I have a S3(model 2000)and there are some problems. First the exhaust system; when the exhaust sytem is very hot and it cools down very quick (e.g. when you drive throuh a pool of water)the exhaust seems to fall of your car. It is a hard noise and you get the impression that something is broken. When the exhaust gets again on temperature the noise disappears. It seems that this is a fault of Audi and that it is under factory guarantee. The second problem appeared after 12000 km. When you lift off the accelarator-pedal a strange noise appeared. This happens in every gear. The sound is as if something is scratching. Also this seems to be an S3 complaint. Does anybody of you S3-drivers have the same problems? And what action did you take?
Another thing is the extended 30.000 km service.(for model year 2000) The problem is the not available longlife VW 503001 oil. My garage gave me first the longlife 503000 oil but this is not the correct one! Does any body of you have some experience with this?
Regards
Kristijan

I cannot help with your first two problems but the oil is easy to deal with.As long as you have covered at least 20,000 kilometers why not use fully synthetic oil and change the oil and filter every 10,000 kilometers .

I haven't experienced any problems with the exhaust system or the accelerator-pedal, yet. My car is only 1100 km old. However, the brake fade problem, which occurs under wet conditions, does affect my S3 as well. Twice, the car failed to stop and forced me to run red light.

The exhaust problem appears to be a common one (read many articles in German S3 Forums) and seems to be covered by Audi warranty.

ravenx
'00 Black S3

Hi

Could the lift off problem be the wastegate for the turbo, It took me 6 weeks or so to notice a faint noise on releasing the throttle of my 1.8T

David R

I had the same accelerator problem with my TT. It relates to 'O' rings which cost a few pounds. It is inherent in A3's so hence TT's & S3's!

Hi
On what site can I find the german S3 forum you mentioned?
Regards
Kristijan

David,

I get this lift-off (chatter) sound as well. Is it the wastegate? Is it a problem?

I spoke to my dealer and they said it's normal. But when I spoke to a friend of mine who's a mechanic at the dealers, he said he couldn't recall hearing the sound on any other 1.8T Audi's.

Cheers,

Alan.
'99.5 A3 1.8T MS Silver

Try http://home.t-online.de/home/Martin.Kappl/

regards,

ravenx
'00 Black S3

Hi

I can only assume this noise is a normal component of a turbo engine. My understanding is that all turbo engines must release boost pressure when the throttle is released either back into the exhaust manifold or into the engine bay. This noise is similar to that heard on modified cars when performance "dump valves" have been fitted - although such applications are much much louder.

It is very faint in my car and took me a month or so to spot. I guess that this noise is only easily spotted after acclimatisation to the car. I did not notice this on the test drives I took although a demo car I had whilst mine was in the garage had the same noise.

I notice from the forum you seem to have multiple problem/queries about your A3, anything I should watch out for??

David R

'00 A3 1.8TS Silver

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. So it seems that it is normal. I only noticed the sound after it's first oil change at 10000 miles. Which I thought was strange. This oil change also resulted in a drop in fuel economy of 15-20 miles of a full tank of petrol. I used to get 310/315 to the warning chime, now I only get 295. Hence my post about oil in the performance forum. I'm changing it myself hoping to get back some fuel economy.

Same car, same colour. I hope you don't get the same problems my car has developed. Mechanically it's been fine so far, no problem really, apart from the oil change. But the interior rattles more than a box of nuts on top of a cement mixer! Ok a bit of an exaggeration, but as you say about the wastegate noise, you only notice the sounds after couple of months or so. The main problems are the interior door panels, door seals (fixed) and now the dashboard. It now sounds worse inside than my Vauxhall Astra Sport ever did! So I'm not happy.

Regarding the tyres. I set them to 28 Psi. Did you physically check what yours were set to?

I think the dealer may have let some air out of mine, in the hope that in them being softer it would reduce the harshness of the ride, and thus eliminate some of the rattles. Sneaky.

Regards,

Alan
'99.5 A3 1.8T MS Silver

Hi my dear S3 friends

well i got a problem as well, its my gearbox. if S3 is cold and i want to change gear from 1st to the second, grrrrrrrrrr it makes that sound. what the hell is wrong with my car? does someone has the same problem?
once i drove on the highway and all of a sudden i could hear a strange sound, first i thought the exhaust had a problem, coz the whole car start to vibrate (like a futzgerüttel). what the hell was that? anyone had a bad experience like me?

greets from switzerland. St-Audi.

My Tipo 2.0i 16v had exactly the same problem. When I changed from 1st into 2nd, the gear knob didn't want to fit smoothly and the sound you beautifully described could be heard. The service changed the whole gearbox under official warraty. I don't know what caused the problem. The mechanic told me the reason then, but the explanation he gave was too technical for me to understand and to remember.

Ich hatte aber keine vibration probleme. Ich glaube, dass dein problem ernsthaft ist. Wenn du so weiterfaehrst, kannst du mehr schaden verursachen.

Hoffentlich passiert so etwas nie in meinem S3.

ravenx
'00 Black S3

Sorry I am late with this. Audi just sent my car back after 12 weeks. The exhaust problem as explained by kristijan is possibly vibrations caused by water blocking the air intake filter Audi will, if asked add a new peice of pipe to the exhaust thus partly removing the noise.