My wife told me the Audi's exhaust got a bit louder last night. I forgot to check it and the low oil pressure light came on this morning on her way to work. The noise is a loud ticking coming from the front driver's side of the engine (it doesn't sound internal but may be). She said the oil was at the bottom of the stick after adding one quart. I checked it 2 weeks ago and it was at the right level then. It's not ever burned/leaked a drop of oil.

I'm afraid the engine was starved of oil. I got a new filter and 7 quarts of Castrol Syntec to start my attempts to fix this. If the noise continues after the oil change I'm going to drop the pan and check the uptake tube...

Any advice or hints would be greatly appreciated.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but...

I do not think that car has a low oil level light. That light means that there is no oil pressure and with no oil pressure the engine will destroy itself very quickly. If the oil light came on and she continued to drive it to work and then home the engine is probably toast.

 

Yeah, that was my fear. I read the codes, they all look to be related to the camshaft sensor: P1522, P1519, P1340

Any further insight? Start shopping for an engine?

 

Here is what I would do.

At this point you cannot hurt it any more. First do a compresssion test. If that looks good get a used CPS from Force5 or Shokan, put it in and drive it. Watch the oil consumption, it if is not bad just drive it till it dies.