DRC

I've been complaining to my dealer about a strong exhaust smell entering the cabin on moderate to hard acceleration so they finally set up an appointment with a factory rep, which was yesterday. The service rep, who is a friend of mine has ridden with me and has confirmed the smell - so I was hoping something could be done about it. They had the car all day and ran it through every test possible...engine, turbo, cat converters, seals, exhaust system, etc and found no leaks or anything out of the normal so could do nothing. I'm glad they find my car "normal" but the smell is being generated from SOMEWHERE and remains very active on acceleration.

I've read several posts here from others with the same problem and would like to know if any of your dealers have located the source and been able to put an end to this annoying invasive exhaust smell. If so, what did they do?

B-mike

Does it happen when the roof is open or closed, or windows open or closed?

JR

I remember discussing this with you several months ago. My dealer replaced the cat. converter and everything was fine for about one week. Since then, I have the smell enter the cabin on moderate to heavy acceleration. Now, I think I am getting used to it. At least you can only smell it in the driver's seat and passengers are usually not affected.

This is a strange problem and one that I have come to accept. On a different rant, my CD player does not work anymore. I get the ERR 1 message. I purchased a CD cleaner (the manual says its a dirty "laser" (Austin Powers/Dr. Evil lingo). It will not even play the CD cleaner CD. The gremlins have struck a fatal blow!

Good luck,

JR
'00 A4 1.8T qms APR, K&N
'00 A6 2.8F

EdP

I'd imagine te\he only leak that COULD get into the cabin AND get into the ventilation system would be a leak where the downpipe meets the turbo. Bad gasket?

B-mike

side rear wheel well, and sometimes it gets stuck open. This flap is to exhaust all the air inside the cabin. If it gets stuck open, you will likely get that smell. I kinda like the smell :>) Mike

DRC

The smell is obvious even with the windows up but naturally, is worse when the sunroof is open. Factory rep checked the rear vents mentioned by B-mike and are operating fine. Edward is right on target because after speaking to APR today about it, they knew exactly what I was talking about and said they'd come across this a few times before. The way I understand the explanation, it seems to originate at the flange where the cat converter mounts to the turbo. There's an internal weld that has been found to be defective on many vehicles and can't be seen by a normal visual inspection. At idle or under light acceleration, this weld sits tight against the connection, but under heavy load (acceleration) the turbo physically moves up from the torque and causes a gap where the weld has failed, allowing emissions/exhaust to escape and enter the cabin. This explanation fits my symptoms precisely. Unfortunately, the only way to check this is to remove the turbo.

I contacted my service rep today and informed him of my conversation with APR and the probable/possible cause of the smell. He's going to contact the rep and see if Audi will authorize the work under warranty since it's pretty involved and will require significant time just to remove the turbo and see if there is in fact, a faulty weld lurking in there. If not, they've spent their time for nothing on a "possibility" (in their eyes) offerd by APR. So it's going to be a touchy situation. As soon as I find out what they're going to do, I'll let everyone know.

With exhaust entering the cabin, I consider this a potential health related issue and personally think Audi should do everything possible to remedy it. We'll see how they handle it.