New a6 owner - kinda worried. Did I make a mistake?
06-17-2012, 03:54 PM
#1
New a6 owner - kinda worried. Did I make a mistake?
I just purchased a 2004 a6 2.7t and after spending a couple of days reading posts I am terrified of all the issues of this car and cost of repairs.
The car currently has 67000 miles and running strong. Only things I've noticed is leaking valve cover gaskets and looks like the oil lines to or from turbos may be leaking as well. There is a clunk in the front end when I turn at lower speeds but both myself and my mechanic looked through the front end and couldn't find anything noticably worn that would do that.
I read the new owner advice and purchased a timing belt maintenance kit from vast, was going to gut my pipes and make my own "piggies", transmission fluid and filter, oil, air filter, and plugs.
Now, just today, I am reading about possible problems with the tiptronic and the torque converter? Is there something I can do to maintain this or is it supposedly inevitable that I am going to have a catastrophic transmission failure around 100K or sooner? If it does go out is it usually the torque converter or the actual transmission?
I had planned on doing the timing belt and the valve cover gaskets myself. I was also going to do the pipes at the same time I am sending in the cluster to get the LED fixed. I like doing repairs when I have access to good information. I purchased a Bentley manual last night.
Any suggestions? Should I resell the car while it’s still running well?
The car currently has 67000 miles and running strong. Only things I've noticed is leaking valve cover gaskets and looks like the oil lines to or from turbos may be leaking as well. There is a clunk in the front end when I turn at lower speeds but both myself and my mechanic looked through the front end and couldn't find anything noticably worn that would do that.
I read the new owner advice and purchased a timing belt maintenance kit from vast, was going to gut my pipes and make my own "piggies", transmission fluid and filter, oil, air filter, and plugs.
Now, just today, I am reading about possible problems with the tiptronic and the torque converter? Is there something I can do to maintain this or is it supposedly inevitable that I am going to have a catastrophic transmission failure around 100K or sooner? If it does go out is it usually the torque converter or the actual transmission?
I had planned on doing the timing belt and the valve cover gaskets myself. I was also going to do the pipes at the same time I am sending in the cluster to get the LED fixed. I like doing repairs when I have access to good information. I purchased a Bentley manual last night.
Any suggestions? Should I resell the car while it’s still running well?
06-17-2012, 04:11 PM
#2
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I just purchased a 2004 a6 2.7t and after spending a couple of days reading posts I am terrified of all the issues of this car and cost of repairs.
The car currently has 67000 miles and running strong. Only things I've noticed is leaking valve cover gaskets and looks like the oil lines to or from turbos may be leaking as well. There is a clunk in the front end when I turn at lower speeds but both myself and my mechanic looked through the front end and couldn't find anything noticably worn that would do that.
I read the new owner advice and purchased a timing belt maintenance kit from vast, was going to gut my pipes and make my own "piggies", transmission fluid and filter, oil, air filter, and plugs.
Now, just today, I am reading about possible problems with the tiptronic and the torque converter? Is there something I can do to maintain this or is it supposedly inevitable that I am going to have a catastrophic transmission failure around 100K or sooner? If it does go out is it usually the torque converter or the actual transmission?
I had planned on doing the timing belt and the valve cover gaskets myself. I was also going to do the pipes at the same time I am sending in the cluster to get the LED fixed. I like doing repairs when I have access to good information. I purchased a Bentley manual last night.
Any suggestions? Should I resell the car while it’s still running well?
The car currently has 67000 miles and running strong. Only things I've noticed is leaking valve cover gaskets and looks like the oil lines to or from turbos may be leaking as well. There is a clunk in the front end when I turn at lower speeds but both myself and my mechanic looked through the front end and couldn't find anything noticably worn that would do that.
I read the new owner advice and purchased a timing belt maintenance kit from vast, was going to gut my pipes and make my own "piggies", transmission fluid and filter, oil, air filter, and plugs.
Now, just today, I am reading about possible problems with the tiptronic and the torque converter? Is there something I can do to maintain this or is it supposedly inevitable that I am going to have a catastrophic transmission failure around 100K or sooner? If it does go out is it usually the torque converter or the actual transmission?
