nOOb--timing belt, water pump, sludge, coils

[72guy]

First of all. Hello! This is a great forum and a great source of info for anything Audi. I hope you can answer a few questions for me.

My son is in Guam flying B52's. He rotates back home in a couple of months. Having sold his Jeep before he deployed, he's in need of a car upon his return. My wife and I have been tasked with the Audi A4 search.

To cut to the chase, this is what I've come up with. A 2004-05 ( preferably 05 with remaining factory warranty ) A4 1.8T Quattro with manual tranny. I've read that the FWD CVT may not be the most reliable transmission. And if you plan on any performance mods ( son had a Viper for awhile ), the CVT is restrictive. The quattro seems to be a well proven, bulletproof system. I'm not sure about the reliability and performance capability of the Tiptronic if he ops for an automatic.

Some of my concerns are the timing belt, water pump, and sludge. The class action law suit on the timing belt covers model years 2000, 01, 02, and 03. Was there a redesign in the 2004 and up engine that fixed the TB issues? Or, is it still a problem that has been addressed by the 40,000 mile inspection interval? Does the water pump in 04 & 05 still have a plastic impellar or has this been improved? And finally, the sludge issue. I'm looking for a car that is still under warranty with less than 50,000 miles. Were the later B6 models released with full synthetic oils to avoid the sludge problems? Also, was there any redesign in the oil pickup to avoid engine damage if sludge did become a problem?

My son can live with coils going out and clutch replacements. But I would like him to avoid engine rebuilds due to internal component failures. If the factory maintenance schedules are followed, is this engine as bulletproof as I've been told?

Thanks for any information you can provide.
Be careful out there.
Dave

[Papachristou]

man will he be dissappointed with an a4 (coming from a viper)

ive got 85k on my 04.. i do mobil 1 oil changes every 5k, no sludge or hints of it but i am running autorx now.

i changed the timing belt at 80k for safety but it was in perfect shape, even the plastic impeller looked fine (did a full TB kit with metal impeller now) also my dad has a 97 a6 with a 1.8t in greece for his DD and it has 300k on it, he runs TBs 100k.. engine still pulls great. no sludge, nothing has gone wrong

fuel pump did fail at 60k but i had never changed the filter and frequently ran it low on fuel so i think it was my own fault really.

BTW im pretty hard on my car...


i would say its a very reliable, fun car... i still get 28-33mpg on the highway and 20-25 in town... i would get a 04/05 ultrasport package *search* with a stickshift.. then if you just want "some" power, get a 1+ flash/injectors and you will be happy...................

















for a while

[pondside36]

I agree with all the above statements. Audi also changed the oil filter to a larger capacity to help with the sludge issue. I have 99k on mine with regular service intervals. Did a clutch, brakes, and a lot of modding and hard driving in the past few months. Car still runs great... happy hunting and look for an Ultrasport as mentioned above and your son will have a nice car right out of the box.

[bigbro]

IMO 04-05 you can't go wrong

*04-05 TB is now to be replaced at 75k instead of 105k so really no fix

*04-05 they changed the oil filter to a big oil filter and also added sythetic oil no fix and people still have reported sludge on these years. I have heard if your engine didn't sludge in 50k it probaly won't at all. The true problem is the oil pickup screen (so I heard) but no, no design change as far as I know of.

*water pump impellar is still the same

*auto tip is as reliable as any transmission from the japs IMO.

Other then these things the engine is bulletproof. Hope this helps.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

manual is the way to go.

[72guy]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I'll narrow my search to include the ultrasport option.
It's good to know that the 1.8T can be a reliable car for many miles as long as it's maintained properly with attention to specific problem areas. Not a problem for my son as he enjoys wrenching on his cars.

