RS4 Issues - Anyone got a view?

[Housemaster]

Boys and Girls,

My RS4 has just spent another couple of weeks with Audi as they try to diagnose the reason why it emissions light doesn't like staying unlit. Since I purchased the car in November 2008 I must have seen the emissions light around 8-10 times, most of the time showing up nothing on the diagnostics and simply being reset but on occasions suggesting something around air/breathing.

Last time it was in, around 3 months ago they replaced an inlet flap(?) which had ceased and both rear exhaust boxes which again has ceased flaps meaning no nice noises when the sport button was pressed. All of this work was carried out under warranty and did make an improvement but about 4 weeks ago on came the light again and as it was due a service I booked it in.

I told them to take it off long life servicing and put it onto 10K mile intervals and they also found I had a DRC issue with front nearside and replaced that, again under warranty. The car is using around 5 litres of oil every 20K which for me is totally alien, I am used to cars not using oil (GT3, M3's, Tiv's, 22B etc) but this seems to have a taste so I asked them to check this too. This time around they found something around the manifold was not working, again replaced and also said the engine seemed to be coaking the valves, which means I need to 1K miles and then take back to them for an oil test.

My car has around 42K on the clock and they suggested Audi is monitoring this issue on higher mileage cars as it seems to be an issue they are seeing more and more and they don't, I am being told, have an answer. I am currently speaking with Audi UK and will be coming to an agreement with them as I have 80K of Audi's on the drive and a history of buying from them and currently my RS4 is annoying the tits off me!

Does anyone have any light they can perhaps shed onto this? Dealer is being supportive and I am not paying for this work but my time is the issue and I am sick to death of giving my car back to Audi every 3 months for them to have a further investigation. Not seeking to muddy the waters, just interested to get peoples views and insights.

Cheers
Housey.

[pippyrips]

When they took the manifold off did they mention the state of inside it? I bet they didn't!

Is the car logging a fault code and do you live near someone with vagcom (though I would have thought Audi would have checked..)

It could be lots of things - have they replaced the o2 sensors in the exhaust?

[P_G]

So am I right in reading they are monitoring higher mileage cars for emmissions warning light instances or is it on coking of the valves?

Touching wood as I write this I have had little to no issues with my car and feel for you that you have as it is a great car.

The oil usage is not uncommon because of the longlife service and the water they call long life oil they use in the engines, my B6 S4 did exactly the same; if anything the RS uses less oil and the coking of the valves is the end product for your oil usage as you will read on threads below.

Good luck with the car, they are great, honest.

[Housemaster]

So am I right in reading they are monitoring higher mileage cars for emmissions warning light instances or is it on coking of the valves?

Touching wood as I write this I have had little to no issues with my car and feel for you that you have as it is a great car.

The oil usage is not uncommon because of the longlife service and the water they call long life oil they use in the engines, my B6 S4 did exactly the same; if anything the RS uses less oil and the coking of the valves is the end product for your oil usage as you will read on threads below.

Good luck with the car, they are great, honest.

State of the inside is somewhat cryptic, elaborate please?

As I said the fault is not clear, often it logs nothing and I have stood by the tech when he runs the check twice. Not sure what Vagcom is i'm afraid or if they checked the o2 sensor, what is the significance in checking this?

[klauster]

i had the emissions light come on for me once a few weeks back, mine is also oil thirsty... ill post up the vag.com report for u, I also had the coolant light come on, im gonna book mine into Audi next week

[Housemaster]

So am I right in reading they are monitoring higher mileage cars for emmissions warning light instances or is it on coking of the valves?

Touching wood as I write this I have had little to no issues with my car and feel for you that you have as it is a great car.

The oil usage is not uncommon because of the longlife service and the water they call long life oil they use in the engines, my B6 S4 did exactly the same; if anything the RS uses less oil and the coking of the valves is the end product for your oil usage as you will read on threads below.

Good luck with the car, they are great, honest.

I agree with oil service, this is why I have taken the decision to reduce it to 10K miles from the long life service. They tell me that coking of the valves is something they have seen on cars with higher mileage and it is this they are monitoring, not the emmisions light. My dealer has 1 other RS4 with a similar issue and my car is serviced ahead of time by around 2-3K miles typically.

