I have heard about that too- lets hope not

Help me out a little with some background.

How mechanically inclined are you? Have a lot of tools?

Where are you? what state?

How much maintenance have you done on this car as of now any?
I ask because as you move along I need to know what else to recommend you replace.

This engine is the biggest PITA of all audi engines ever.
It's no small block chevy walk though the park.

For starters order a set of valve cover gaskets from Blauparts.com
They are the cheapest, I checked
Valve Cover Gasket - 6 Cylinder 3.0L Engine - Audi 2002-05

For parts I use
Partsgeek.com very fast and cheap
Blauparts.com more audi specific
ecstuning.com audi specific
I check my parts between them and go for the cheapest.

You need to verify what the problem is first then I can help you tear it down and tell you where to get the tools and what tools you will need.

You need to pull the valve cover on the passenger side off
be careful with your coils don't get oil all over them treat them with kit gloves.
Remove the wire harness for the coils
pop the coils out
remove the valve cover screws (torx)
the gasket is most likely dried and will crack - so you'll need a new one

You need to mic the cam lobes on cylinder 1 and compare with cylinder 3
if it is the cam lobes you may notice scaring right away and see metallic residue in the area.

If the cam lobes are all the same and you do not see any signs of accessive wear ( take a photo and send it to us) then I would say collapsed lifter.

If it is the cam lobes You need a replacement head - huge undertaking


There is a company in Sarasota FL or Tampa FL that rebuilds these heads
You may be better off buying a reman head instead of getting into a rebuild yourself who knows what got eaten up if its a bad cam lobe.

Start with pulling the valve cover lets see what happening in there.

 

I am a technology guy that just graduated with an information technology degree but I am fairly mechanically inclined. I have not had a lot of experience but I am pretty good at things once I have researched them. I don't have all the tools that you would find in a mechanics shop but I do have more than just the basics. I love tools so for Christmas and birthdays I usually get more tools.

I am just outside of Ripley, West Virginia. The dealer that I had look at the car for me is in Charleston, West Virginia.

Since I have owned the car, the only thing that has been done to it is oil changes and I had a bad flex joint in the exhaust replaced. I purchased the car from Finest Motors in Maple Hts, Ohio with about 89,000 miles on it.

I will be placing the order for the valve cover gaskets in a few minutes.

I will probably be starting on the car Friday evening or Saturday morning since the Bentley repair manual arrived at noon today.

Thanks, for the help

 

Sounds like you're well on your way to becoming a Vag junkie like the rest of us!

Let us know what you find
If you need cams I would opt for a whole head.

If you go to pull a head
You will need a timing belt kit,(belt, roller, tensioner, water pump, t-stat, timing pulley caps and clips) blauparts for the kit and audi for the caps

You will also need the C-Clamp type timing tools for the heads.
This one comes with the crank pin and the pulley tool.
Audi A4 (2000-2004) 3.0L V6 AVK Master Camshaft Timing Tool Kit Set | eBay

and these pins or something similar, you stick them into the tensioner.
VW Audi T40011 Timing Belt Tensioner Pins El Paso Tool | eBay

some head bolts require a poly drive bit
#10 Polydrive Head Bolt Socket Bit For VW / Audi 3452 / T10070 | eBay

some require a triple square
10 pc XZN Triple Square Spline Bit socket Set | eBay
take a photo of your head bolts

you can pretty much buy everything else at harbor frieght/ home depot/ northern tool etc...
Don't bother renting them from blauparts just buy them.
You can always resell them but you don't want to be rushed to return the kit on time. Unfortunatley you will need them again anyway

 

Ok, I pulled the valve cover off today and this is what I found.

The two lifters in the middle are worn but the left one of the two is worn completely through as you can see in the pictures.

The cam lobes are pointed down at the moment but they don't seem to be worn any more than the other lobes.

I also noticed this yellow gunk in the crankcase breather hose.

I don't know for sure how to fix this problem so any info is appreciated.

What is my best option that will not break the bank?

Also, I have noticed others saying that the bentley manual made recommendations about the cam lobe wear and other engine troubleshooting. My bentley manual is over 900 pages but it doesn't go into great detail about the engine. The only thing it shows for the engine is the timing belt procedure, removing the valve covers, the rear main seal, engine lubrication system, and engine cooling system. There is nothing about any other part of the engine. It doesn't say anything about the valve covers except for the steps to remove it. It is the Audi A6 Service manual 1998, 99.,00,01,02,03,04 A6, S6, allroad quattro, RS6 by Bentley Publishers.com.

 

Shiznit!!!!

Here is a head for you pretty cheap.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-2003-20...item3a6e74d0bb

There is an TSB from audi on the problem with premature lobe and lifter wear.
Don't think it really matters at this point though.

That yellow crap is new to me but the crankcase line is a crap collector
Mine was all caked up. disgusting.

Your best option is to buy a remanufactured head, Used might cause you more problems but...

You would need to replace too much on that head to be worth rebuilding I'm sure the metal particles have done a number on the rest of that head.

