I came back from a 100 mile trip, and when I got back, my 2001 225 was making a clicking noise. It sounded like a belt. It isn't noticeable until the car is warmed up.The next day I took it to the mechanic, at first he said it was possiblelifter noise (he used a stethoscope to find it). He mentioned the next step was to check the oil pressure using some device (No idea what he meant). He found that is was a bit low, and from reading a bulletin, he says my oil pump should be replaced.. Now, he did mention something about an oil screen becoming clogged before mentioning the oil pump replacement. I thought this would be a relatively easy/cost effective fix. He said to do the oil pump it would cost around 630.00. I keep reading things about oil sludge. When this happens, is it necessary to replace the oil pump?? He said that is a good sign that the car doesn't have the noise on startup, as ifthe enginewere damaged- it would make the noise constantly. Do you think my turbo is shot?? I am not the most mechanical guy, and any input would be great.

Thanks

 

Tough to tell w/o hearing things first hand, and knowing the history, but I have 2 questions for you

Do you regularly change your oil?
Do you use synthetic oil? (I use Mobil 1 5W30)

If you're regularly changing your oil, and using the oil you should, I'd be suprised if I ever saw an pan full of sludge.

 

5w30? hmm I've always used 15w30. Am I hurting my car by doing that? I use Mobil 1 also. Never had anything but Mobil 1 in the car

 

Actually, I fell for the amsoil scam (only changing your filter, and adding a quart every 5-10,000). Amsoil is a synthetic. We haven't taken off the pan yet, so I guess it's hard to tell. From what you have read, what are my chances?

 

Tough to tell w/o looking at the oil.

If I remember correctly, the manual says something to the effect of changing the oil every 7-8K miles, and doing the filter twice as often. Not sure on that though, as I change my oil and filter every 4,000 miles. Better safe then sorry.

Oh, Neur0tic, check this out:
http://www.audiusa.com/etc/medialib/....0004.File.pdf

If you wanna get technical about it, Audi has approved Mobil 1 0W40 and 5W40, but I can't find either of those locally so Im using the next best thing I can find.

 

Right on. I guess I'm killing my car. I need to correct that.

 

Okay, I am getting the oil pump replaced tomorrow, and keep thinking that this isn't the problem. I have read the cam adjustor, cam sensor, or the cam chain tensioner can cause this clicking noise when cold (It's not the injectors). The reason they are replacing the oil pump (mechanic write up):

Scope test on engine, scan computer and read data, test fuel pressure, and refernce service bulletins. Found code p0411 secondary air code, ran tests and found bad combination valve. Also check for ticking noise when engine is warm. Found oil pressure to be low. Spec is 1.3 bar at warm idle and the car is running 1.2 bar at idle. and at 2000 rps it should be 3.5 bar, and the car is only at 2.8....

Is the oil pressure low enough to go ahead and change the pump????

 

first off mobil1 is not that great of a synthetic it uses the cheapest form of synthetic technology available (go figure exxon mobil looking for bigger margins), none of the race cars out there that have there sticker use it they use double ester oils which are only made by very few companies. it is not a true synthetic. it is a great alternative if you cant getbetter synthetics such as motul, red line, amsoil, elf, pentosin, and my personal favorite liqui-moly aka lubro moly. running higher weight is better. premium companies such as red line and liqui moly will tell you that if you are switching to there product increase the weight because they use ester technology which is thinner. sludging is a huge problem for the 1.8t and tdi engines, they were fixed by using a oversized filter. also please use your factory filter, if it is not made by either Mann or Mahle, it is a crappy filter, sawzall them vs your k&n or bosch and take a look the proof is dead obvious, also if you are using a fram please contact me for your soon to come turbo replacement and/or engine rebuild. also a side note the oversized filter is a pain to get in and out of aAMU or BEA block,but can be done.

also to answer the question the screen can get clogged by sludge. first check the turbo as this is the place that most oil pressure problems occur in our cars although the oil pump is still very possible. your oil pressure is way too low at 2.8 bar.