Okay, my local dealership has crashed 95 Audi 90 Quattro Sport 5spd with only 90,000 on it. They're asking $3,000, and the fix itself is EASY. They've got all the parts, I only need a few odds and ends. The interior is mind and beautiful and I can tell that the car was taken care of. The accessory belts are shreded so I can't drive it (no alternator, water pump, power steering, a/c) so I can run it for 3-4 minutes.

It doesn't appear the engine was damaged, only some of the plastic belt covers were cracked. Now here's my issue, I started it and it started strong and fast, but with fairly loud lifter noise. I only ran it for a good 2 minutes at most and didn't hear the lifter noise lessen at all. I checked the oil and it's fine. I thought 2 minutes would be enough for the oil to circulate. Now it's been sitting for over a year without being started, could that be the cause of it? I thought that with only 90,000 miles on clean engine/clean audi in general that the lifter noise shouldn't be that bad. Do you think that the noise will probably go away after driving it or is there the possibility of it being a problem? Or do you think that not having any of the accesories (water pump/alternator/power steering) and not having any radiator or fluid going through could cause the problem? Any ideas? It's such a good deal, but if I buy and I find out the lifters are shot, all I can do is drive it and see what happens.

[edit]Oh yeah, the belt tensioner was busted as well, but there wouldn't be any belts running through it right now anyways.[/edit]
Thanks alot!

 

On my '84 and '91 Audi's the lifter noise sometimes took 20 minutes or more to go away. Sometimes the oil needs time to warm up before it will quiet the lifters and 2 minutes is not sufficient time to get it hot. Can't tell if it is going to be the same in your case? Maybe the timing belt has skipped from the impact or perhaps some other problem is causing the noise?

 

The 12 valve engine is known for bad lifter noise. Mine 12V engine in my A4 used to tick pretty loud. It doesn't mean anything is necessarily wrong.

 

Alright, well that's good news. It looks like I'm gonna get the car on Tuesday. I'm so excited, it'll be my first Audi, and first car with over 135hp (lol) so I think I'm going to enjoy it. It's also my first AWD car. It's going to be fun to fix.

Thanks for the input, beneath all the lifter noise I hear a strong strong good running engine and it starts EXTREMELY quick for having not been run for over a year.

 

The 2.8L is NOT notorious for lifter noise normally. There is a likely condition that can cause lifter noise, and is easily remedied. If you have a Bentley CD, it is listed in the tech bulletins as well. It is typically the oil check valves. There are two sets of these valves, one under the valley pan, and two under the valve covers. Here is a link explaining the problem and remedy.

http://www.12v.org/maintenance/repairs/checkvalves.php

Also search the forums. There are a number of posts concerning this issue.

JM