Some Pinging - Should I be concerned?

[audrobotic]

This past month Ive noticed a light pinging sound. Ive noticed it about 3 different times. The noise is like one or two rattles. Typically these conditions:
Cruising on freeway about 65mph about 1500 rpm. (CVT in “D” mode).
Going uphill. Accellerating uphill. Feels almost like engine is bogging when the pinging occurs. Only one or two rattles occur. Once engine rpm is past about 2500 rpm - no issue. This has been on multiple tanks of fuel 91 octane from different stations (Chevron/Shell).

(2013 with 62k miles)

I did a few test runs in “S” mode under heavy acceleration and uphill and no issues. Engine pulls strong as usual. The “S” mode usually keeps the engine in higher rpms.

So it seems to be in that low rpm condition under load. I just never noticed this before.

Should I be concerned? Or is this just a minor annoyance? I have a bunch of ideas of what I could do or what it could be but I’d just be shooting in the dark.

[flowhigh]

I've had recurrent engine pinging on the B7 and it never went away. Finally it lost total compression in cylinder 3. Cylinders all looked good under the scope so I figured it was damage in the head probably bad valve(s). Never went into the engine any further as it wasn't worth it and dumped the car. It isn't a sign of a healthy motor that's for sure.

[audrobotic]

I've had recurrent engine pinging on the B7 and it never went away. Finally it lost total compression in cylinder 3. Cylinders all looked good under the scope so I figured it was damage in the head probably bad valve(s). Never went into the engine any further as it wasn't worth it and dumped the car. It isn't a sign of a healthy motor that's for sure.

Well that sucks. What were the typical conditions of your pinging? The only thing keeping me from really stressing out is that I have an extended warranty for about another 35k miles. My gut feeling is that its carbon buildup. Hopefully just needs an italian tune.

[bhvrdr]

I had a little metallic knocking that got worse and worse over 3 months until thi loud....

https://youtu.be/RD8zXKymZ1k

[flowhigh]

I had a lean condition that I couldn't trace. My ltft was always around 10. All my fuel pressures were fine. I eventually started burning more and more oil and finding it in the intercoolers and out the exhaust. I was losing boost so I swapped out the turbo chra and that did help the boost levels, but still would have pinging - only less. I would feel it on decent amount of throttle, usually just after an uphill acceleration more than not. Probably one of the worst feelings driving a car and hearing the distinct metal rattling coming from the bay and the engine lose power.

[audrobotic]

Thanks for the info. Fuel economy, engine power, and oil level all seem status quo. (I check the oil level pretty often due to 2010 B8 trauma - but this 2013 has never budged on the oil level).

So I guess for now I’ll just keep an eye on those things and use sport mode more often. ive always felt like the CVT kept the rpms too low anyway. From driving a manual for years you just kinda sense when you should be downshifting.

At this point I dont really feel like chasing down a nebulous problem like this. Maybe a CEL or something more concrete will manifest itself.

[audrobotic]

So I just went on on short vacation driving about 350 miles. I really tried to put the drivetrain thru that paces. I used sport and manual mode a lot and accelerated hard as much as I could. The engine is very smooth and strong at very high rpms. I actuallly never drive my car like this but Im starting to think I should. I still got about 30.5 mpg. No pinging noticed. I think I just need to drive this car like I stole it. If I keep away from bogging the engine - low rpms (1500) on inclines everything seems fine.

[flowhigh]

So I just went on on short vacation driving about 350 miles. I really tried to put the drivetrain thru that paces. I used sport and manual mode a lot and accelerated hard as much as I could. The engine is very smooth and strong at very high rpms. I actuallly never drive my car like this but Im starting to think I should. I still got about 30.5 mpg. No pinging noticed. I think I just need to drive this car like I stole it. If I keep away from bogging the engine - low rpms (1500) on inclines everything seems fine.

On that particular A4 I decided that was the way to go too - drive spirited, I honestly regret it. These motors aren't as thrashable as we think. The A4 before that I drove sensibly and ran over 200 thousand easy with little maintenance till a drunk reared it, my latter A4 didn't even make it close. I failed to mention that I had a nagging random misfire that cylinder #3 was no stranger to. I thought, drive spirited and carbon buildup will be curtailed. Unfortunately when I was throttling it this past summer the pinging popped back and non-stop; turned to massive misfiring - so hard the trans was slipping.

Regret not going deep after the borescope, but after the compression check of zero with good pistons and cylinders scoped I deducted a valve chip, burnt or a blown rocker spring - common failure on the B7. Ended up selling it to a scrapper - wasn't worth the time and money with the quart a week and all the other issues to fix. It was what it was.