Looking at 19 S5, engine issues???

[supremedk]

Long time Audi owner currently owning a B8Sq5 and B7 A4 Avant. Looking at a 19 S5, 40K miles. I work in the professional racing world so I no longer work on road cars am not up to date on common issues on them. My buddy owns a shop and says run from these cars as they suffer ring land issues, saying they have replaced 2 engines.
Doing research I have seen the rocker arm failures but not a ton of piston issues. Some info on Cyl6 losing compression on mostly IE tuned cars.
Really like this S5, super clean, but not looking to buy problems.
Any info on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!!

[JohnEnglish]

Never heard of anyone having piston issues and the rocker arm issue only really impacts the 2018 models.

[supremedk]

I have found a few, not Rampant but it is happening

https://www.reddit.com/r/Audi/s/pL6BjT4TEj

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...engine-failing
Quote from another. “there is a known issue with engines blowing on this platform. It’s usually cylinder 6. Interested to hear what the dealership says.

The first Reddit link is from here in Arizona and the letter from a local shop, I know some of the management there so I am going to go talk to them. E mail said they won’t even tune the 3.0Turbo any longer, see if that is still the case.

It may not be a big talking point here but there does seem to be some validity to this issue.


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[JohnEnglish]

I have found a few, not Rampant but it is happening

https://www.reddit.com/r/Audi/s/pL6BjT4TEj

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...engine-failing
Quote from another. “there is a known issue with engines blowing on this platform. It’s usually cylinder 6. Interested to hear what the dealership says.

The first Reddit link is from here in Arizona and the letter from a local shop, I know some of the management there so I am going to go talk to them. E mail said they won’t even tune the 3.0Turbo any longer, see if that is still the case.

It may not be a big talking point here but there does seem to be some validity to this issue.


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There were a bunch of cars with a blown cylinder 6 during last years summer heat wave. Most, if not all, were running IE's tune. I haven't heard much from IE since then. I've never heard of any shop refusing to tune the 3.0. There are tons of them out there so it's not surprising that a couple may have problems. You also run into the issues of random shops thinking they know how to tune by cranking the boost up to 11 and then blaming the engine when it fails.

[supremedk]

I saw the “IE related” cyl 6 issues. I found one thread stating ring land failure, but it didn’t go into depth, trying to find it again.

The shop linked above (AZeuros) is an 034 dealer, not a custom tuner, so I’m assuming that’s the flash they won’t do, not that’s it’s an 034 problem, it’s just who they deal with. But it sounds like they have seen issues, I will talk to them today.

My other buddy who said his shop replaced two engines and to stay away, I trust him, but I be also have been in the Audi world for 20+ years as a tech and am capable of digesting the info and forming a pretty accurate assessment of situations, and mine says, like you mentioned, there are tooonnnsss of these engines out there running great, even being pushed to their limits, and doing well.

I do live in the Phx area, so it’s hot. That being said I travel a lot and my summer driving is limited and I also drive pretty conservatively, a spirited run down a highway on ramp is usually the most my cars see. My dual pulley E40 SQ5 has been over 100 maybe once

I really like the S5 I found, right color, right interior, low miles…..


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[supremedk]

Talked to my guys and they showed me 4 different cyl6 pistons from cars with different tunes, all failed through the lands above the wrist pin from a failing #6 injector. Assuming the injector fails open, fills the cylinder and that’s the weakest point for the pressure to get through.
Pic posting here is apparently broken otherwise I’d post the pic.


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[LYFESGD]

Just as info, check to see if the failures were running Ethanol tunes. That seems to be the major causes. I have a 2018 S5 that has been tuned since 2022. Started with Stage 1 IE (E40 file) progressed to Stage 2 with 034, after IE no longer supported E40 file, and now Stage 3 with 034 with a TTE710 (93 file). Have not had any problems at all. Maintenance of course at shorter intervals. Daily driven as well.

[supremedk]

I will! Now that I know that the actual
Failure is an injector and the damaged piston is a result, I am changing my search wording and getting better info.

As you mention, a lot of the results are questioning E tunes and the higher duty cycles affecting the injectors. I have run E40 for a while now and was going to go that route if I got the S5.