I agree the car is a great A to B road car but unlike most I put miles on it and use it every day and if it can't handle this or has some underlying issues we need to get to the bottom of it I just don't want to be their road tester.

[Housemaster]

ill post up the vag.com report for u, I also had the coolant light come on, im gonna book mine into Audi next week

Forgive my ignorance but what is the Vag.com report?

[WBRS4]

I read something about a faulty manifold sensor that causes the engine to run too rich .. it kills the cats

[pippyrips]

Vag-com is a diagnostic tool which can read & monitor all of the electronics via the OBD port. It’s a cleaver bit of kit and vie been told in many ways its better the software Audi use in dealerships! Lots of forum members have it and may be able to help monitor the code assuming the light is on at the time.

If you have a read through resent threads you will see there has been a lot of talk about build-up in and around the inlet & valves.

The inlet flap Audi replaced for you is found in the base of the inlet manifold and creates turbulence as air flows into the head. Did they mention anything to you about build-up of any kind in side the engine when they did this work as there is no way they would have missed it?

To be honest I don't think it will be the cause of your fault as pretty much every RS4 made will be driving round in the same condition with the no faults,

How far have Audi gone to trace the fault? By own experiences I’ve found Audi prefer to replace a load of parts rather than fully investigating the root cause. If they are out of ideas I would have expected them to change a lot of sensors first like the exhaust etc

[SR71]

Housemaster,

Check this thread (http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... ic&t=76330) and have a look at what your manifold looks like.

Have a look at this thread to see what a car with 3000 miles on it looks like: http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... ic&t=75737

Audi are/were definitely aware of the problem, even at the design stage: http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... ght=patent

Bearing in mind your ongoing issues, I'd suggest they're not mileage related. Thats a red-herring as this 4.2 gums itself up within 1000 miles!

The issue is particularly pertinent on the RS4 because of excessive volatisation of the oil we use - so much for VW504 spec. (Personally I wouldn't leave the oil in there for more than 5000 miles) So they designed a sophisticated cyclonic CCV system to deal with the issue:



Except it doesn't work.

Audi Germany seem to be aware of the issue, as is Audi USA, not least because of the efforts of a contributor to this WWW site. Formally however, we've learned recently that Audi UK seem to be digging their heels in.

Can you get them to trade the car in?

On the basis that your issues relate to excessive oil consumption and excessive deposition in the inlet (that is my supposition), the only possible solutions to your problem are:

1) Use a better oil. You'll have to source it from RLI in the US.
2) Disconnect the CCV line back to the manifold - I doubt Audi will do that.

Aside from that, whatever Audi do, the issue will return to haunt you as the engine "dirties" itself up again.

Equip yourself with some of the images from this WWW site as to the state of RS4 inlet manifolds, take them to your dealer and see what they say...

All of us are sitting on this "FSI time-bomb".

[Housemaster]

Excellent stuff everyone, I have already tabled the 'have it back please' so we will see what comes of it and like most things getting my knowledge tight is the starting point to building an understanding of my options. Not seeking to get into a fight with Audi simply want to know what the facts are so I can deal with them from a starting point of understanding, which tends to be the basis for a solid agreement......in my favour. As I said dealer is currently being very supportive so no complaints there and we will see where it goes.

[reevesroadster]

I had an issue with the emissions light and poor running of the car some time ago. After a few trips to Audi they took the car in and did the equivalent of a factory reset on the car, which makes it relearn your driving techniques etc.
It cleared the fault and gave me back a smooth running car. Ive had no issues since with the emissions light. Might be worth a try.

[Housemaster]

They have done several resets and a couple of engine management updates including a new 'lastest' update today I am told...

[neckarsulm]

have done several resets and a couple of engine management updates including a new 'lastest' update today I am told...

I wouldn't put it past Audi to tone down the sensitivity of the diagnostics to prevent the EML coming on (e.g. by increasing the operating parameters of what ever is to blame so it has greater tolerance) rather than actually fix the problem

[pippyrips]

They have done several resets and a couple of engine management updates including a new 'lastest' update today I am told...

Other than installing new software and a new manifold, what else have they replaced?