Correct, oil is oil.

 

When the Oil is hot - Per the ELSA manual-"at least 1 BAR at idle" or 14.5038 psi. So now I assume the audi manual is correct?????? Thus I do not have an oil pressure issue??? or is this as accurate as auidi saying a timing belt should last 90K miles.

Who's right???

 

Auditech is right.

 

Am I reading this correct, you replaced your pump and pickup tube and you still had the same oil pressure????? You must be kidding, the book says 1 bar to 3.8 bar is in spec.

 

when my oil is HOT!!

 

So as it stands now, is your car ok? was the oil pickup needed or was that an incorrect repair? Your oil pressure was the same with the old pump as with the new pump?? are you serious? you must have been really mad after that job of dropping the pan? Can you see a real problem with the tensioner?

 

I got my car from a customer that had it towed to my shop from Audi. The car would start to make a knocking noise after 20 minutes of running. It only made the noise at idle. Audi had told my customer that the car would have to have an engine. Well the customer and Audi got cross so that is were I camein. Audi's repair information said to check to oil pressure first. Audi's spec's for the 1.8t is 1.3 bar at idle and 3.5 to 4.5 bar at 2000 rpm. Thats 18psi at idle and 50 to 60 psi at 2000 rpm. This is at operating temp. If all is well then pull the cam bearings for inspection. All of the cam bearings were fine. If all is well there then you are to pull the oil pan and inspect the pick-up screen for sludge. If no sludge is found then replace the oil pump and pick-up screen and retest. If the noise is still there then replace the engine. Now all of this information is Audi's information. This is what is do for a living. I just wasn't convinced that the car needed an engine. I talked to a few well respected tech's and engine builders that I know and they agreed that something else was the problem. I had visually inspected the cam chain tensioner and it looked ok. I did an internet search and found this forum. I did a search andno one had addressed my specific problem. So I let the engine run until it started making the noise then removed the valve cover and low and behold the cam chain tensioner was giving it hell at idle. So Ireplaced the tensioner and a few other parts while I had it tore down and now everthing is fine. In the middle of the repair the customer bought a new car and made me a great deal on his "piece of crap" Audi. I finished the repair and now have a few thousand miles on it. I have never been a fan of German cars but I love this car. It is in immaculate condition. A side note on oil pressure. The specifications for oil pressure are for a minimume pressure under normal operation temp. Bearing wear has to be considered before condeming and oil pump. That is why Audi wants the cam bearings inspected before replacing the oil pump.

 

Trust your elsa manual. If those are the specs for your car in the manual, thenI cant see how anyone can argue this, even auditech79. Sounds like you need to replace the cam chain tensioner.

 

I really can't believe that you've gone through all of this diagnostic work. It sounds like the car just needs a new Cam Chain Tensioner. The problem lies in the cam chain itself is a bit loose, thus creating a rattle in the engine. The tensioner isn't tightening up all of the way at normal operating temp, so it's still functioning but not to standard specs. If you replaced your oil pump and pickup tube and the problem is still there just get a new tensioner, put it in and call it a day.

I had the same exact problem in my '01 A4 1.8T and I had it diagnosed at three different shops and they all said the same thing. It didn't even cause a CEL to come on because it was sort of half functional and the chain was running only partially slack.

Good Luck!

LampyB.

 

LampyB, your right the car did just need a cam chain tensioner in the end. But just puttingone in would have been an expensiveguess. It could have been a low oil pressure problem also. So before dropping a grand on parts and labor I wanted to make sure I had the problem figured out. Most customers don't like for me to guess at what will fix their cars. You also have to understand that I had not seen this problem before on anAudi. So you have to kind of use Audi's diagnostic tree to guide you. If you read Audi's take on this they do everything but replace the cam chain tensioner. So that is why forums like this help so much. You can talk to a lot of Audi owners that may had the same problem.