Hi, first time poster. Bought a 2002 A6 2.7T about month and a half ago with 64K on it. Runs great, always have noticed a slight "burnt oil" smell eminating from the car when I shut it off in my garage. Didn't think anything of it because car is running awesome. Solid Check Engine Light came on a couple of days ago, taking it to my trusted indie german car shop tomorrow (we also have a BMW so they are trusted by me). Maybe not related but noticed gas mileage down a little bit over the last couple of fill-ups. Any of this related to the light? Just want to know what to expect to hear from the shop? How much? I'll update you guys on the problem.

Gosh, I hope it's nothing big. I purchased an extended warranty from a third party (Continintel Warranty) when I bought the car. They have this stupid *** policy that the contract doesn't kick in until 90 days after purchase of warranty! It's only a drive train policy but if there is something wrong that might otherwise be covered I guess I'll be borrowing someone else's car for a while until my 90 "probation" period is up so I can get it covered. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

OP Here: Ok, just got back from the shop here's what I got:

One code stored 17125(P0741) Torque Converter!!

They diagnosed the vehicle and everything checked out fine, light went off while I was driving on my way to the shop.

Car seems to be running fine, always has. The technician "suspects" that TC is "beginning to fail". Although, other then the check engine light and the code popping up he couldn't see anything else.

Advised to keep driving as normal, monitor problem.

How long do I have? Is it guranteed that the torque converter is going fail? Anybody have any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to the madness.... Not sure about torque converters, except they're not know to fail. The "burnt oil smell " is quite common with these Audis. Search to forum, lots of info on this.
Could be failed O -ring seal on turbo lines leaking oil onto exhaust pipes. Aslo known issue is these engines have cam tensioner seals that fail and leak oil, causing a burnt oil smell. The right cylinder head has this seal at the back, up against the firewall, hard to get at. The dealer charges quite a lot to fix these seals, so lots of Audi owners live with it.
Good luck, great car if you take care of it.

 

Several other possible causes for this fault code http://wiki.ross-tech.com/index.php/17125/P0741/001857. Youshould be able to narrow it down with a VAG-COM.

 

Thanks so much for the replies, and this great reference to possible problems. I will keep an eye on it and I guess if my CEL comes on again I will make sure the technician checks all of these possible problems. I sure hope it's something else other than the TC, I would sure hate to drop $3Kafter only having the car for a month and a half. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

Hopefully it's not anything serious, but if it is your tranny the extended warranty covers it. Let us know how that works out as there has been much forum discussion on advantages/downsides of 3rd party warranties.

I often smell a hot oil (not sure if I'd call it burned) smell after running the car hard/long and then parking it in the garage. I haven't seen any sign of oil dripping on the ground and in multiple visits to my indie for regular maintenance they never mentioned any gasket leaks. There is no noticeable oil loss between 6-7k changes. So I just assume it is a small engine working hard - I frequently run it 180 miles across Michigan at 75-80 mph.

Plan on replacing the timing belt, water pump, serpentine, and associated tensioners at 80-90k miles. My manual calls for 105k but if you search the forumyou'll see replacements as early as 75k. I did mine at 94,550 using a Blauparts kit. Figure on $1000-1500 depending upon who does it (dealer or indie). Make sure they know Audis. Otherwise do the regular maintenance and take care of it, and it should last a long time.