Ok, before you all jump on me for the "noob question," please take note of my join date and post count... thanks.

I have a 99.5 A4, and I'm looking at an '06 S4 with a gazzilion miles (164K to be more precise). It the 25th Anniversary edition and looks almost perfect cosmetically, inside and out. Carfax shows that scheduled maintenance was performed at a dealer most of it's life.

I know the 4.2 made prior to 2005 had an issue with the cam tensioners I believe, a very costly repair. But they fixed this issue in 2005.

Is a 7 year old S4 with 164K miles even worth considering?

By the way, the dealer is only asking $10K for it...


P.S. My A4 would go into the garage and have all the little things fixed and then become my son's car. He turns 16 next month.

 

Cost of the timing chain service scares me and I have a B5

 

Will the timing chain need to be replaced? I've done the TB on my 1.8T pretty easily, I assume if the timing chain needs to be replaced, it should be pretty straight forward.

But I was under the assumption that the chain doesn't even need to be replaced... is this not the case?

 

Replacing the belt on a 1.8T and the chain on a V8 are night and day difference I think. My understanding is that chains are used so that they don't need to be serviced. But if there is a fault in the system its going to be difficult to get to and the systems are more complicated. Just google an image of the 4.2 chain and you'll see what I mean.

 

The chain is necessarily the issue it's all the associated tensioners and stuff, also the chain is not at the front of the engine like the 1.8t or even the 2.7t, it's at the back, so in order to service the chain/tensioners ect the motor must be pulled. Here's a good thread from AZ: B6/B7 S4 Timing Chain FAQ / Information / Discussion Thread

That thread puts DIY costs at almost $3k for parts, owie

 

Now that I was not aware of...

 

You know, I was just thinking... at 164K miles, this engine simply is built perfect and will never break, or the timing chain service may have already been done.

If it's already been done, I think I might get my 2/3rds majority vote to override my wife's veto...

 

I picked it up for $8,900. I couldn't walk away...

 

From my experience working on those engines, they're about the best engine ever built, by anybody, anywhere. Aside from timing belts and leaky valve cover gaskets on the MFI 4.2, and the occassional intake manifold runner control motors on the FSI 4.2, (and normal maintenance of course), don't seem to ever have to do much else to those enignes. We've got customers with '98-'02's with well over 200,000 miles and they still run as smooth and powerful as brand new. As I said, my experience only.

 

This was one of the main deciding factors. She still pulls strong without any funny noises, smells, smoke, or anything. She will need some new valve cover gaskets eventually, but it's not so bad it has to be right now...

I'm really looking forward to learning more about this car. After driving the B5 A4 for just over 4 years, there is a feeling of familiarity driving the B7 S4...

There is a bunch of really small "annoyances" that need to be addressed, but nothing that affects the drivability or dependability of the car, so I will get to them as time progresses...