy from FCP for the lifetime warranty...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks once again, good to know. FCP, whose that? I was on ECS Tuning and saw a set of Hitachi's at a good price.

I'm seeing my mechanic today as a matter of fact, so I should have him run a diagnostic check to see if any misfires have been logged?

[AA 954]

Thanks once again, good to know. FCP, whose that? I was on ECS Tuning and saw a set of Hitachi's at a good price.

I'm seeing my mechanic today as a matter of fact, so I should have him run a diagnostic check to see if any misfires have been logged?

Fcpeuro.com or rockauto.com is where you can find the OEM Hitachis at probably the most reasonable price, you’ll also need the injector clips that you can get from ebay but it might be delayed now as they ship from China and before current events these used to take 3-4 weeks to arrive, these clips I think can also be found on rockauto at a more reasonable price than from the dealer


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Thruxton900]

Thanks again, have a great weekend...

[AA 954]

Thanks again, have a great weekend...

Np, let is know if anything else comes up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[jonan]

Best way is to log injector duty cycles/fuel trims. It will be readily apparent which ones are failing (exceeding 100% duty cycle for short or even long periods).

For peace of mind ($440 in injectors to save a $10K engine), you should do them every 100K, more often if tuned.

which blocks show duty cycle of injectors?

[jonan]

Hey everyone, more specifically for the folks who've had their RS4 beyond 100k miles...

...the clock on mine is about to hit 86k, and thus far I've had zero issues. The DRC still seems good to go, I had a carbon clean out around 65k with new plugs and coil packs, but my injectors are the originals and my girl still pulls strong. No issues.

My clutch is getting a little spongy, so I know that's coming. I know the DRC will shit the bed sooner or later too, so I know that's coming as well. However, I'm curious for those over 100k miles, have you had timing chain issues at all. I know that the motors in the RS4 differ from those in the S4 of the B7 generation, nevertheless I wanted to find out how that was working out for you.

Let me know when you get a chance, thanks.

bought mine with 70k miles, have over 103k miles now...i've replaced pretty much everything everyone listed about...biggest thing to worry about are injectors because they can toast the motor, i "track" mine daily =p

[AA 954]

bought mine with 70k miles, have over 103k miles now...i've replaced pretty much everything everyone listed about...biggest thing to worry about are injectors because they can toast the motor, i "track" mine daily =p

8k or bust


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Thruxton900]

Injectors replaced! Not only do I feel safe, but the throttle response, acceleration and idle are noticeably smoother.

[my_RS4]

Injectors replaced! Not only do I feel safe, but the throttle response, acceleration and idle are noticeably smoother.

You go with Audi branded or OE Hitachi ones?


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Thruxton900]

I went with a set of Hitachi's from ECS Tuning. $520 for the set. Hope you don't have bad news for me. My technician said he did the same thing with the same parts for another RS4 and all has been good.

[my_RS4]

I went with a set of Hitachi's from ECS Tuning. $520 for the set. Hope you don't have bad news for me. My technician said he did the same thing with the same parts for another RS4 and all has been good.

Nope, that's great.. That's what many of us have done. Just glad you saved some coin!


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Av8er2012]

Thanks for all the info posted in here guys. I just picked up my rs4 a couple months ago and it has 147k on it. Got good history of maintenance but I think the injectors are also next on my list. Did my first oil change on her today and I'm more in love than ever lol.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk