Catalog of motor issues/Catastrofic motor failure, information/count update 12/03/11

[timmmy]

Hi All,

The 05 BHF motor in my S4K race car lost chunks of both cyl 5&6 pistons last weekend. Confirmed wiht a Boroscope.

I dropped this motor into my 4K, motor was from a 2005 S4 cab, stored motor for a few years. Prior to initial startup cold compression was goodish (150ps +/-10 across all 8). Ever since first startup I have been struggling with excessive deceleration blowby btu had not rechecked compression. Proir to last weekends event I checked compression cold and found cyl 5&6 were down to about 120si cold. Ran the track event and by the end of it the hot compression on those two had dropped to 90psi :(

[Justincredible]

not idling and being driveable at all in which was believed it was a timing chain tensioner & guide issue.

2004 Manual.

Build date is 10/03

Mileage is little over 80K

Adding information broken chain guide

[wimms]

2004 BAS motor (its Allroad, but same block as BBK, only cams differ)
produced 2003/10

150k miles, first 120k using long-life oil with 18k mile OCI in germany. Alot of highway miles.

Burns oil, 1qt/400miles. PCV renewed for good.
Compression measured 13.5bar in all cylinders (14 is new)
Borescope showed cylinder walls are oily and dark, scoring wasn't visible.

had chain rattle at startup 1-2 sec.
Did chain service, replaced the chains, guides and tensioners. Rattle almost gone (still 0.5sec occasionally)
Found a broken upper center chain lower left guide (079109469AA). http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...2-with-cams-on

Replaced the valve stem seals, valve guides not replaced.
No change in oil consumption at all.
Seems that its the stuck or worn oil rings or sludged oil channels.
Decided to live with that.

[sharmut]

2004 B6 S4.
Sorry no build date.
Mileage - ~108k
Issue - Severe misfire. Swap the coil packs around, error code moves to various coil packs not relevant to the change. Compression test revealed NO compression in cylinder 1. Scope indicated leakage at the valve. Did not pull the motor apart to determine root cause, although I suspect it's the tensioner. Sold to local buyer willing to put in the time for a project car for 5k as-is.

[bro]

build date was late mid 2004- vehicle is a 2005 M/T 6 88k now on clock had 84k when i purchased on jan/3/2011 issues that i have addressed /or still having since purchase.
Changed all plugs oil coolant thermostat and water pump.
Throttle position sensor
both fuel lvl sensors
clutch
glove box still broke.
compression test showed the following:
cylinders 1-4 130psi
cylinders 5-7-8 are about 110psi and cylinder 6 is at 90psi
at this point this vehicle is undrivable do to cyl. #6 fowling out the plugs with oil, burning about 2quarts every 300miles.

[Jengel451]

Spose i'll fess up.

2005 B6 S4 Avant, 6MT
86,000
Build date I think was October of 04.

Dropped a valve while cruising down my street at about 2500 rpm, only symptom was it started to misfire badly, no other weird sound.

Took out the head and the block, somehow the valve head and stem (2 separate pieces) were spit back through the intake port into the manifold without damaging the valve seat, or the port.....Keepers are still in the spring retainer...very very strange stuff.

Prior to this, the middle chain guide was broken and replaced.....I was able to drive it about 15 miles....no other damage in the engine, cam timing was still spot on....it was its time I guess.

[smallfish]

Great idea, thanks again for everything you are doing to advance our poor little unloved platform.

[lonny]

2004 B6 S4 6MT
64,000 miles
Build date: 11/03

Had the chain rattle at startup and Bank 2 Cam adjuster just went.

[poopypants]

2004 B6 S4 6-speed
103k mi.
Build date: 02/04

I bought mine CPO at 45k mi. nearly 4 years ago on June of 2007. First issue with the engine were failed coil packs around 65k mi. Afterwards, long block replaced under warranty around 75k mi. after abnormal rattling sound near the heads and a slight depreciation in performance. Turned out to be several bent valves. Prior, the old engine was eating about 1 qt of oil every oil change (10kmi). Never did a compression test. I have just under 30k mi on the new engine and very little or no oil consumption. There is a strange muffled rattle below 1200 RPM on all gears. Any ideas?

[MD4Babes]

2006 s4 b7 with 38k miles
Burned about 1 qt every 1500 miles

Scored walls and broken 5 rod. Engine replaced with rebuild with 22k. still burns 1 qt every 1500 miles

[MS203]

2004 S4 (B6)

39k miles..

whats broke/needs fixing:

-right motor mount
-left control arm
-fuel filter
-intake manifold was blackened
-fuel injection lines

[yohimbe2]

add scored cylinders at 33K to the list. 2007 B7 S4 motor headed for the dumpster.

While at the shop, another car/ engine was on its way to the dumps. Same car, low mileage.

Audi needs to figure out what they did wrong here. I would love an explanation.

