Audi 2.0 engine

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Astrozombies
Astrozombies Posts: 82 Forumite
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in Motoring
Hello all, I'm after a little advice.
I'm looking to but either an Audi A4 or an A6. It'll be the Avant that I get.
I'd prefer the A4 but need to check if my fishing gear will fit in it, if not then it's an A6.
Anyway...the most common engine seems to be the 2.0 tdi. That's fine but I've heard certain ones were terrible for oil issues that effectively wrote the car off.
I can't justify an expensive motor but I'm sick of having bangers so looking to spend 3k on one.
I don't want to mess up and buy a model with the dodgy engine so can anyone tell me which engine to watch out for and how to id it when I go to look at a car.
Thanks folks.

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  • Inner_Zone
    Inner_Zone Posts: 2,853 Forumite
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    Astrozombies wrote: »
    Hello all, I'm after a little advice.
    I'm looking to but either an Audi A4 or an A6. It'll be the Avant that I get.
    I'd prefer the A4 but need to check if my fishing gear will fit in it, if not then it's an A6.
    Anyway...the most common engine seems to be the 2.0 tdi. That's fine but I've heard certain ones were terrible for oil issues that effectively wrote the car off.
    I can't justify an expensive motor but I'm sick of having bangers so looking to spend 3k on one.
    I don't want to mess up and buy a model with the dodgy engine so can anyone tell me which engine to watch out for and how to id it when I go to look at a car.
    Thanks folks.

    Do a search for VAG 2.0 tdi. Loads of info out there. I deliberately avoided buying a VAG car with the specific engines and the deiselgate issue.

    i.e

    https://www.torquecars.com/volkswagen/2-0-tdi-140-170-tuning.php
  • benten69
    benten69 Posts: 366 Forumite
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    This fault was not fixed until engines manufactured from Feb 2010 onwards. That is when they changed the 77mm hex shaft that rounded off and stopped driving the oil pump to a better, hardened 100mm hex shaft with a better hardened key way also.

    Basically only go for a 2.0 TDI if it has already been modified with a 100mm gear driven balance shaft or the engine (not car) was manufactured post Feb 2010....basically no way to prove the engine build date, but a 2011 registered car onwards should be a safe bet....then again £3k won't get you one that new, so it's probably not in your budget.

    Older cars (2004 - late 2005 / early 2006) had chain driven balancer shafts which had a double failure mode (the chain and the 77mm hex shaft). From late 2005 / early 2006 they changed the chain drive to a more robust gear driven mechanism, but kept the 77mm hex drive right up until Feb 2010.

    I have one of these cars and did the modification to my one. It was already a gear driven system so I got a modified balance shaft and fitted it as preventative maintenance. The old one that came out had LOTS of play and wear on it. Glad I did it after I saw that. My engine had 78,000-ish miles on it when I did the modification and was badly worn. They are known to fail somewhere in the 75,000 - 130,000 mileage range. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later, but that is the most common range to fail.

    Once the modification is done it's as good as a newer engine with gear drive and 100mm hex shaft.
  • System
    System Posts: 178,093 Community Admin
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    edited 10 March 2018 at 3:59PM
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    Astrozombies wrote: »
    Hello all, I'm after a little advice.
    I'm looking to but either an Audi A4 or an A6. It'll be the Avant that I get.

    I can't justify an expensive motor but I'm sick of having bangers so looking to spend 3k on one.

    £3k on an Audi A4 or A6, especially an Avant isn't far off banger money on an executive class car. You're going to be buying a car at least a decade old, more like 13/14, well over 100,000 miles and most likely approaching or above 150,000 miles. Pretty much the definition of a banger. And just because its an executive class car it doesn't mean it doesn't come with the problems you'd expect on a Ford, Vauxhaull, Peugeot or any other "normal" car with that age and mileage.
  • Astrozombies
    Astrozombies Posts: 82 Forumite
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    The ones if been looking at...both 2.0 diesel and 1.8 petrol are all around the 100k mark. Lowest was 85, highest was 117.
    I looked at a1.8 petrol last night, went back this morning to buy and it had gone so figured I'll look more seriously at a diesel.
    Cheers for the help and advice folks.
  • Gazza61
    Gazza61 Posts: 5 Forumite
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    I had the BKP engine in a VW Passat. On a 55 plate but still had a gear driven oil pump. I think the stories about written off engines are the result of continuing to drive after the pressure warning came on. I had the problem at about 88k, switched it off immediately, dropped the sump and swapped the shaft and hex key over and had another 35k of trouble free motoring with the engine.

    I believe it's a bigger job on the Audi's as the sub frame sits over the sump. Maybe I was just lucky but as long as you deal with it at the time and switch the engine off as soon as it's safe to do so it shouldn't be an engine killer. Still unbelievably poor design on VAG's part though, typical example of 'computer says yes' engineering with no regard for longevity.

    Also on anything with about 120k plus on the clock I imagine it would have already failed and been repaired. Would be surprised to see many make it that far if not.

    Cheers,
  • Gazza61
    Gazza61 Posts: 5 Forumite
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    Also, the 1.8TFSI Is not without issues. Oil consumption and 'mayonnaise' water/oil mix being found in the oil filler cap. Neither is cheap to run if not properly maintained but you have to remember you only read about the ones that fail.
  • benten69
    benten69 Posts: 366 Forumite
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    Also I believe the 1.8 TFSI suffers from blocked oil pick ups due to sludge build up over years. Especially if they have been on a Long Life servicing regime.
  • parking_question_chap
    parking_question_chap Posts: 2,694 Forumite
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    Astrozombies wrote: »
    The ones if been looking at...both 2.0 diesel and 1.8 petrol are all around the 100k mark. Lowest was 85, highest was 117.
    I looked at a1.8 petrol last night, went back this morning to buy and it had gone so figured I'll look more seriously at a diesel.
    Cheers for the help and advice folks.

    You need to think more about what really suits yours needs.

    Deciding to look at diesel because the one petrol car you likes had already been sold. There isnt really much logic in that.
  • Astrozombies
    Astrozombies Posts: 82 Forumite
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    I want looking at diesel for that reason. I don't care if I had petrol or diesel. I have had a few of each and would be happy with either. Weekdays are only about 2x 15 mile trips through towns so petrol winds there but weekends are usually many miles heading to coastlines.
    I did 30,000 last year so the dpf issues shouldn't be an issue really.
    I need an estate that's big enough for my fishing gear but something Octavia sized is overkill.
    I have a 307 hdi sw now but don't really like it. Something just a bit bigger would be perfect...3 series is a fraction smaller, A4 is about 9 inches longer...perfect size.
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