I had planned on doing the timing belt and the valve cover gaskets myself. I was also going to do the pipes at the same time I am sending in the cluster to get the LED fixed. I like doing repairs when I have access to good information. I purchased a Bentley manual last night.
Any suggestions? Should I resell the car while it’s still running well?
06-17-2012, 05:04 PM
#3
It sounds like you've done your homework and are doing all the right things. I have the same car you just bought with 196,000 miles on it right now. I bought the car with 92,000 miles about 2.5 years ago.
I've changed the transmission fluid twice, the timing belt once, the tires a few times, brakes once, and changed the oil every 10,000 miles with amsoil or mobil 1.
When I did the timing belt, I broke my spider hose and have yet to replace it (no money for it right now).
Car runs great, no transmission issues.
Fix your leaks when you do your timing belt and do the tranmission fluid and you'll be good to go. I wouldn't worry about the tranny if you don't drive it like a punk.
I've changed the transmission fluid twice, the timing belt once, the tires a few times, brakes once, and changed the oil every 10,000 miles with amsoil or mobil 1.
When I did the timing belt, I broke my spider hose and have yet to replace it (no money for it right now).
Car runs great, no transmission issues.
Fix your leaks when you do your timing belt and do the tranmission fluid and you'll be good to go. I wouldn't worry about the tranny if you don't drive it like a punk.
06-17-2012, 05:15 PM
#4
By MY 2004 most of the tranny issues where worked out. The 2 main problems where the D/G drum assembly and the TC. Both where corrected at some point in 04, but not sure if it was late or early.
Do the TB service, valve gaskets, cam seals, and cam plugs and see if you still have a oil leak before going after the turbo lines. Do the tranny fluid sevice. Your call on the piggies, but I wouldn't bother. Chip if you want more power, but your weak link in big power is the limitation of the auto tranny. Do a oil change as well and run a VW502 approved oil with a OEM filter.
The clunk is most likely a control arm or sway bar bushing. Sometimes are hard to pinpoint. If it will do it while stopped by just turning the front wheels back and forth then lay underneath and listen while someone turns steering wheel.
Do the TB service, valve gaskets, cam seals, and cam plugs and see if you still have a oil leak before going after the turbo lines. Do the tranny fluid sevice. Your call on the piggies, but I wouldn't bother. Chip if you want more power, but your weak link in big power is the limitation of the auto tranny. Do a oil change as well and run a VW502 approved oil with a OEM filter.
The clunk is most likely a control arm or sway bar bushing. Sometimes are hard to pinpoint. If it will do it while stopped by just turning the front wheels back and forth then lay underneath and listen while someone turns steering wheel.
06-17-2012, 06:29 PM
#5
Thanks for the replies. I feel a bit better now. My first impression of the car is great. It feels fairly refined, steering and suspension seems pretty tight, transmission seems to shift fairly smooth and shift when it should. The clunk in the front end bothers me but I knew from experience it was probably a ball joint or some control arm point - I just didn't see any worn joints and neither did my mechanic and nothing seemed to have much play.
The car is quick, but I would like to do the minimal APR chip to it for the occasional spirited driving. It will mainly be my wife’s daily driver so I want to be proactive about any typical sore points or maintenance issues. I don't mind replacing parts even if they're difficult or involved to work on but replacing the tranny or TC at 100,000 seemed a bit worrisome to me. Also, I didn't like the idea of pulling the entire damn motor to replace turbos at 100K. If it came to that, however, I could do it. I have a very good mechanic and he would work with me on labor (I can disassemble all the tedious stuff and let him to the heavy lifting). He quoted me at 1000 cash if I did some of the tedious stuff. It may be premature at this point but after reading this forum I am REALLY trying to be proactive.
I came from a 328i that was a total mechanical nightmare. That's why I steered away from the 335i which is what I originally wanted. I can not count the number of times I received a call from her saying, “guess what? I need you to come pick me up – the car is broke again”. Granted, it did have 160K on it but I fixed stuff as it broke. By the time I sold it I had replaced more on that car than it was worth.
