Liamfmvt

A few weeks ago the car was in for an oil change. Tech noticed a "large oil leak" and it was in today for diagnostics. Result is it needs a rear timing cover gasket and a drivers side valve cover gasket. Apparently the valve cover gasket can be performed at the same time for no charge, but the rear timing cover is listed at 42 hrs of labor and $1060 in parts for a total of $9526.80, none of which, they claim, is covered by Dieselgate.

The car is a 2015 Q7 TDI, inservice date of 2018, and only about 45k miles on it.

Any suggestions? Other than "audi really built a **** engine". My 12 year old had to ask, in front of the service person, why my 23 year old Saab with 200k miles has never needed anything on the engine except a single valve cover gasket (that I can do, in my driveway, with one arm behind my back in under an hour).

What's the best way to get the nice folks at Audi to have a look at this as a warranty claim? $9500 to change a gasket out on a car with 45k is just mind blowing.

And, what else should I have done while they are in there?

-Wes-

First order: Second opinion, and NOT at an Audi dealer. Find a good independent in your area to explore the issue, and don't tell them about the prior diagnosis. You may be surprised at the difference of opinion as to what is actually wrong.

Second, it should be covered, as the warranty does include the long block of the engine, and any source of oil leak is originating from something within the covered parts list, even if it is evidently coming from the timing cover. I'm basically calling "BS" on the dealer diagnosis here, and I encourage you to discover the true source of the problem to both preserve your sanity and, perhaps, some money in the process.

Liamfmvt

I hear you on the long block part - I agree, but I think the warranty reads differently. "The engine long block warranty shall cover the engine sub-assembly that consists of the assembled block,
crankshaft, cylinder head, camshaft, and valve train"

Could one argue that the timing cover gasket is part of the valve train?

drjonez

Agreed on this, leaks are covered....when you find the right dealer to actually do it. Your best bet is to find another dealer in the area and have them look at it. In the meantime, get ahold of the extended warranty book and read up on it to prepare for a fight.

Liamfmvt

I wonder if anyone has had this exact service done, and covered. That might go a long way to getting them to cover it.

If I understand this diagram correctly, the rear main sits inside the rear timing cover. Is that correct? (Part 40? or do i have this wrong and it is part 18 that is the "rear timing cover gasket")
If by that, and they cover the rear main (which it seems they do), then anything "inward" from that should also be covered under the long block warranty.

https://parts.audiusa.com/a/Audi_201...6-C71A5E8C2B97

-Wes-

I think it is always better to contact AudiUSA directly and open a complaint with them... once you are certain of the actual issue. The RMS fits inside the timing cover, because the timing cover is the back of the block assembly. It's been determined multiple times that RMS leaks are covered, so it would stand to reason that other timing cover leaks are also covered. Nearly all of the Audi dealers are like this: They don't like doing big jobs under warranty because they get screwed on the cost reimbursement by Audi. If they can convince you to cover it, they get shop rates, which means costs covered + profit. Just a rough estimate... they might get 1/3 of the reimbursement from Audi as they get from you. I'm not saying it is fair to them, but they are the ones that chose to be an Audi dealer, and there's no way you should be the one getting stuck with the bill if you're still under the scandal warranty.

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

Lots of TDI owners have had the rear main seal replaced via the 'dieselgate' warranty, along with numerous other oil seals including valve covers, upper oil and lower oil pans...etc.

You really need to read the entire list of what's covered very, very closely...any 'active' engine oil leaks are most definitely a covered item.

It's not a shocker that an Audi dealer would tell you it's not covered...they told me "It's not covered" just about every single time I've ever taken one of our TDIs in for warranty service. And every single time I would pull out my printed copy of the extended warranty settlement details (keep one in the car at all times, and also at home for phone discussions), and if they still balked then I'd immediately call 'big Audi' (North America) and open a case against the dealership related to them not honoring the TDI warranty. I've still got the Audi N. America on my speed dial list, LOL.

The greed at the dealerships wasted my time, delayed getting repairs started, and made it an extremely frustrating process to get our cars repaired via the TDI warranty, but I also never paid a dime to an Audi dealership. I also didn't take our cars in unless it was specifically a warranty coverage item, as I'm a DIYer and lifelong mechanic/tinkerer, etc.

It's sad the dealerships wanna play misinformation games regards to the TDI warranty, but that's just the culture at most Audi dealerships, and they know how to take advantage of the car owners; it's all about the Benjamins, baby...that definitely was the case at every Audi dealership I've been to, which is about six across three states...all were a bunch of bold-faced liars trying to cheat me on the TDI warranty coverage, and I caught them in numerous lies, selling me on services and repairs that weren't needed, as well as had to show them where to look when they couldn't locate coolant leaks on their own. At the end of the day, they just make an insane amount of profit off you if they can convince you something is 'not covered' and are able to charge you their overpriced labor & parts rates, so that's always what they lead off with...it's not a covered warranty item.

Liamfmvt

What is the most comprehensive warranty document out there? For the version 1.1 (I think) engines it has a parts list. I haven't found that same list for v2 engines. Do you mind forwarding me the best document to reference for a my15 car?

Thanks!

'10Q7TDI_Prestige'

Although it was a completely new engine for 2013 model year, the 1.1 reference document is still quite valid as to what parts and systems can and should be considered as 'warranty eligible', and so really the only difference on the TDI 1.2 engine (the 2nd Gen TDI motor in VW speak) is that there are a couple diff parts from the Gen 1 motor that typically fail in the warranty period.

For example, on the Gen 2 TDI, a very common failure point is the cylinder head cooling circuit control valve (a black thermoplastic housing located right next to the oil cooler in engine valley), which typically cracks and leaks coolant into the engine valley. It starts off as a slow, but consistent coolant leak that can be difficult to pin down. If you can smell the sweet odor of coolant when exiting a hot car or at other times, like when opening the hood, etc., then this is very likely the root-cause issue. On the Gen 1 TDI same problem occurs with the EGR's Coolant Bypass Valve, so same issue on both just with a different part# to replace relative to the specific engine, etc.

The coolant reservoir is definitely something you want to check regularly on a TDI, as coolant leaking in the engine valley is common to both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 TDI motors, even though the coolant leak source itself (the busted part) is slightly different on both engines, etc.


For me, every single dealership warranty visit where I didn't have a CEL lit on the dash resulted in them telling me "it's not a covered warranty item"; that was always the first thing they informed me of after inspecting the car, and then they'd try to get me to sign off as being liable for their shop charges, etc. That's just the dealership's game...taking advantage of the owners with zero car knowledge, and who are not well informed on the facts of the extended TDI warranty, etc. I always had to open a dispute case with Audi directly to get the warranty terms honored by the dealer's service departments, so I just began doing that immediately after the dealer denied it was covered by the warranty rather than wasting further time trying to convince the dealership it is a covered item; they'd already made up their mind they didn't want to do the work unless I was paying out-of-pocket at their excessive shop rates, etc.

It's really just a game, so pay strict attention to learn the rules of the game and set your expectations appropriately low as you'll rarely encounter an Audi dealership that has business ethics and wants to do warranty work, as it pays much less to them compared to what they normally charge customers.