looking@audi

Received my letter today. Has anyone asked Audi what driving conditions are most likely to cause this issue?

"Audi has determined that, under certain driving conditions, carbon buildup can occur on the engine cylinder head secondary air ports."

subterFUSE

Would there be any proactive steps we could take to prevent this carbon buildup?

i.e. using a fuel system additive?

jr'sAudiA6

I received my letter Friday and it mentions that the warranty extension is for the Emissions Control Systems and specifically for the engine cylinder head secondary air ports. I really have very little concern for this issue but if the problem should arise within this extended warranty period all the better.

dht34

Received my letter yesterday.

Satch0922

For the life of me I don't know why unless you have enough good fortune to have nothing else to expend energy on.

"If" your car has a problem, it's covered. Not much to worry about. How about the 4000 other things that could fail that wont be covered? :-)

Sorry , but life's too short

snagitseven

You have a PM.

Midwestuser1

Read this thread. I have an 08 A6 3.2 and it suffers from the carbon build up issue. There does not appear to be a way to prevent it. There are a few myths out there though that I personally don't believe at all: Myth 1: Drive it like you stole it will help. Myth 2: Using top tier gas and only audi approved oil will help.

Several RS4 DIY'er have done both of the above with NO affect on the carbon build up as it still happened. A fuel system additive won't do anything as our engines are direct injection therefore fuel never hits the intake area like it did/does on port injection engines.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...gathread/page3

Maverick61

that thread does not give one a warm and fuzzy feeling

Midwestuser1

I did a lot of reading on this issue prior to purchasing my A6 used. You could ignore it until it gets to the point of triggering a CEL for a poor cold startup. Then get the manual carbon cleaning done. It also seems that the other manufactures that utilize direct injection that don't have this issue also added a secondary port injector that still washes the valves.

What doesn't make sense though is how this issue still cannot be designed around 8+ years after direct injection has been around with a better designed crank case ventilation system.

MileHighJC

Received my letter today.

Since my intent has always been to keep this car for a long time, carbon build up is a concern for me. Glad Audi is stepping up to cover it (whether forced or not), but appears this could be a big ticket item if it manifests after the 100K miles. I really wish we knew definitively what the "conditions" are that precipitate the problem, or what can be done to help prevent it.

This is a reason why I don't regret buying the Audi Care - glad it will be serviced by Audi for a while yet. Ill plan on taking the letter with me for the 15K service (imminent) and see if service has any ideas for mitigation.