Oil Consumption Engine Rebuild (CAEB)

[mowgli87]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share my experience with an at home rebuild of the 2.0T out of my wife's Q5.

TLDR: I bought a Q5 before I knew about the oil consumption issue. It consumed GOBS of oil. It was over milage and out of the year range for class action settlement. I asked Audi for help. They said nah. Did the job myself at home. There's a time lapse at the bottom of this post.
The end.

The rest of the story...

We bought a 2012 Q5 2.0T with 85k miles on it last summer from a small used car lot in our area. At the time I didn't fully realize how big the oil consumption problem was with the B8 vehicles. Everything about the car looked great. Good service history, super clean, and right on line with our budget. I even asked a buddy that owns an indy shop in Atlanta to check the VIN and he gave it a thumbs up.

Fast forward a couple weeks and the oil light came on. I thought, "well, they said the oil was just changed recently, so maybe they just didn't top it off all the way." So I added a quart and didn't think much of it. Then it happened again a couple weeks later. This is when I really started looking into the oil consumption issue.

I got in touch with my local dealer and shortly after that with Audi of America to try to find a solution. I had all Audi performed service history except for the 40k and 60k mile services. They denied good will assistance since the car had never been serviced at my local dealer and the records I had were not 100% complete. I got a from-the-hip estimate of roughly $5k-$7k for the dealer to fix it. That was at coming in close to half the value of the car so I couldn't quite stomach dropping that kind of coin in a new to me car.

Armed with the internet, all the erWin manuals I could download, and perhaps a little too much self confidence, I decided to order all the parts and do it at home.

By the time I got all the parts together and had enough knowledge of the job at hand, the car was going through a quart of oil for each tank of gas (about 1 quart per 300 miles).

My parts list came in at about $1400 when all was said and done. If anyone is interested I have a spreadsheet of parts and prices for the CAEB engine.

I decided to take the opportunity to record the whole project with GoPro time lapse. I also have several pictures of various steps along the way. I'll add them to the thread in the next post.

[mowgli87]

Update for pics and parts list.

Parts list.

Pictures

[Theiceman]

same story as me, but i was a quart pr 300km, 180 miles..

[mowgli87]

same story as me, but i was a quart pr 300km, 180 miles..

I think I was quickly approaching that kind of consumption.

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[dalmation53]

Bro 180 miles is terrible. right now with my my updated pcv valve i'm getting 700miles for a quart. last time it was 500 miles so 200 miles better then before.

same story as me, but i was a quart pr 300km, 180 miles..

[NitroViper]

Id like to see this parts list.

I found this thread looking for @Theiceman refresh thread lol.

[Theiceman]

Id like to see this parts list.

I found this thread looking for @Theiceman refresh thread lol.

Go to the search function and enter "b8.5 engine refresh "

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[NitroViper]

If anyone is interested I have a spreadsheet of parts and prices for the CAEB engine.

Did you buy the pistons that require new rods because of a bigger wrist pin or the updated pistons you can use the stock rods with?
Im probably going to take this project soon.

[mowgli87]

Id like to see this parts list.

I found this thread looking for @Theiceman refresh thread lol.

Updated second post with parts list and pics. The "Master" sheet is stuff that actually went on the car. I kept track of everything I ordered on the PO sheet. Several things were double ordered and not used.

Did you buy the pistons that require new rods because of a bigger wrist pin or the updated pistons you can use the stock rods with?
Im probably going to take this project soon.

Yes I did buy the larger wrist pin pistons. However, my car already had the updated rods to match the 23mm pin size. I was getting conflicting information about which rods I would find in my engine, so I just ordered the rods as an insurance policy of sorts. I was under a tight timeline because my wife needed the car to go back to work after maternity leave.
I got the rods from AutohauzAZ because they have a fair price and, more importantly, they don't charge a restocking fee for returns. Just pay return shipping.

[NitroViper]

This list will come in handy, im having a hard to finding a DIY on my engine with parts needed. So many weird stretch bolts/plugs/guides/sensors ill probably forget to order.