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[LYFESGD]

Not sure if anyone is supporting an E40 file. Most are E60-E85. I am actually running E18-20 blend on the 93 file with stock injectors.

[supremedk]

I’m out of the hunt for a B9 S5. Went to my friends shop and looked at the pistons they pulled out of 4 3.0T engines that came through the shop.

6 of them in the last 1.5 years.

Was originally looking at RS5, maybe it’s back to those.


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[JohnEnglish]

I’m out of the hunt for a B9 S5. Went to my friends shop and looked at the pistons they pulled out of 4 3.0T engines that came through the shop.

6 of them in the last 1.5 years.

Was originally looking at RS5, maybe it’s back to those.


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The RS5 uses basically the same engine as the S5 just with slightly lower compression and a twin turbo setup. I'd ask what's going on with those cars that your friend has seen 6 come through in a 4 year period.

I mean it's up to you since it's your money and you need to live with the decision but you seem to have made up your mind in the first post based what your friend has told you so I don't think anything anyone here will tell you will make a difference.

[Boostd4]

Just as info, check to see if the failures were running Ethanol tunes. That seems to be the major causes. I have a 2018 S5 that has been tuned since 2022. Started with Stage 1 IE (E40 file) progressed to Stage 2 with 034, after IE no longer supported E40 file, and now Stage 3 with 034 with a TTE710 (93 file). Have not had any problems at all. Maintenance of course at shorter intervals. Daily driven as well.

I'd be willing to bet money that this is going to make up a majority of the major engine failures. Ragged edge big turbo E85 cars with stock longblocks scare me regardless of the tuner. Coming from my GTR experience, very few went past stock turbo and bolt-on E85 setups without building the engines/transmissions. The TTE810 cars making obscene amounts of power "can" be reliable...but users shouldn't be surprised when stuff starts going south much sooner than normal.

[supremedk]

John, I would love to have my mind changed, I really liked the S5 I found. But it is hard to ignore a stack of pistons and another shop
Owner here telling me the same thing.

I do find it strange that right around the corner I find one thing and here I find something totally different. Not saying either are dead set right or wrong but it just makes all the info a little harder to digest. It could be a possibility that the Arizona heat and complete garbage 91 fuel we have play a part…..
I can safely say I am conflicted


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[JohnEnglish]

John, I would love to have my mind changed, I really liked the S5 I found. But it is hard to ignore a stack of pistons and another shop
Owner here telling me the same thing.

My point is those are clearly outliers. If that was the norm, you'd have every shop with multiple engine replacements and pages and pages of people complaining about the issue. But again, your mind is obviously made up and that's fine. Just be aware that you're giving outliers the same weight as statistical norms.

[jdm-v35]

John, I would love to have my mind changed, I really liked the S5 I found. But it is hard to ignore a stack of pistons and another shop
Owner here telling me the same thing.

I do find it strange that right around the corner I find one thing and here I find something totally different. Not saying either are dead set right or wrong but it just makes all the info a little harder to digest. It could be a possibility that the Arizona heat and complete garbage 91 fuel we have play a part…..
I can safely say I am conflicted


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It seems like the main consensus on the issue was a combination of AZ heat, a tune and questionable fuel quality. I think the main difference between the S5 having this issue and not the RS5 is that the lower compression buys it more margin of safety. If you are not going to abuse the car and push it hard all the time I would not hesitate to buy an S5.

[humphammer]

I have a 2018 S5, that has the suspect engine with the rocker arm failures. It has an 034 93 octane tune and I've never had any issues at all with it. I don't track it but do occasionally find a curvy two-lane backroad for some spirited driving. I did go away from the factory recommended 0W-20 with a higher viscosity oil. It might not help at all but in my mind it does. Any engine that you track often or generally run the piss out of it is subject to fail IMO.

[chineseunicorn]

I have a 2018 S5, that has the suspect engine with the rocker arm failures. It has an 034 93 octane tune and I've never had any issues at all with it. I don't track it but do occasionally find a curvy two-lane backroad for some spirited driving. I did go away from the factory recommended 0W-20 with a higher viscosity oil. It might not help at all but in my mind it does. Any engine that you track often or generally run the piss out of it is subject to fail IMO.

Same here with the exact same setup. Also went to 5w30 long ago. At 110k now with zero issues.


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