Just got the call. After 10 days in the shop the car is now ready to come home. Technically it was done before the long weekend but Audi Technical asked the dealer to keep it and run diagnostics on it from a cold start to make sure things were running smooth.

In total, the work completed was as follows…
Remove intake and test all 8 injectors. 4 failed and replaced.
Clean deposits from intake valves and chambers. Send samples to Audi for analysis.
Replaced intake flap motors and performed TSB for known intake vacuum line kinking.
Replaced Cyclonic oil separator.
Replaced all spark-plugs.
Oil service and checked subframe bolts.

All in, this is gonna be one h*ck of a bill back to Audi.

Some things to note…*from the day i took delivery my car had always run very rough from start on cold mornings. Makes me wonder if bad injectors from factory are a root cause of the issue. The first time i went in for the engine light the tech noted that my oil smelled of fuel dilution and i've noticed that ever since. I'd be curious to know if anyone else having the same issues has found abnormally high fuel dilution compared to those who have reported no issues.

I also find it interesting that Audi requested that the cyclonic fuel separator be replaced. I've read no other reports of this and am trying to find out if it's a possible updated part.

All in, i'm not happy about the work that had to be done to the car, but in reality it's just a machine and can be fixed. Overall i feel like they are taking the issue seriously, trying to make me happy while they find a permanent solution. They are admitting that there's an issue with all FSI engines, not just the RS4/R8.

While it does suck big time that you had to be without the car for that long (and I hope they gave you a car free of charge in the meantime!) its still is a little nice to know they are being up front with you and are taking the time to do the fix properly.

As you said its just a machine and can be fixed and you now have a ton of new goodies in the car that will hopefully make it run much much stronger than before.

Congrats, hopefully it will hold up. Sounds like things weren't right straight from the factory (rough idle, oil dilution, etc.) Keep us posted.

Considering we are getting signs this is becoming chronic, we should perhaps start formally keeping a record/spreadsheet of all failures to see if we can recognize a pattern. For example, the E39 M5 had huge problems with CB in the secondary air system, with the input of many boardmembers we constructed a database that helped flag common elements (for example, CB was more pronounced in 2000MYs that didn't have a Vanos Oil Accumulator and slightly redesigned O-rings). However, no pattern was detected in terms of miles on the vehicle or even driving style. I'll try to get the S/S we tracked and see if we can apply something equally relevant here (sadly RS4 owners are probably the size of 10% of all E39 M5 owners, so we may not have enough of a sample size).

The fuel dilution is easy to explain, not to mention that healthy RS4's will exhibit above normal dilution anyway. You get home from work, turn the car off. There is at least 6 bar (nearly 90 psi) of fuel pressure still in the fuel system. The faulty injectors can not seal against this pressure and they will leak fuel into their respective cylinder until the pressure drops to some much lower value. This happens every time the car is turned off. That,s alot of fuel. Of course not all of the raw fuel finds its way to the oil pan, but it is more than enough to start the domino effect leading to very diluted oil.

But it sounds like they did a stellar job fixing it. That's great. I'd be curious about the cyclonic separator as well. Maybe they just thought it was faulty. If the drain port valve wasn't working properly, ALL the oil would go into the intake and none would go back into the crankcase. That would explain alot. It would be wonderful if Audi could verify that the cyclonic separator system is actually working as designed, in other words, does the separated oil actually make its way to the oil pan?

..how are you supposed to Edit your posts!?

My car was always similarly rough on cold starts prior to the new injectors. You'll definitely notice an improvement there. The car should also run much better,i.e., crisper throttle response and better power delivery. Its very possible that the injectors were faulty from the very beginning.

..how are you supposed to Edit your posts!?
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2748049

Good luck and I hope this is the last visit to the dealer for you regarding this issue. Keep us updated.

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2748049
I'm totally confused. Our we allowed to edit our own posts or not? Someone mentioned that we need to PM a moderator. Will this work? If not, and posts are beeing redacted and editted by mods (unbenouncwed to poster) to be compliant with a 'policy' that no one knows and which limits beneficial information sharing, then the board is shooting itself in the foot as it will continually lose its remaining members...

I'm totally confused. Our we allowed to edit our own posts or not? Someone mentioned that we need to PM a moderator. Will this work? If not, and posts are beeing redacted and editted by mods (unbenouncwed to poster) to be compliant with a 'policy' that no one knows and which limits beneficial information sharing, then the board is shooting itself in the foot as it will continually lose its remaining members...

Not by default.

Post and request it in the thread below and Kris will allow it. I did it and I can see the edit button.

http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2746314


Regards

Nick

Thx, have the Edit Superpower now ;-o)