Hello All.

This my first post. I just bought (or mother-in-law bought for my wife) a 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattrro automatic. To my pleasant suprise I found out immediately the car had sludge. I was able to locate all the oil change receipts and get Audi to pay for the sludge repair kit (was really hoping for a new engine).

I have a question if anyone could be of assistance. I just had the sludge kit completedw/ 98k miles. When I drove off the lot I saw my check engine light was on and returned to the dealership.

They checked the codes andtold methe cam adjuster is not adjusting properly and needs to be replaced. This was not something they picked up when I brought the car in at first (when they found sludge).Cam adjuster is a$700 part from Audi.

My questions are:

[ol][*]Is this a sludge related problem? The dealership told me its not part of the sludge program.[*]Could this be damaged caused by the dealership during the sludge repair? The dealership told me the cam adjuster is not touched during the sludge kit.[*]Should I be pursuing Audi to have this problem fixed or am I going to have to bite the bullet?[*]Is this a necessary repair?[/ol]
Also, I need a timing belt done and was planning on buying the timing belt kit from ECS tuning.com and getting an import shop to replace the timing belt, water pump, and other parts in the ultimate kit.

When all the items in the kit are installed, could this fix the problem?

Thank you anyone that can help.

 

could be wrong, however to my knowledge, the problems with sludge stemmed from the smaller than normal oil pickup tube on the A4 and passat, sludge would build up in the tube and eventually seize the engine because the oil pump couldn't pump any oil. I don't recall the cam adjuster being affected by the sludge problem.

 

Anybody else that can offer some advise?

 

the cam adjuster would not be from the sludge problem. you will have to bite the buillet and do it. I'm pretty sure it will come with the kit but you might want to talk with them and make sure.

 

No the cam adjuster does NOT come with the timing belt kit. That is a separate part.

josh

 

have fun the timing belt and water pump on mine cost 1800 with some other minor work done

 

Ouch.. Raped... (depending on what other "minor" work was done.) You can do your timing belt/tensioner/roller/all other belts/water pump/t-stat for about $250 if you DIY. This is all included in the ultimate ECS kit. Skip on the lightweight crank pulley if they offer that in the kit.

 

You never posted the code for your problem.
What is a cam adjuster? We don't have variable
valve timing. If the tensioner is loose, there
might be a cam code.

I'd have the timing belt job by your independent mechanic.

 

+1
Regardless of what you may read by some other members of this site, the 01 1.8T doesn't have vvt, it's just the 2.8 30v.
http://www.audiworld.com/model/a4/01/specs.shtml