Regards, Dave

[Papachristou]

have him get a vag com and he will really enjoy it! ive done everything listed in my sig and have truly enjoyed it (well not the clutch)

[jackyaudi]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. I'll narrow my search to include the ultrasport option.
It's good to know that the 1.8T can be a reliable car for many miles as long as it's maintained properly with attention to specific problem areas. Not a problem for my son as he enjoys wrenching on his cars.

Regards, Dave

Well, look, its also about luck. I got my '02 A4 1.8TQ from the dealer a year ago. Had Sport package and looking nice. They mentioned all this bolony about 300 points inspection done on it, blah blah blah blah. Guess what? I drive it like an angel, change oil sooner than most people here, take care of it, and whats the result? So far I took it in 12 times+ to the dealer, they spent about $8000 on it so far, they changed suspensions, Turbo, camshaft, cat, etc etc, and I have an appointment tomorrow Wednesday with a big list of things for them to fix including engine related stuff, fuel pump, engine mount, pinging noise from engine, more than normal oil/gas consumption, and god knows what else.

Here is my advice: Do make sure the car is accident free. Do make sure that they *show* you all inspection work and tests done on it before sale. DO take it to a mechanic for inspection, DO floor it and drive it crazy when testing it (lots of things will show up fast when you do that). Also ask them to give you the car's history if available. IF you find ANYTHING wrong with it, tell them to fix it BEFORE you take the keys from them, if they refuse, look elsewhere, you are already asking for trouble. Anything the sales guy tells you that is doubtful, ask him to give it to you in written format as a proof. You dont want to end up with a lemon like I did, but hey, I learned my lesson.

Other than that its a safe car, specially with the Quattro, side air bags, etc,etc. Safety first, everything else next.

[zz2h33]

^thats a terrible story, sorry for your luck. Truthfully stories like this always put you on the defense when going to buy a car, it makes people think all dealers are rip offs. Dealers are in business to sell you a car, and most of them are honest business people. Most of these cars at the dealers are bought at auction, so they really dont know the history except for what CarFax tells them. The best advice would be to ask for the CarFax complete history report and see how/where it was serviced and if there were any accidents.

Gook luck.

[jackyaudi]

^thats a terrible story, sorry for your luck. Truthfully stories like this always put you on the defense when going to buy a car, it makes people think all dealers are rip offs. Dealers are in business to sell you a car, and most of them are honest business people. Most of these cars at the dealers are bought at auction, so they really dont know the history except for what CarFax tells them. The best advice would be to ask for the CarFax complete history report and see how/where it was serviced and if there were any accidents.

Gook luck.

I agree, except that in my case, my dealer (am not gonna name them) were not honest and truthful with me. How can any car pass a 300 points inspection check/test and almost immediately after purchase, I remember taking it to the dealer for like 3 times, including broken front suspensions to name the least? Either the inspection was never done, or it was done very poorly. I know everything has a price, I did not buy a 2008, but thats only because I could not afford one by then, but I expected much much more from an Audi, specially that I went to a Certified Audi dealer to buy it. If I got it second hand from classifieds, then I will blame it on my choice of doing that, but this was not the case. Oh well :)

[Papachristou]

you had an 02 model.. we clearly pointed out that he should get an 04-05 model

[jackyaudi]

you had an 02 model.. we clearly pointed out that you should get an 04-05 model

you meant *he* should get an 04-05

But hey, I have read threads where brand new cars can have problems after purchase as well, so it depends to who a car is sold to (luck) regardless of its age.

Cars can be a very tricky thing. Flooring a car for 10000 miles continuously is obviously not the same as driving it nicely for 10000 miles, thats why sometimes mileage is not that good of an indicator that the car is healthy or how it was treated.

Forgot to ask you guys, is the timing belt covered under warranty or extended warranty?

[Papachristou]

forget warranties.. just get it... you said he is a DIY guy.. kit is $250 and about six beers worth of work your first time, now i could do it in three beers probably

[zbrock06]

i might be selling my 04 a4 ultrasport 1.8t Quattro Manual (6 speed). let me know if your interested and i can give you more details.