ron584

I have seen posts about the sludge problems with turbo engines, but has anyone had problems with the 3.0? I purchased a 2002 A4 3.0 about 8 months ago for my kid to drive to college. I bought it with 99,000 miles and it now has 106,000. This vehicle has always been serviced by the original owner at the dealer and is documented. I have also gone to the dealer for all service.It had the timing belt replaced at 94,000 miles also by the dealer. Last weekend she came home from school (about 140 mile drive) and when she got off the highway the red oil pressure light came on. She shut the engine down and started it back up about 15 minutes later and the light was out. She drove home about 5 miles and it did not go back on. The following day I checked the oil level and took it for a test drive. After some high revs the light went on. I let it settle down and it went off. At this point I felt it was either the oil pump or clogged pickup screen. So I sent her back to school on the bus and I had the car towed to the dealer to avoid further damage. Today I got a call from the service manager and he confirmed what I feared. The oil pan is full of sludge and the pickup and pump are too. They said it will be about $1,000 to clean the engine and replace the pump.
My question is if this car was serviced by Audi in compliance with their service intervals how could it be full of oil sludge? Has anyone heard of Audi making good for this problem in a 3.0L? Is it worth complaining about and who would I write to? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

lyleswk

Rare, but I have read of stories with the 3.0 and sludge. I would try to deal directly with Audi USA; dealer may not want to spend the time with them and just have you drop $1000. If you have full records, you may have a chance. What happened with me and my Nissan (emissions issue) is I set up an appointment with a Tech Rep at the dealer to review the issue face to face. I ended up with a new $750 part and associated labor.

Good Luck.

jimko

It may be worth giving it an Auto-RX or Marvel Mystery oil treatment, maybe even change the oil pressure switch before you shell out $1000. If you still need to do it, I would take it to an Audi Indy to get it done for less.
Funny, I just purchased an 02 3.0L manual with 93K miles for my daughter too. One of the first things I did was to give it an Auto-RX treatment.

lyleswk

Okay, 3 of us spoiling our children. My 1.8t "belongs" to my son who is 16. Anyway, that sounds like a good start as well. If the dealer already has the pan down, make sure they clean / replace the oil pickup screen before putting it back together. A picture of a clogged pickup tube is in the link below...and could be your problem period.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ghlight=pickup

ron584

I finally got the car fixed it only took a month. I did contact Audi USA and they did nothing for me. The dealer took off the oil pan and found a ton of sludge. The oil pickup screen was cleaned as well as the oil pump. They then removed the valve covers to check the top end but there were no problems in the heads. Total cost $900 but at least the car is running good again and they replaced the recalled ignition coils while it was in the shop. Just goes to show you, fathers will do anything to make their kids happy. If it had been my car I would have sent it to the junk yard. Anyway thanks for the replies, and yes we do spoil our children.