I am a newbie here~~~ My car is a 1998 (B5) Audi A4 Quattro 30V V6 2.8 MANUAL... The mileage is only 72k. I bought it as a second hand and do not drive it much.

The problem is:
Everything is fine when I start the car. After driving for about 5 minutes, there is little ticking noise (like "Ke le Ke Le") coming from the front of the car.

At first, I thought the noise went away when it is in neutral. So I thought it was the problem in transmission. After I took it to a garage which is specialized in German cars, they said it is from engine and I did hear the ticking noise when it is in neutral. Currently, they recommend me to change the timing belt. But it does not make sense to me why the noise only comes out after the car is warming up...

Any one has some ideas?? I do appreciate your help!!

 

Lifter tick. GTFO. Why did you put MANUAL IN ALL CAPS? Please tell me you're not one of those people that believes the auto tranny should be reserved for people who hate cars.

 

+1 for lifter tick. Could be made worse by sludge, which might explain why it takes a second before you hear it. All the goop starts circulating. You could try changing your oil more often, seafoam, etc. Changing the timing belt and tensioner is a good idea too

 

Always use full synthetic. It's just plain better.

 

X2. I had a ticking sound when I bought my car. I've been changing the oil with Mobil1 every 3,000 mi. and the ticking slowly went away.

 

Start doing it @ 5k miles... give it time to work. 3k is too short.

 

Wouldn't it flush out engine deposits better @ 3,000?

 

not really, you are just wasting money by changing it sooner then necessary.

 

The oil hasnt gotten its 'fill' yet @ 3k miles. Remember, there are detergents in the oil that need time to work. In fact, every test I've seen on Mobil, and synth oil in general, says the oil is just getting settled in @ 3k miles and can go 8-10k miles, but I still like ~6-7k oil changes, or twice a year (Spring, Fall).

If you really want to flush it out, get some 0-20 oil and a can of Seafoam.. put it all in and run it for 20-30mins after operating temp is reached.. shut down, wait 10-15 minutes, drain while engine still warm, replace filter, and fill. DO NOT drive or rev above ~2500 with the light oil/Seafoam in...

 

Hmm. guess I've been f*ckin up then lol. I've always used the 3 months or 3k miles interval, then when i switched to the Audi (and full synthetic oil) i just kept changing it at the same interval. I'll start waiting more. Thanks for the info guys!