[Arkaid]

2004 S4
Not sure on exact build date, but definitely late 03 sometime
64k miles
Driving in traffic and the car completely shut off like the battery was dead. No compression on any cylinders, pulled the motor and found that one of the pulleys in the back (cam tensioner maybe? Can't remember) had actually sheared off of its shaft and the valves and piston heads got absolutely rocked. About an inch of play on the pulley itself. Engine is being replaced with one out of an s4 cab.

[AngeloB5.5]

add me to the list....
2005 S4 Avant
42k miles. I do not have much history. I purchased with 36k miles. Changed oil immidiately.
Burning 1qt every 400 miles

cyl 5 and 7 were scored the worst. other cyl had some minor scoring. Chain rattle got significantly worse in my short time as owner. Traces of guides found in my oil pan. compression was poor on said cylinders. exhaust valves leaking as well. Motor is a mess in every way

being replaced with brand new motor... out of pocket. Warranty denied claim

[Isostar13]

Just found this thread while searching Google for my car issues... here goes:

2005 b6 S4 Cab bought used 2/10 from a non-audi dealer, ~98,000 miles on the clock. Bought a 3 year extended warranty from Preferred Warranty Inc.

It's been consuming oil, maybe 1-2 quarts every 1500mi or so.

CEL came on yesterday (fyi, engine currently has 120,800mi), took it to an Audi shop, they said cylinders 5 and 6 were misfiring, oil on the plugs, carbon build up as well. They replaced plugs and coil packs, CEL still on showing low compression in 5 and 6. They're currently investigating the cause of the low compression.

I'll post with an update when I find out more - hopefully my extended warranty will cover the repair/replacement of the engine (it should.)

[dmaxben]

catastrophic "failure", 107k miles, threw a rod. THIS WAS DUE TO THE ENGINE INGESTING WATER FROM A LARGE PUDDLE. This was not the engines fault. Up until I drove through the puddle the engine ran perfectly and basically didnt burn any oil. Maybe 1/2 quart every 4-5k. Really sucks because it seems like I got a "good" one, considering it didnt burn any oil and had minimal timing-chain rattle at almost 110k miles. :(

Ben

[Isostar13]

Update on my 2005 b6 S4 cab with 120,800 miles on it.

Cylinders 5, 6, and 7 all show well below factory spec. on a compression test. I believe the numbers for all three were in the low 70's. Leak down test revealed the exhaust valves, piston rings, and piston travel were causing the drop in compression in all 3 cylinders. Waiting on the warranty company to see about a replacement engine per the audi techs recommendation.

[V8S4Ryan]

2004 s4
early build date. 117k miles
the day before i heard a ticking noise checked oil a quart low. added oil and went on had a slight tick still. the next day tick got real bad. called a few people that are trust worthy mechanincs and confirmed it to be a lifter tick. will update with the outcome for sure. motor burned about a quart every 3k miles.

[travw3]

An update new motor 79,xxx not sure the exact reason.

[Walstra21]

2005.5 high oil consumption and almost 40% lost in each cylinder
Total bullllll

Bought the car with 67,000 from third party but had a dealership check it out and they passed it on to me, within a week of having it started to mis fire. Did the coil pack recall, still nothing compression test showed 30-40% leakage in each cylinder. Boroscoped and was told engine was toast, valve leakage and cylinder wall scoring in all but #8 . I actually was able to email Johan president of Audi of America all he offered was cost on the engine. I've been screwed here, just replaced the engine. Since having the engine in, been back to the dealer at least 12 times and they've replaced every gasket intake manifold, oil pan even dropped my tranny back out three times. Heading to school today after dropping it off last week started mis firing.

Engine replaced at 69,000

[SquiddyB6S4]

It basically boils down to this....The engine is great for a period of time, then it just falls apart. Dont know if its because of faulty parts, or poor assembly or poor break-in. From my experience with this engine i will personally NEVER own this peice of shit 4.2 misfiring/oil burning/leaking junk. People shell out money for a car that should not blow up at 40-50k miles, lost countless nights of sleep fucking logging misfires, checking my dipstick, Monitoring Fucking insanely high 12% long term fuel trims on one side of the motor ONLY. The car is amazing when its running well, which is ONLY during a full moon and when the suns nuclear activity is at its peak when all the planets are aligned. Finally did a borescope test to the cylinder walls.....Started laughing and traded this junk in!! LS7 or GO HOME!!!

This post is generally for the posting of actual problems/reports/etc. The discussion is handled in a separate thread. I have responded to this there. Conversation of Catastrofic motor failure information count

[Justincredible]

valuable as always squiddy valuable..

Thanks and yes guys this is a RECORD only post. please lets drop the comments in the comment post.

[audistew]

I have an 05.5 S4 Avant with an apparant tensioner issue. I have ~80K miles on the car. I service ahead of requirements, not after. 2 weeks before the failure I had services performed and no diagnostic errors. I have two 0 compression cylinders on one bank. The rest is normal.

My oil consumption was about a litre every 3K.

[zero_one]

2006 (1st half 2006 build date I believe) B7 S4 6MT CPO was consuming about 2.5 quarts per 1,500 miles last year with about 42K miles on the odometer. Now with 56K, it’s consuming about 2.5 quarts every 800 miles or less. Scored cylinder walls. Long block getting installed this week under warrantee.

