Audi turbo problems

20

Asked by ukman May 10, 2012 at 09:43 PM about the 2001 Audi A6 2.7T quattro Sedan AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have an 2001 Audi 2.7T. It has been leaking oil. I had the oil gasket replaced/fixed 2 months ago. The car was working fine but then the check oil light came on after driving for 3 weeks. The folks at the garage told me that turbo's eat up gas. They filled up the oil pan and asked me to bring the car back after 2 weeks - I noticed that that there was fresh oil drips on my garage floor. I did and the oil was low.  The garage did some looking around and told me that there is an internal and external leak in the Right turbo and the oil was dripping on the catalytic converter.  Their recommendation is to replace both turbos.   The cost is $6000.   If I don't replace the turbo, then the converter maybe drenched with oil which will kill the converter.
My question to you all is:  Is it an issue?  if so how big of an issue? Can I drive the car and for how long?  Is the cost quoted reasonable?   I also need to have the oxygen sensors and  the exhaust gas temp sensor replaced.   The secondary air kombi valve bank had showed up last time sensor were checked but not this time.   The total cost is close to $8000 to fix.   Is it worth spending the money or should I get a new car?

8 Answers

First I have to assume the problem you are most concerned about is the oil loss in your engine. You did not note how many miles were traveled and how much oil was lost this would be the most important information to have. The first step is to perform an oil consumption test on the vehicle. Drips of oil on the floor will not account for any notable oil loss. If you were to have leaked a quart of oil from your car it would leave a mark were you park it the size of your car. I dought this is the case and you seem to be talking about more than one quart of oil. Check the oil after the car has been sitting all night and fill it to the full line. Exactly the full line! Write down the mileage and then drive the car until it is a quart low and note how many miles you have traveled. Then you will have an idea of how big of an oil BURNING problem you have. It is common for turbo charges to develope oil leaks in the oil seals and oil can leak into the exhaust or intake side of the turbo. Oil leaked into the intake side gets burned thru the engine combustion chambers, oil leaked into the exhast side gets burned in the catalytic converters. Neither are good long term. As to the value of the car if you like the car it is worth repairing if you are ready for a new car then do not fix it. You will only recover your costs of repair if you if the vehicle continues to serve you.

5 people found this helpful.
5,315

It is a good advice not to repair if you are ready for a new car, but before you replace the turbos or sell your car you must check the ventilation valve of the engine. Most audi/VW engines have this valve in the valve cover or on a hose connected to the valve cover. Its called oil separator, it separates the vapors produced in the crankcase from the oil and oil vapor and directs them to the intake. When the diahpgram breaks oil gets into the intake and consumes it. It is normal for turbocharged engines to enter oil because of the wear on some parts but depending on the engine and make it can't be more than 1 quarter X 1000km. hope this helps you

1 people found this helpful.
215

have they cheaked the turbo for any play becasue the bearings go in side the turbo that lets oil thought and will drain oil out of the engine it sucks it out or the piston ring have gone might be good to do comprestion test . hope this helps

1 people found this helpful.
4,425

One thing that no one has hit on is the reason for the turbos to fail.The reason is the oil feed lines get coked or carboned up restricting the oil flow to the turbos.This is from not changing the oil and filter at roper intervals or by not using the correct oils.Use the correct oil and be certain that the level is correct.VW and Audi both do not believe that oil consumption is excessive until it's a quart every 800 miles or less. The turbos to be replaced on this car,require that the engine and transmission be pulled as a unit,it's a very labor. Intensive job,so between the parts and labor what you got quoted would not be out of the realm of reality.Audi,s are expensive vehicles to keep going as you are finding out.Now what you need to keep in mind is at this point ,can you replace this car for 6 k? Possibly,but the reality of it is do you want to sink that amount of money into a car that has other possibility of high dollar repairs( transmission)I would say cut your losses and find a newer car.

2 people found this helpful.
255

Audi 2.7T is one oil-hungry motor - period. Why do you think Audi only produced it for five years? Don't get me wrong, it's actually an awesome engine...but the reality of owning this motor is those twin turbos gives the car incredible performance, all at the cost of insane oil consumption. You have to live with this fact of 2.7T ownership. Audi even says "normal" oil consumption is one quart every 800-1000 miles!

2 people found this helpful.
5,315

That is very true, oil consumption is normal on engines but this varies on engine to engine that is an oil hungry engine.

1 people found this helpful.
175,825

Check in at Audiworld.com and Audizine.com for tips on the care and feeding of your A6.

1 people found this helpful.
30

It is never a good idea to put more money into the car than it is worth

1 people found this helpful.

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