Oil pressure with no clear fault

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

shifty_uk

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My Audi A3 got recovered on saturday because the oil pressure light came on when i was cruising along an A road. There was also a sudden drop in power, temperature rise and a distinctive belt-like tapping from the engine.

Anyway, garage has checked it out thoroughly with no clear faults. They gave the engine a flush and a couple of other things including filter changes etc(i asked them too). They left the car running to reach running temperatures etc and the noise started again but no loss or power, weird temperatures or oil warnings so i gave the go- ahead to strip it and find the source of the noise.

The mechanics think its something relating to the hydraulics?? Anyone more clued up that could offer some advice or past experiences? Just worried they dont get to the bottom of it or im left with a massive bill!

Its a 2.0TFSI.

Cheers!
 
Any idea what the engine code is?

There is a TSB on these for oil light on simply because they actually use oil and eventually run out and most people simply don't bother to check these days (You did didn't you?? ;) :D )
 
Common issue with the 2L TFSI is a clogged oil pick up due to oil sludge in the sump generally on cars that have been serviced on the long life plan.

Also not unheard of having oil pump failure, not cheap to resolve this as the oil pump is expensive.
 
Oil pumps are starting to clog regularly, like they did on the 1.8t engines, due to the stupid service intervals

you want the sump taken down and the oil pump pick up cleaned and all the burnt oil removed from the sump
 
Last oil service was circa 7 months ago which I topped up with fresh stuff whenever required!

They've had the sump off as far as I'm aware and cant find any obstructions.

I don't have a recording of the noise but it was like a fast tapping. Oil was at the full mark.
 
The tapping is the hydraulic lifters in the head that have run dry

You really dont want the turbo running dry for a long time at all
 
I thought it was rather odd too but after a 500 round mile trip it needed topped up so I put some in. This was about 3 months ago, though and has been on the level ever since.

With regards to the hydraulic lifters, will it just be a case of running the engine and letting them get some lubricant again or is a repair required?
 
shifty_uk said:
With regards to the hydraulic lifters, will it just be a case of running the engine and letting them get some lubricant again or is a repair required?
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You need to find out why they are not getting lubrication and fix this, I suspect the oil pump will need replaced if the sump and pick up are clean.

Did you also not have an oil pressure light on just after buying the car ? or was that another poster.
 
That was me, the root of that cause was damage to the sump.

Just got off the phone to the garage - apparently the oil jets that lubricate the hydraulic lifters - if that makes any sense? Aren't working properly. They're going to try cleaning them out before resorting to stripping the engine down to replace them.
 
The lifters will be supplied by a gallery in the head.

When oil circulation stops, the oil is drained from the lifters and they tap.

They are stupidly hardy and can be run dry for ages.

The fact theyre tapping shows its had bad/no circulation at some point. the head will survive but its a big telltale that something bad has or is about to happen, so really you need to get to the bottom of it (or at the least get an oil pressure gauge on) to find out for yourself

When the lifters are dry, simply driving the car a few miles will sort those out again
 
Got the car back from the garage the other day( haven't had time to drive it since) They flushed the engine , top end treatment and unblocked 12 of the oil jets supplying the hydraulic lifters. Unfortunately, the noise is still there and they know this - i said i' d take it to Audi as they might have a clearer understanding and quicker to diagnose the issue.

Here's an example of the noise i got in traffic yesterday:


Video doesn't do it justice - its hellishly rough. Sounds like a diesel with intermitted tapping thrown in and the occasional temperature burst.
 
ci_newman said:
This bit sounds odd to me. the 2.0TFSI engine is fairly modern and I wouldn't expect it to use much oil at all between services, let alone only 7 months ago.
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It is quite well known to use a bit of oil. I need to top mine up every couple of months with maybe 0.5l.
 
If it's rattling STOP DRIVING IT NOW.
Get it to a garage that can identify the reason the oil pressure disappeared in The first place before you completely wreck every component in the engine (if you haven't already)
 
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I'm cautious of that, hence why i haven't driven the car. The garage wouldn't have given the car back to me if the engine was starved of oil, its all been tested, they just couldn't locate the noise.

I test drove it yesterday to see for myself. Its going to Audi during the week.
 
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