tdooley

I have a big problem.

2016 Allroad with 79,000 miles. My local mechanic has been using natural oil for the past many oil changes. Have always changed oil on time, like every 8K miles.

Got EPC dashboard warning and engine check light on. Codes talked about cam timing.

Car is at local Audi dealer now. They replaced timing chain but engine still ran poorly, rough. They found play in the camshaft due to wear. Now are replacing camshaft. Incredibly expensive. No extended warranty.

Is this trouble due to use of normal oil? If so, seems remainder of engine is subject to similar failure.

thanks,
tom

MarkDoronin

what do you mean, regular oil?

mikeru

If by "natural oil" you mean non-synthetic then I'd say that it's a little more complicated than that. Synthetic oil is recommended by Audi, especially if you are pushing the normal oil change schedule of 10k miles/12 months. If running non-synthetic oil I'd decrease those intervals by at least half, to 5k/6 months, if not less. I have no way of knowing whether your engine issues were caused by the oil or OCI interval. I've read that the 2.0L engines in all B8's all can have timing chain/oil consumption issues. But you certainly didn't do it any favors by your choice of oil used. You also didn't differentiate whether you have an A4 or A6 Allroad.