A Google search will bring up multiple pages and forums detailing several Audi engine models which have been identified as having a poor piston oil control ring design. Unfortunately, for owners of vehicles with these engines, this flaw results in excessively high engine oil consumption which, at its worst, can mean that you are topping up more than 1 litre of oil every 1,000kms.
The only solution to this problem is an Audi engine rebuild.
Unfortunately, like most modern Audi engines, these are complicated pieces of equipment that were never designed to come apart to this extent. However, an engine with this issue leaves the owner with no option but to rebuild it, regardless of the time and expense that is involved. Generally, engine reconditioners do not take these jobs on due to the expensive and quirky Audi specific timing set up tooling required. A new full exchange engine from Audi costs around $20,000 and, at this point in time, a rebuild at the dealership costs around $12,500.
When rebuilding these engines we have also discovered that the cylinder bore cross-hatch hone pattern is too steep, adding to the problem. When we rebuild Audi engines, we also re-hone the cylinders back to a conventional cross-hatch hone pattern (a pattern that has worked well for almost 100 years!) to bring the engine back to conventional design and fitment.
Just why Audi chose to try to reinvent the wheel is unclear, as there does not appear to be any cost savings within production, but it certainly has cost them a small fortune in warranty rebuilds. But who do you turn to when the warranty has run out? Well, that’s where we come in.
Here at Pace, we have developed extensive experience with these engine rebuilds and have produced a good result on all engine rebuilds. The earliest of these rebuilds has now travelled over 35,000kms with zero oil consumption so far.
To date, there are no options yet for aftermarket engine replacement parts, so genuine parts are the currently the only option when rebuilding an Audi engine. Fortunately, for our customers, our engine rebuilds usually come in at approximately $10,000. This gives our customers a saving of around $2,500 to rectify the problem permanently.