Just bought an 02 A4

[Ryan609]

Hello everyone just have a few quick questions reguarding the car I just bought I have an 02 Audi A4 1.8t. The motor was rebuilt around 200k or so I'm told I bought the car with a misfire in cylinder 2 car has a rough idle and smokes a bit at low rpm or idle when the cars above 1500 rpm driving doesn't smoke and car boosts and runs as normal I'm completely confused never owned an Audi or anything before but I know I won't pass inspection like this. Smoke smells sweetish and since I bought the car I've had to refill the coolant res. And the cars temp gauge has jumped above half 2 times hit the bar between Norm and hot. Car also has 3 inch straight pipe. After speaking with previous owner during rebuild the head was not sent out to be machined so I'm thinking it could be that I was quoted $1400 for the work by a local shop here in pa jut wondering if any Audi gurus could lend a hand here help me diagnose this issue ?

[old guy]

You either need a new head or a new head gasket. If it has overheated several times it's probably the head.

[bwizard]

Yep cracked head or blown head gasket

Sent from my S4's talk to text @ a buck thirty

[hightime80]

Holy crap someone sold u a lemon.
If there's a lemon law I'd make him take it back. Unless the condition was predisclosed and u got it dirt cheap and as is.

[Ryan609]

So by me taking the car to the shop having them do the work correctly machine the head and all I should be alright ? Got the car for $1500 btw not sure if I got a good deal or not but I bought as is based off what he said and he for sure didn't say the head was messed up or I wouldn't have got it lol

[hightime80]

Well $1500 aint bad depends on the condition for rest of the car. I mean I paid $5k for my 02 and ended up puttin in another 5k for basically all routine stuff. Timing belt, control arms, shocks etc etc.
The car is a serious money pit so its always best to learn diy. There are plenty of diy threads on head placement infact OG just did another. These cars are getting old and its not a camry or accord to start with. One thing after another will start breaking and I m sure all of our best advice is read up on all the aval info. Get a quality scan tool, get some basic hand tools and learn to wtench on it. Unless you have money to burn that is because I assure you it will not be last of your repairs.

[Detroiter]

So by me taking the car to the shop having them do the work correctly machine the head and all I should be alright ? Got the car for $1500 btw not sure if I got a good deal or not but I bought as is based off what he said and he for sure didn't say the head was messed up or I wouldn't have got it lol

I would say $1500 is definitely not too bad even with the head / head gasket issue. I paid $3900 for my 02 with 194K on it and have had to put about $700 in maintenance so far with my brakes, shocks, and clutch now currently hitting the end of their life. Clutch is partly my fault seeing as I love driving with a lead foot and using launch control getting onto the freeway every now and then But all else is good to go on the car other than your stated issue it sounds like you'll have a great to drive car for under $3k

Just a tip i've learned in the first year of owning my B6 is that maintaining these cars is very important and not to let issues go un repaired. If you treat it nicely it will be good to you but if you neglect it you'll end up with a far slimmer wallet than you planned for. Also if you are mechanically inclined, do as much work yourself as you can and you'll end up saving a ton of money. For example in the coming month I will be replacing my clutch myself to a upgraded one for around $800. All the shops around me have quoted me around $2.5k just to put a stock one in.