I need some insight from the gurus here on my dilemma. I have a 2002 A4 3.0L Quattro that I just back from my audi dealership garage. They replaced my timing belt, water pump, rollers, etc. Driving it home from the garage, I thought it was running a little rougher than usual. The day after I got it home and about 150 miles later the low oil pressure light (yes, the red one) came on. I immediately pulled over, turned off the engine, and checked the oil level. It was slightly low (nothing alarming) and I topped it off with full synthetic. The light went away, and I drove another 50 miles (city driving) until it came back on. It stayed on for about 5-6 seconds and then disappeared. About 5 minutes later it came on and then back off again in about 5-6 seconds.

I have parked the car and am not going to move it until I get this figured out. The dealership is closed until Monday morning, so I haven't called them yet. I already put over $1500 into it to get the timing belt service performed.

My question for everyone is what could have gone wrong with the timing belt change? Is it possible the tech did not plug in a sensor good enough? Could he have gotten junk (dirt) into the oil to cause a clog? Could he not have torqued something down enough causing my problems? I am worried that the dealership is going to say it is unrelated and then will want to charge me an arm and a leg to work on it. I am convinced this is a result of the service, as this car has been smooth running with no issues for years. I took it in to get the timing belt serviced because of the mileage and not because the car was acting up or anything, so I can't believe this would be a coincidence....

thoughts? suggestions? What are some things I can check to be better informed and ready to call them first thing Monday morning. If it is something simple, I am willing to fix it myself. I don't have VAG or Bentley manual (I know, I know) so detailed help is appreciated!

 

Update:

I have an appointment on Wednesday to take the car in for diagnostics. I changed the oil, which was very thick (There were only 1800 miles on it too) and the oil filter was heavier than usual. The dealership that serviced my timing belt has offered to fully cover the repair costs, towing costs, etc., so long as it is determined that the problem is their fault. I have a hunch that no matter what the problem is found to be, it is going to be hard to pinpoint it to something that the shop caused when performing the last service.

I started up the engine after replacing the oil, and I am hearing clicking noises. Time for a tow .

On a side note, for those of you using Mobil1, if you go to their website (http://www.mobil1.com) and set up an account, you will get a $10 mail in rebate for your next purchase of 5 quarts of synthetic. They are giving this away due to shortages they experienced from Hurricane Ike. At least this made me a little happy. The fine print says that the rebate is good for up to 2 times per household as well. Enjoy.

 

Clickyity click is not good...

You did check the oil is at the proper level I take it...

The valve covers come off to do the timing belt on a 3.0 L. This exposes the inside of the engine, something could have come loose from this process and clogged the oil pickup tube screen, but seems unlikely to have directly been the technicians fault, but it is possible.

The question is what is clogging the screen...