I'll try to load a photo of what sounded like the old stuck lifter problem. Turn out worse! Exhaust lifter collapsed, or got stuck or otherwise broken so it ruined the cam too. You can see the crater in the lifter if you look close.

So here's the question, the car is new to us, maybe 4 months. 2002 A4 Avant 3.0 with tiptronic. 97,000 miles. We got it and there were signs of neglect, like it still had the original t-belt at 96,000 miles. We got the car super cheap and decided to roll the dice. Did a bunch of initial labor, t-belt etc, then this happens. So is a collapsed lifter a sign that oil changes were neglected and this is the start of a dominoe effect, or is such a failure an odd, isolated incident?

The other wild card is the car always had some valve/lifter noise on cold start, I considered it normal. But the sustained ticking sound only started right after an oil change from Grease Monkey where they used their 5W-30 oil and only documented a 5.75 quart oil change. I know, never go to these guys, but it was 0 degrees out and I don't have a heated garage. Anyway, it seems like this car needs more oil than the owner's manual stated 6 quarts with the german filters I'm using. Could this have been a factor because Grease Monkey only put in 5.75? Thanks for any opinions and/or real world experiences. Joel

[IMG]local://upfiles/43714/0205FADA0615479BB90EE4067204A471.jpg[/IMG]

 

there has been several 3.0's on www.audizine.com with this exact same problem

you could try to pass it off on them but ill bet it would be difficult

 

Thanks Papa, I finally found that thread. Very helpful, but not very hopeful. For others, see:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30478
The appropriate title is "Death of a 3.0"[:-]

 

no problem... glad to be of some help

there is another thread as well... ive seen three or four of these on the Zine... one person noted that the 3.0 is the shortest lived engine in audi history (or one of)