AT90qubed

I'm on the market for an A4 or A6 Avant in the sub $6,000 range and seeing some with the 2.8 and some with the 3.0.

I tried searching here and google but I think the terms are too generic as I wasn't able to turn much up and I'm sure there has been discussion about this.

Can anybody explain or possibly point me in the right direction to learn about the differences and pros and cons of the two motors?

I am sort of avoiding the 1.8 and 2.7 as I am turbo-phobic...(they have been very expensive for me in the past and more of a PITA than they are worth since I don't drive very aggressively anyway). I originally thought I wanted an Allroad but the air suspension and twin turbo motor are too expensive to maintain for cars with the mileage / cost I am looking at.

Airbag

The 3.0 is a much maligned engine ... and although i cant speak of it personally where there is smoke there is fire. Quite a few have the 3.0 and have nad no issues with regular oil chnges but the common complaint sems to be the car eats exhaust cams and that is expensive and headaches. For that reason alone I woul dstay away from that motor.
The 2.8 is a little small to push an A6 around in my opinion as it is a big car for that engine. That said though it is a rock solid engine and built on the v6 12v engine of earlier gens of Audi which had equally as strong a reputation.

I have 400,000km on my 2.8 and still going strong... everything else is falling apart but the engine is hanging in there.

thall6594

I have a 3.0 2002. I take good care of it, but I run into problems all the time.

Metronet

Another maintenance item for the 3.0 is the intake change-over valve/mechanism. The roller gets dirty inside the intake manifold after a while. To clean it without pulling the manifold requires removing the vacuum mechanism from the roller. This also gives easier access to the thermostat. However, the (black) plastic vacuum lines around it are most likely fragile and it's best you replace them at the same time. There might not be enough clearance to fully remove the roller unless it's at service position but good enough to apply some seafoam (spary) to clean the sludge and build-ups.

You'll enjoy the power of the 3.0 if you decided to go for it, good luck!

02Avant

I have an 02 3.0 with 93000 on it and have zero problems. It runs good, gets good mileage and has not even had an oil leak. No complaints.

Airbag

i have a somehwt elated question about the part shown above .. a buddy came over the other day with his MB 07 280 maybe ?

he was borowing my code reader and he could not get ready staus for emmisions .. " intake runner changeover valve stuck"
or something to that effect .. just would not go green ...

anyone know if this is a known isssue to stop rediness or just a coincidence ?

strangely enough he said he went for OBD 2 emmisions testing and the guy said it was fine and gave him a pass. i plugged it in ... yellow ...

plugged in my 400,000km A6 ... green ..... wtf ?

ajg617

The 3.0 does get a bit of bad press. That said, I have 205K on my 2003 A6 Avant and 92K on my wifes 05 A4 Cab, both with 3.0s. 3-4K on oil changes. Catalytic converters are problematic for that engine - at least on my 03 and that was probably due to the type of gas used. Really depends on how the prior owners maintained them. Guess that's true for any engine though. Just replaced the PCV hoses (complete set) on my 03 but for the mileage that was a small cost.