The car is quick, but I would like to do the minimal APR chip to it for the occasional spirited driving. It will mainly be my wife’s daily driver so I want to be proactive about any typical sore points or maintenance issues. I don't mind replacing parts even if they're difficult or involved to work on but replacing the tranny or TC at 100,000 seemed a bit worrisome to me. Also, I didn't like the idea of pulling the entire damn motor to replace turbos at 100K. If it came to that, however, I could do it. I have a very good mechanic and he would work with me on labor (I can disassemble all the tedious stuff and let him to the heavy lifting). He quoted me at 1000 cash if I did some of the tedious stuff. It may be premature at this point but after reading this forum I am REALLY trying to be proactive.
I came from a 328i that was a total mechanical nightmare. That's why I steered away from the 335i which is what I originally wanted. I can not count the number of times I received a call from her saying, “guess what? I need you to come pick me up – the car is broke again”. Granted, it did have 160K on it but I fixed stuff as it broke. By the time I sold it I had replaced more on that car than it was worth.
06-17-2012, 07:04 PM
#7
Should I have replaced all the components on the car as preventative maintenance?
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06-17-2012, 07:25 PM
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By MY 2004 most of the tranny issues where worked out. The 2 main problems where the D/G drum assembly and the TC. Both where corrected at some point in 04, but not sure if it was late or early.
Do the TB service, valve gaskets, cam seals, and cam plugs and see if you still have a oil leak before going after the turbo lines. Do the tranny fluid sevice. Your call on the piggies, but I wouldn't bother. Chip if you want more power, but your weak link in big power is the limitation of the auto tranny. Do a oil change as well and run a VW502 approved oil with a OEM filter.
The clunk is most likely a control arm or sway bar bushing. Sometimes are hard to pinpoint. If it will do it while stopped by just turning the front wheels back and forth then lay underneath and listen while someone turns steering wheel.
Do the TB service, valve gaskets, cam seals, and cam plugs and see if you still have a oil leak before going after the turbo lines. Do the tranny fluid sevice. Your call on the piggies, but I wouldn't bother. Chip if you want more power, but your weak link in big power is the limitation of the auto tranny. Do a oil change as well and run a VW502 approved oil with a OEM filter.
The clunk is most likely a control arm or sway bar bushing. Sometimes are hard to pinpoint. If it will do it while stopped by just turning the front wheels back and forth then lay underneath and listen while someone turns steering wheel.
06-17-2012, 11:32 PM
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Yes, but it was stuff like fuel pump, power steering pump, side of the radiator blew out, expansion cap didn't relieve, all four window regulators, ccv kit and hoses, valve cover gasket, alternator, vanos seals, thermistor for heater, heater blower motor, ac compressor, coil packs, electronic radiator fan, crank position sensor, two cam position sensors...I'll stop there for now.
Should I have replaced all the components on the car as preventative maintenance?
Should I have replaced all the components on the car as preventative maintenance?
Calm down sparky!
i was just sayig a lot of people drive cars into the ground and then wonder why they dont last. i knew a girl who bought a car and drove it till the engine stopped working, never did one single oil change..... seriously, there are people out there that own cars that scare the bejesus out of me.
06-18-2012, 03:30 AM
#10
TC was updated late 2004, also don't mean to scare you but one of the 3 seals were leaking in my TC so I had to get a TC rebuild at 124k, im guessing the TC in the a6 is the same as my allroad, what kind of clunk? When you slow down to a stop? Or when you shift momentum,stop/go?
It's really hard to describe the clunk. I seem to hear it at low speed, and it seems more noticable when turning the wheels; although I can also hear it if making a turn and hitting a small bump like coming out of a driveway. I don't think it's a CV joint - as I've dealt with that before and it's not a clicking while turning. I guess my best bet it to have someone turn back and forth while I lay on my back seeing if I can pinpoint it.
When I bought it, I told the dealer I wanted the leather in the rear seats fixed and a ding in the front end repaired. It's off getting that done right now so I don't have access to it just yet.