Greeting guys,

I am new to the group as I recently picked up a very tidy US spec '06 A3 2.0T DSG with sport, winter packages and 58k on the clock.

I want to make sure I can take this thing to the 1/2 million mile mark as I have with my other cars so want to get some clarification on some of the mechanical quirks of this car to take care of issues preemptively.

I have all the service paperwork for the car and all scheduled maintenance had been done at the dealership up to the 55k miles service. I just had all four coil packs replaced under recall warranty so the car is good to go for a while as the dealership would have me think.

After doing some reading, I have gathered that there are a couple weak links in the engine that should get attention soon, and a two large services looming in the next 20k miles, namely the DSG flush and filter (ok to leave until 75k?) and the timing belt and tensioner (dealer said 75k, I have read both 40k and 60k on forums).

Aside of the above, I have seen mention of the following and please let me know if these should be done immediatly or if they can wait for a while:

Fuel pump shaft
Cam follower (some threads make this sound like a ticking time-bomb)
PCV system service (what is this?)
Fuel filter (dealer says lifetime part......oh really?)
Diverter valve (is this really and issue?)
Water pump (60k on BMW's, is it the same for Audi?)

Anything missing from above?

Thanks,

James R.

 

Hey James. I'll address each one separately.

FPS/Cam Follower:

On your car, you have a normal fuel system until it reaches the engine. There is another fuel pump called the high-pressure fuel pump (Or HPFP for short) that resides on the head and is driven by the cams. The pump is needed to push the fuel out directly into the combustion chamber and sees some extreme pressures. The follower that resides in between the pump and cams is known to wear down over time. If not replaced, the cam will wear down and you can imagine the disaster that can result. This is why I made this your first thing on the list. We sell the follower, let me know if I can assist you with it.

PCV/FSI Service

On normal cars, the engine has some "blowby" that gets recirculated back into the intake track. This is what the PCV system does. On the FSI engines, since the injector sits below the intake valve instead of on top, this blowby starts accumulating on the intake valves. After thousands of miles, less air can flow, and the car will feel sluggish. People do a variety of things to remedy the PCV system, but even with most "fixes", blowby can still accumulate. This is why we have the FSI service at the shop, that cleans the intake valves back to their original condition, freeing up some power/fuel economy. This is the second thing I would recommend.

The original FSI diverter valve that was released had a few flaws and got updated with a newer/better diverter valve that addresses the original issues. We have these FSI diverter valves here as well if you need to order one.

The fuel filter eventually does get clogged and was a problem on earlier A4s. It doesn't hurt to replace it. The filter itself may be lifetime, but no one can predict the sediments that accumulate over time. Some people may be fine for a lifetime, and some may not last 50k.

As for the timing belt/water pump, it is usually done ~70k. Audi uses interference engines, where if the belt breaks, the valves and pistons "high 5" each other, which can be extremely expensive to fix and requires pulling the cylinder head.

I hope that helps, I sent you a PM

 

Thanks so much Clint! This is the kind of info I was looking for. I did some research and spent a good 1/2 hour on the phone with the service advisor at the Audi dealership that worked on the car since new and he was able to go through the service history for me and tell me specifically what had been done and what hadn't.

Apparently the previous/original owner spared no expense at maintaining this car, but it wasn't cheap for her and the dealer comp'd alot of work out of sheer pitty/embarrassment.

All scheduled maintenance was done on the mark including the DSG flushes and biannual coolant and brake flush. Battery was replaced 2 years ago as well as the tires (which are Yoko's with about 25k on them and are noisy as hell....a set of Extr-Conti's may be in my future). The standout repairs were:
The A/C compressor was replaced at 30k miles (apparently a common issue) with an updated part
The PCV valve around 40k with the updated part (again, common)
Audi Concert stereo replaced in 4/09 (but XM was actuated so I was able to set it up in about 3 min on the phone..excellent!)
The doozie....the HPFP cam follower did indeed wear through and caused serious damage to the cam. The HP fuel pump and cam were both replaced at 54k miles (when the 55k service was done) to the tune of $2.6k!!!!! But they didn't do the timing belt or tensioner (why I don't get as if you are already in there, why not just do it?)

Apparently, according to the service advisor, that was the straw that broke the camels back. The PO had this car in the shop every 5k miles for little things common to German cars (idiotic crap that we all learn to live with but former Camry/Accord drivers get frustrated by) and after getting hit for the 55k service plus a new cam, fuel pump and upper end job, she threw in the towel. The SA even told her that at this point, she basically had a new car, but she was done....her loss, my gain.


So I guess I am at a good point where all lurking demons are purged, and I am onto to preventative maintenance from here on out......finger crossed!

James