[J0HN_R1]

Engine failure @ 152,000 km (95k miles), mechanic says most likely the guides.

Car's been in the shop for 2 weeks now, haven't talked to him since the initial over-the-phone estimate.

Luckily the car still has warranty until 160k KM..! And timing chain & guides are covered.

:)

[Black Leaf]

2004 Audi S4

Valve drop at 35K miles. Engine destroyed, and replaced. Car is now at 90k miles, and so far, so good. I hope it keeps running, because I love my car.

Documentation and pictures at http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...4-S4-35K-miles .

[ReeS4e]

Could you guys add in the cost of the repairs?

[karachy]

Engine pull, replacing all chain work and revised heads, starter and alternator: about € 6.000,-

[8cylinders]

this thread now has me terrified about my new purchase 04 S4......... 8(

i cant believe there are so many cases of the engine just failing!!!

car has 159,00km 98798miles should i be expecting it to explode?? dealer told me it just had its engine out getting the noisy timing chain sorted......

[USMC1488]

Thanks for this, looking at trading in my 2012 Sline for a CPO S4 or A6 with the V8. Now I know what to look for.

[iluvTTs]

Figured I should post here as well - bought my 07 S4 about a month ago and had a low oil level light come on 4 days later. Turned out that the engine was eating a quart of oil about every 700 miles or so. Audi replaced my motor under warranty, thank god lol

[stedsS4]

2004 S4, 6-speed, 55K miles - dealer just pulled engine/transmission and replaced 4 timing chains, cam adjusters, tensioners and all the related parts (gaskets, hoses, rails, tracks, etc). Engine light was on (codes below) - low compression in one cylinder bank - rebuilt both sides since it was all out of the car. Cam was offset by almost 20 degrees. Also had the ribbed serpentine belt and slave cylinder (clutch) replaced. Dealer had car for 2+ weeks. Cost $9,500. Got a nice box of old parts as a parting gift!

6 Faults Found:

16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 008 - - Intermittent
16685 - Cylinder 1
P0301 - 008 - Misfire Detected - Intermittent
16689 - Cylinder 5
P0305 - 008 - Misfire Detected - Intermittent
16686 - Cylinder 2
P0302 - 008 - Misfire Detected - Intermittent
16691 - Cylinder 7
P0307 - 008 - Misfire Detected - Intermittent
16405 - Bank 2: Camshaft A (Intake)
P0021 - 008 - Retard Setpoint not Reached (Over-Advanced) - MIL ON

Also of note, dealer did the coil pack recall and plugs about 4 weeks prior to engine light coming on - don't know if this pushed the timing issue.

[0396]

Sub as I have a 2004 S/4 4.2. Keep the info coming. Oh car currently as 65k and no problems so far- knock on wood

[S4 lynx]

2007 S4 with excessive oil consumption. Shortblock replaced under warranty at 29,xxx miles. Oil changed at dealership per manual and under Audi Care aegis every 10,000 miles during that 29,000 mile period. This oil change interval was certainly a mistake in retrospect. Other than that, no obvious risk factors contributing to the problem: car driven responsibly, with good warm up routines, etc.

[0396]

Ok. I have an 04 S/4 and after reading this tread and thinking of the good things my ol friend and Master Porsche tech said about Swepco lubs.....I order a case of Swepco oil improver. This Swepco product also contain "moly" ...I filled it with two pints and guess what....hot or cold....no sign of any noise from my S/4. Now this was with Valvolne 20-50 oil in it. In the coming weeks, I plan on changing over to Mobil 0-40 and then put another two pints of Swepco oil improver in my S/4. I hope this helps reduce and extend the dreaded timing ramp / chain concern. Oh my S/4 only as 65k and I'm already doing preventive measures. Enjoy the holidays

[Sipset]

Purchase 08/10, In-Diagnosis 09/11, Finished 10/11

Mileage: 100k
Replaced timing chain, tensioner, and guides
Replaced broken cam tensioner and all timing chains.

Still finding how much of a shoddy job the "Audi Master Tech" at Day Audi did.

[Austinfritts]

2004 s4. 130k. Both Chain guides failed car jumped time

[BendOver]

2004 B6 S4 and here's my list:

Replaced broken centre chain guide...sourced from Germany
Replaced worn chain guides on both tensioners...sourced from Germany

Replaced worn camshaft adjusters...both banks
Misfiring on the left bank
Replaced valve stem seals
O2 sensor
Clutch
Left lower control arm
Engine mounts

Still have the famous cold start rattle!
Plus shuddering at 2000-3000rpm, not sure what it is but upon my search, sounds like the DMF or coil packs and my idling is rough!
All this happened at once, still the car is underpowered!

Thanks

[swanky1]

2007 s4. 44k. Scored cylinders, burned 1qt/800miles. AoA replaced long block

[dolphin B6 S4]

Mark another one down. Early build date 2004, 51k miles. Motor pulled for a faulty cam adjuster, found 1 cracked guide and a couple others with gouges in them. Full timing service done.