Your going to need a head
head gasket set
a valve cover gasket for the other side
Head bolts, you can't re-use-torque to yield
exhaust manifold gasket flange
exhaust gasket
o-rings for the water cross over (audi)
Intake gaskets
cam adjuster caps (audi)
vacuum lines, Your going to break them all if they aren't new
Timing belt, water pump, roller and tensioner.
Thermostat
access to some tubing and for the breather tubes you come across that need to be replaced or repaired
cooling hoses

Also the tools I mentioned

blah b blah

If you decide you want to tear it down I'll pull out my parts receipts and have a look to see what else you need but it's a lot of stuff because and because your tb and associated parts are old you'll need to do them too.
since you will be removing them all why not replace them right.

My guess 2000 in parts all said and done.

 

I really appreciate all of your input with this. I forgot to mention that my timing belt looked pretty much brand new. It may have been replaced shortly before I bought the car. This car was originally used by a dealer as a curtesy car so I believe all recommended repairs and maintenance were probably taken care of then.

Would it be possible for me to take off my current head and clean it up really well? Then just replace the cam, lifters, and whatever else in it that needs done? Im trying to go for the cheapest repair right now because the money is a little tight.

Also, do you know of any manual, tech article, walkthrough or anything that would help me on tearing this engine down to were I need it to fix the head?

I will definetly be tearing the engine down as soon as I have the knowledge and parts to fix it.

 

Answer me this
How long are you planning to keep the car?
Is it in good condition?
My concern with trying to rebuild the head is that the cam guides in the head have been worn down slightly due to the metal flaking off of your lifter and cam.

A set of lifters, valve seals, cams etc. would cost more than the rebuilt one on ebay. If you have the money I would snap that one up. or give a call to local junkyards.

The good new is if your car's last owner was Audi they will have all of your maintenance records on file. Just call and ask with your vin no.
That would be great if your tensioner, roller and waterpump have been replaced.

You should still replace the belt when you remove it just not the tensioner roller and waterpump etc. I have taken mine on and off a few times though when it was really new. Lets see how many miles it has on it. I would just hate to see you do all of this work and the belt breaks in a few months.

I have 2 sets of directions for timing belt removal. I'll scan them for you.
we should have them on a sticky anyway.

I pulled my heads using info in the bentley and talking to the guys here.
when your ready to do it let me know and we can go over it.

It's not that bad just an amazing amount of tubes and wires
The most important thing is when you unplug something label both ends with a corresponding letter or number (a goes to a, b to b....) a lot of the tubes and connectors are the same size so it would be real easy to loose your way without letters.

I'll pull out my receipts and start getting the part #s for you.
all of the gaskets and everyday parts are readily available.

Concern yourself with shopping for a replacement head (Right side or Passenger American) Finding a head a decent price is where you can save your money.
When I was looking they were asking $1200-1800 for a rebuilt.

 

I really like the car. It is in great condition. Everything works great except for the lifter noise. I am not inseperable from it though because I can always get another one just like it. The biggest problem is that I have a loan out for the car.

I have the car in service position and everything taken off down to both valve covers. I don't have the timing belt off yet because I am waiting on the timing tools which I have already ordered.

I need to get my car fixed so that I can drive it for now. My question is can I just replace the worn lifters for now and drive it easy for a little while. Then I can tear the car down and replace the head when I save up a little more money.

I know its not the ideal fix but I need to be able to drive my car. It would be a lot of work but I have enjoyed it so far and the best part is... the labor is free because I am doing it.

I believe I can follow the bentley to remove the timing belt and everything but what about the cam and lifters? I don't know how to remove them or the correct way to prepare the lifters. I have read about people doing it different ways but Im not sure how to on the 3.0. Should I soak the lifters in oil first, then put them in and let the car sit overnight before starting? I also saw that some say to let the car run for 30 minutes after initial start also. I have never done this before so I need a little help.

Thanks

 

Heres the deal. Looking at your engine, it shows definite indications of very long oil change intervals, probably resulting in the lifter failure due to inadequate lubrication. It's hard to say if replacing the bad lifter will just move to another one soon..... It's just hard to know how much to replace. You will need to measure the cam profiles (takes tools and skill) to be sure the cams are still good. You will also need to measure the valve clearances which also takes skill since the lifters are hydraulic and have to be depressed beofre measuring them. It is possible that poor lubrication let the valve clearance get so large that the cam smashed the top of the lifter open from impact.

Changing the lifter means pulling the cam. A fairly involved task but doable if you are at all persistent and used to working with tools.
The thing you mention about the 30 minutes is actually to let the engine sit for 30 minutes after tightening the cam grid down to let the hydraulic lifters settle down. If you start it right up, the valves could go through the pistons.
What I am getting at here is that if I needed to drive the car anytime soon, I would have a mechanic do the work. I am very experienced and probably would only tackle this one if the car was a spare.

 

I want to do the work myself. I have the hardback bentley service manual but after reading through a few posts I believe I need the bentley repair manual cd to have help with the cams. Is this correct?

Does anyone know if the bentley cd will tell me how to replace the cam and lifters?

I want to take out the cam and post some pictures to get some more feedback so that I know what I can get by with.