[mowgli87]

This list will come in handy, im having a hard to finding a DIY on my engine with parts needed. So many weird stretch bolts/plugs/guides/sensors ill probably forget to order.

I used the kit below and Iceman's parts list to build out most of mine.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...-06h107065dmkt

I have a few left over pieces I'll send you for a deal if you're interested.

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[NitroViper]

Did you need any special tools? I am probably going to end up doing this soon since I cant find an engine at a decent price..
You need a hex/spline/torx kit?
Torque wrench
Thread lock?

Can you tell me which piston kit you bought for $123? I see a ATG upgraded kit on ebay with a 21mm pin. Just it seems very cheap?

How long was your vehicle down during this?

[NitroViper]

Still wondering if you needed any special tools when you where in the engine. It would suck to get halfway through and need some special quadruple triple square hexagonal algebra nutboltsocket.... stupid german cars lol.

[mowgli87]

Did you need any special tools? I am probably going to end up doing this soon since I cant find an engine at a decent price..
You need a hex/spline/torx kit?
Torque wrench
Thread lock?

Can you tell me which piston kit you bought for $123? I see a ATG upgraded kit on ebay with a 21mm pin. Just it seems very cheap?

How long was your vehicle down during this?

Still wondering if you needed any special tools when you where in the engine. It would suck to get halfway through and need some special quadruple triple square hexagonal algebra nutboltsocket.... stupid german cars lol.

Sorry I just saw this.

Yes you'll need a few special tools to do the job. You can see all of them on the special tools sheet of the Google sheet in my post near the top.

To sum it up you'll need a 9mm poly drive bit for the head bolts, several timing related tools, and a good assortment of shallow and deep 12 point sockets and various extensions. I highly suggest the timing tool kit from Deutsche Auto Parts. It has everything you would need for EA888 2.0T timing jobs.

I bought my piston kit from FCP Euro. That was the price per piston and it was the 23 mm pin. The "kit" refers to piston, wrist pin, and rings. The prices might have changed a bit since I ordered, but it should be pretty close.

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[almoniyot]

Hero

[Chillaxin]

Did you do any surface prep (ball hone) for the cylinder surfaces or just clean and lube them? I'm starting to formulate my plan for some rings and things.

[ElliottG]

Thanks for the info. I'm curious, you have a 2012, but in your parts list I didn't see any rods to go with your new 23mm wrist pin pistons? Did your car have 23mm pins from the factory? I have a 2012 Q5 and I'm pretty sure my rods are 21mm.

[mowgli87]

Did you do any surface prep (ball hone) for the cylinder surfaces or just clean and lube them? I'm starting to formulate my plan for some rings and things.

Sorry for the super late delay! Been a crazy busy year. You've probably already found the answer you were looking for, but I'll still reply for posterity.

No, I didn't do any surface prep. I was a little hesitant on this issue since I know that is basically engine rebuild 101. However, after lots of research and conversations with a friend that is an Audi master technician, it seems that cylinder honing is not really needed. And in some cases it might actually do more damage than good because of the coating that is used in the cylinder walls. I believe it's Nikasil or something similar.

A large caveat to that would obviously be if your cylinders are clearly damaged. In that case it will likely be a trip to a machine shop with the block. And possibly a new Nikasil plating.

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[mowgli87]

Thanks for the info. I'm curious, you have a 2012, but in your parts list I didn't see any rods to go with your new 23mm wrist pin pistons? Did your car have 23mm pins from the factory? I have a 2012 Q5 and I'm pretty sure my rods are 21mm.

I touched on this in one of the posts above, but I guess it was a bit ambiguous.

I did buy the upgraded rods for the bigger wrist pins. However, I was able to return them because my Q5 already had the bigger pins. From my research it seems 2012 was the change over year, and I could never find which month it happened. If in doubt, do what I did and buy them from a shop that doesn't charge restocking fee.

