cyro

Hi, I have a rough night behind me, my A4 broke down in the middle of freaking nowhere. Here is the story and maybe you can help me answer some questions - thanks!

Driving up to a friend the oil light flashed on very briefly (2, 3 seconds). We were very close to our friends house, pulled in, checked the oil and were almost 2 quarts low. I was concerned but figured I add some oil (always got that handy) and should be able to make it home.

Boy was I wrong
On the drive home I noticed that the engine was getting hotter and hotter. The coolant temp soon reached max (oil temp stayed normal) and the warning light came on. We pulled over, opened the hood, carefully opened the coolant and found... LOTS OF OIL - Yikes! At that point I quickly renewed my AAA and called the towtruck.

So now my question: 5 weeks ago I had the car in for some repairs and the 50K/60K checkup, they pulled off the oilpan & cleaned it, replaced some V/C gaskets and changed oil & filter. Could the current engine troubles be related to that? Or is this something completely different?

Sorry, I'm new to gasoline engines, I'm pretty knowledgable with old Diesel Rabbits but not with A4

Thanks for any advice!

Sincerely,
-Cyro (stranded in Seattle)

EricQ

Judging on the timing, that service sure seem suspicious ! Could well be a leak on one of the gasket in the engine.
What color is the oil in the coolant ?
I had a similar trouble with oil in the coolant but that was ATF. Leak in the radiator where the ATF cooling chamber is. Water got in the tranny and oil got in the coolant. Almost killed the gearbox.
I'd get them to check the gaskets.

juliem

I'm suspecting the water-to-oil cooler or the turbo - the previous having a more frequent record of failure where fluids mix.

In the old rabbits, having that fail resulted in a story much like you told. Do you have coolant in your oil as well? Mayonaise effect? That's even worse cause it will cause damage to the bearings and other surfaces.

Report back...and good luck

cyro

Shop called: the oil pump was defective and oil pressure was 30 pounds above normal, oil cooler cracked and pushed oil into the coolant.

Replacing oil pump, coil cooler and flushing & cleaning the system will cost me $1400 - $1500 - YIKES!!!

Should they have checked the oil pump when I had it in the shop 5 weeks ago? The problem back then was an intermittant oil light coming on, they found a clogged screen in the oilpan, cleaned it and it's been running great since then until last night
If the oil light is flashing would/should the oil pump be something for the shop to check out?

Maybe I'm expecting too much...

Kinetic0510

They probably rigged something so this would happen purposely, cost to you = $1500 big ones...