i bought a 99 a6 quattro with the 2.8 v6. here recently its been making a noise when i start it. it almost like a timing chain is hitting the cover. the noise is coming from the rear of the motor on the passenger side. i thought it may have been an oil issue. but since this is the first german car ive ever owned im not even sure what oil to use. i changed the oil, but the service oil light still flashes when i start the car. sometimes the oil light comes on when driving. but there is plenty o oil in the car. if anyone can help give me an idea on what oil to use synthetic or regular, and maybe give me an idea what the rattle noise is....that would be great!

 

Sounds like you are not getting oil presure to pump up your hydraulic tensioners .. very bad. the oil light is indicating pressure probably , not quantity..

 

there was a long thread ( with some very bad language in it) from a guy named "siteadministartor"or something like that who had your exact problem .. do a search and see whathe did .. not sure he ever fixed it .. may have just sold it as he was constantly threatening to do .. he even had a video of it you could check .

 

I would stop driving the car until you can figure out what is causing your low oil pressure. The chain sound is probably cam to cam chains or its tensioner not getting oil. You will damage your engine should you continue to drive like this.

The service message when you start the car needs to be manually reset after you change the oil. Search for reset service light. The oil light that comes on while your driving, is a low oil pressure light.

 

Does the noise go away after you have driven the car for a while? The trans could be low on fluid and the noise is either the Torque Converter or trans pump. You need to check the level of the trans fluid.

 

ok so what i have found out is....i was listening to the engine again and this time i saw oil shooting out from the passenger side valve cover. i removed all the plastic stuff and the air box and found the valve cover has a crack in it. the crack is at the rear of the cover on the rounder part of the cover...the same place i heard the noise coming from. i guess now i have to replace the valve cover, but obviously something caused it to crack. any ideas?

 

gremlins

 

ha ha gremlins...yeah for sure. now i just have to get the dang things out of there