[V6-12v] Service andCheck Engine Lights

Sat Oct 28 16:28:33 EDT 2006

Thanks all of  you for your replies.  I left the car at the dealer to be serviced on Monday, I still have the two year extended warranty.  I agree that it is unlikely that an oil problem could be causing the sound as one could put various grades of oil without this happening.  In other words the car should not be and probably is not supersensitive to an oil grade variation of 5-30 to 10-40..  Yes the higher grades are not recommended in the winter, but the car should not complain with grinding noises because of their use.  Your assessment of the alternator or the starter not disengaging is a strong possibility, I am also guessing a belt being the cause.  As for the oil filters - I have learned my lesson and will not buy the K&N, but will go with the Audi extended service one next time.  When I said factory approved filters I incorrectly expressed myself - the Audi filters list a number of aftermarket filters on the outside of the can that should be compatible with these
 cars.  No, they are not factory approved, but the Audi filters do list them.  Perhaps semantics.  The dealer discouraged me, as most of you here have, from using them.  For that I also thank you.

I will pursue next week the  suggestion about buying the VAG or the Shade Tree diagnostic tool.  The VAG people seem to have more information on the web than the Shade Tree and the Shade Tree seems to be Palm Pilot based, which may not be as powerful as a computer based system..  I would have to run a pretty long USB cable from my computer since I do not have a laptop.  

Which seems to be the preferred tool in this group?

Again, thank you for your comments, I will report next week on the results from the dealer.

cai

----- Original Message ----
From: George Tur <getur at optonline.net>
To: v6-12v at audifans.com
Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2006 2:30:24 PM
Subject: Re: [V6-12v] Service andCheck Engine Lights

>
> Casimiro Izquierdo <caig01 at yahoo.com> wrote:  As you may recall, I changed
> the oil in my 2002 A6 2.7 Quattro a few  weeks ago. The "service" light
> came on at the time, maybe by  coincidence. I do not much believe in
> coincidences. Last night the  "check engine" light came on. The car has
> normal oil level and no oil  pressure indication has come on - my wife
> drives the car and I have  asked her to be very attentive and report to me
> all console messages.  The only thing that was done to the car, of which I
> can think, is that  the oil filter was an aftermarket filter - not Audi.
> However, this  should not matter much since it is one of the filters that
> is  recommended on the outside of the Audi filters - it was not a Fram, 
> probably AC or Purolator. My local Advance Auto Parts just informed me 
> that they have one K&N oil filter for the Audi. I will pick it up  for next
> time.
>
You have to pull the codes and see if it's complaining about any specific 
sensor readings. From what I've read on some of the other forums the 2.7 
turbo engines do have a history of some sort of oil problems. I don't recall 
if it was with the turbos themselves or with the crankcase ventilation system 
coking up. So far as oil filters are concerned I always go with the oem mahle 
filters which you can buy on line from any worldpac dealer at a reasonable 
price. 

> There  is another issue, once the weather turned cold, 35 degrees for a few
>  days, the engine makes an awful noise when it starts cold. It is a very 
> loud grinding, rasping, and shrieking sound. If the car is turned off  and
> immediately started again, the sound does not come back. It happens  only
> when the car is dead cold after a long rest. I have a feeling that  it may
> be a belt, but I am not sure. Having had the starter problems  with my
> other Audi, I hate to think that it is happening to this car  also. The key
> however, does return to position two when the car starts  - unlike with the
> 90S that kept the starter engaged all the time. As  someone pointed out
> here, I will ask my wife to lighten-up her key  chain, just in case.
>

If the car is started, stopped and immediately restarted (not allowed to run 
for any length of time) and the noise disappears I would say it's not likely 
an oil flow problem. From my own personal experience with audis (this is with 
older model cars) if the oil is the wrong weight the engine will complain 
usually for a few minutes until the oil has a chance to migrate. Typically 
you'll have valve clatter until the oil is warmed up which will take a few 
minutes.  My own wild ass guess is that it's the starter not being disengaged 
on the initial startup. On a cold startup pop the hood and lean into the 
engine compartment by the starter and then have someone start the car to see 
if the noise is coming from that area. It could be either the ignition switch 
going bad or the starter solenoid not releasing.

HTH

George Tur
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