This obviously adds a substantial price to the parts list. I think it would have taken mine up about $950. But if you need them there's no way around it. Still cheaper than paying a shop to do it though.

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[Chillaxin]

If you want a better oil control ring and don't want to buy 23mm rods: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-je-pisto...et/329244~jep/ I'm not sure if these rings are pre-gapped to fit the cylinders though. A ring grinder and some feeler gauges are much less expensive than 23mm rods though.

[mowgli87]

If you want a better oil control ring and don't want to buy 23mm rods: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-je-pisto...et/329244~jep/ I'm not sure if these rings are pre-gapped to fit the cylinders though. A ring grinder and some feeler gauges are much less expensive than 23mm rods though.

Actually not a bad idea at all! Forced upgrades are the best upgrades.

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[A4Audi]

Thanks for the great resources here!

I am about to dive into my 2010 A4 Avant [CAEB], with 86K mi, to take care of this oil consumption issue. I'm to the point where I'm using a quart about every 300-400 miles.
This will be my first rebuild, but I've found a lot of useful information - most notably, a YouTube channel titled 'Naptown Tuner.' He almost exclusively rebuilds the 2.0T

If anyone wants any cross reference resources, just look at the FCP Euro 'Piston Kit' - it's effectively a shopping list!!
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...-06h107065dmkt

They have every part and part number needed in the description, BUT... by simply comparison shopping I was able to identify all of the parts from different resources at about $1,200 less than the kit! So instead of $3,825, I'm looking at $2,575. But to take that one step further, I was able to score a full set of used (updated, 23mm) pistons a connecting rods on eBay for under $200. They were pulled from a 2014 2.0T with about 100K miles, and they were perfect. So I should be able to do this job (minus specilized tools) for about $1,100... which is what I would pay in oil consumption over the next 4-5 years if I didn't fix it.


I comparison shopped between:
- FCP Euro
- Audi Parts Store
- Rock Auto
- ECS Tuning
- Autozone
- O'Reilley's

**...Autozone and O'Reilley's combined only had about 4 or 5 items in the full list.

But one thing I'm lacking is a repair manual - what is recommended?
And to the OP ( @mowgli87 ), what were you using on the laptop as you worked; was that a manual? Digital version? I would really prefer this.

Thanks!

[Chillaxin]

You really should pay for and download the factory service manual from erwin.

Here is my updated parts list: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...Job-Parts-List

[theycallmesike]

You should rename the video "How to fix your Audi 2.0 oil consumption in 3 minutes!" Lots of click bait views then. haha But damn, nice work. Definitely more ambitious than I am.

Did you use all OEM parts or upgrade some parts? Also, doesn't seem like you did any future proofing work, like honing the cylinders or decking the head to make sure it's flat and smooth? No metal rear main seal or metal head gasket? I've never rebuilt these engines, but when I redid my Supra, those were some common parts to upgrade and work to do.

[ROH ECHT]

I'm curious, only because I do not see these on the parts list; did you not replace the valve stem guides and seals? Or did you send the head away for rebuilding, and I just missed you writing that?

[bradwww]

I have the same issue, same story, and facing the same DIY rebuild in the next few weeks. Thank you so much for posting all of this information!

[vtraudt]

Two initial questions:
a) lift engine only up/out vs engine/trans 'roll out' with taking front clip off?
b) why new pistons and not just rings?

[Smac770]

The idea of new rings is different rings, so piston is probably changed for the new rings. But Audi when covering it always replaced the pistons and rings, never just the rings. If they didn't need the cost of pistons, they wouldn't have spent it.

As for engine out, no idea. Workshop manual process is to support the front of the trans with the engine bridge, and use the engine hoist to lift the engine up and out, lock carrier in service position rather than removed. You do still have to drop the rear of the trans some to disconnect something, it appears. But then you put the rear back up and resecure the crossmember support. I didn't see anything about it saying to remove the hood for clearance.

But enough people have done this in the B8 A4 forum that you should inquire there too.