A bit of an update to this issue. The problem has gotten progressively worse over the past couple of days. Last night I drove down to the petrol station and as I was pulling in I pressed the clutch all the way down and put the car in neutral and I could feel and hear a metal clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk grindy sound coming from the engine bay, like if the clutch wasn't engaging fully? I stopped the engine, got out and got my bits and bobs from the petrol station.

I got back in the car expecting the problem to be there and it was completely gone!? No issue what so ever, clutch felt perfect and not a sound or feel out of it. I drove home (about 3 miles) and as I pulled into my estate the problem was back.

I rang Audi this morning and they told me to bring the car back up to them in Portadown, only a 156km drive away. When I bought the car I specifically asked them if they was a problem could I bring it to an Audi garage in Dublin and they said yes. They had plenty of time to explain this to me and should have but as they didn't they did offer to come down to Dublin to collect my car and give me a replacement if I could meet them outside Dublin. Which worked out pretty well.

So at the moment I've got a white Audi A4 2ltr TDI while they have my car. My car is still under the Audi 30 day exchange policy so I'm expecting that they will fix any problem with the clutch

 

Good news! I've just had a call from Audi and they have confirmed they have found the problem. It was a faulty Flywheel which was leaking fluid on to the clutch so they are replacing the Flywheel and clutch now. They are also going to check out the clicky sound I sometimes get from the gear lever which I'm 99.9% sure is just coming from the gear knob.

All going well they'll bring the car back down to me here in Dublin tomorrow

 

Well done buddy....A good result :thumbsup:

 

Cheers

I'll update here tomorrow and report on how the clutch feels and how smooth gear changes are

 

Not getting it back today as they where not happy with some sleeve thing so they are waiting on another part and said I wouldn't get it back till tomorrow evening. Why do I get the feeling I won't be getting my car back this weekend :no:

 

I still haven't got my car back!

I spoke with them this morning and they told me there found a problem with the drive plate last week and they had to fix that. I told them I was told on thursday it was a sleeve and not a drive plate but she said it sounds like the same thing?? the mechanic I was talking to last week is on holiday now.

I feel as I'm being told bullshit and that they just haven't bothered to put it back together. All I can do is keep ringing them.

Just as I was typing this I got a call from them and have been told there's a problem with the crankshaft? and they don't know what it is so they've passed it on to Audi Technical? He explained that Audi Technical is email based!!! He also said I won't get my car back this week now :music-smiley-019:

I've threatened to return the car back, hopefully this may get them moving a bit quicker. I'm peed off :no:

 

In case anyone is interested or this happens to someone else I got them to send me a video clip of the problem (as if I have a clue what's going on) and I'm told it shouldn't move like that. They have to wait for a Audi Technician to tell them by email how to fix it. :wall:

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...m/redir?resid=F10890081966C056!140029&authkey=!AIy-h_UQcNbCPhI&ithint=video,MP4

 

I got an email from Audi saying they have found the problem....

"We removed and stripped the engine to find an internal failure of the crankshaft thrust washer (which holds the crankshaft in the correct position). As the washer has marked the crankshaft it is not repairable and in fact is not available as a separate part. Therefore we have to replace what is called a "base" engine, consisting of the engine block, cylinder head, oil pump etc.

This unit has to come from the factory in Germany as Audi UK do not keep stock (low demand item). I have an ETA of Saturday 20th Dec, but this may well run over to Monday, which would not give us enough time to get the car turned around before Christmas, as we close from Tuesday evening."

Does it take 2 days to put those new bits in to an engine? I would have thought that could be done in one day as they already have the engine out and taken apart so all they have to do is put the new bits back in?? Anyone know?

 

They're saying that if the engine doesn't arrive until Monday, they won't have enough time to get the car finished on Tuesday.

Having rebuilt engines back up, it takes me a full day and a half on my own to reassemble everything

 

I was hoping that with maybe a couple of mechanics working on the car they would be able to put it back together faster considering its already dismantled.

Could there be any knock on effects with having half a new engine? or as long as its put back together correctly there should be no problems? I've asked them to send me a list of everything new thats getting replace.

Thanks for the reply :thumbsup:

 

That does sound like a massive job, plus they have other vehicles to work on so scheduling could play into the 2 day estimate as well.

 

Its a pain in the ass! If there was one more day or 2 people could work on it I would have it before they close for christmas. Now it will be closer to the new year before I get it :wall: and I'm heading off to Lanzarote for 2 weeks on the 1st of Jan!

 

Its a pain in the ass! If there was one more day or 2 people could work on it I would have it before they close for christmas. Now it will be closer to the new year before I get it :wall: and I'm heading off to Lanzarote for 2 weeks on the 1st of Jan!

What engine have you got - is it a 2.0L petrol?

 

No, the car is an A5 Daytona Grey 1.8TFSI S-line.

I got another email off them this morning and it looks like they are replacing the engine. I feel a lot more confident now. It's amazing the damage that some small part failing can cause and this all started with a strange feeling I had coming from the clutch when changing gears! :yikes:

"No, the engine is the source of the fault. Anything we have done up to this point was dealing with the consequential damage due to this issue (clutch, flywheel, drive plate etc). The engine will be replaced as a new unit with only the auxiliary components being transferred from the original engine i.e. Fuel injection parts, Turbocharger, Starter Motor, Air conditioning pump, Exhaust and Inlet manifolds etc.

There is clear evidence of the problem, making me 100% confident this work will be a complete fix.

The difficulty for me is the timescale, as there is 2 days work in getting the car back on the road once the parts arrive. Therefore we are totally dependant on the transportation system across Germany and the UK to ourselves. An ETA of Saturday does not guarantee the engine will be here on that day. If it doesn't arrive until Monday lunchtime, then there is no point promising return before Christmas as it will not happen. Equally if the engine turns up Friday or Saturday then we should be ok.
"

 

That sounds normal.

You're getting a block and head - all ancilliaries will transfer over. That's what takes the time, although they could be proactive and get everything off your old engine in advance

 

Cheers mb1009, fingers crossed they get the parts before Monday or else I'll be waiting till after Christmas.

 

I know its a pain, but look on it like this:

You are getting a new engine!
You have a loan car (which you are racking up miles on)!
It's not going to cost you a penny.

It could have been a lot worse!

 

Thanks Chris, I'm alot happier now knowing the they are replacing the engine and while the A4 isn't an A5 its actually a really good car. The gear box and clutch in this one feels excellent so I'm hoping when my car gets fixed it comes back feeling like this.

 

Christopher Povey is completely right. The whole time I was reading this thread, I was thinking "Antivirus is a man-diva, pulling into his estate, flying off to Lanzarote, and complaining that it takes a little while longer to get his car back with a new clutch, flywheel and engine, all for free and while driving a loaner around."

Give me a break!

 

If there's any "Man-Diva" here its you, owning an S5 coming on here to criticise someone who's just bought a fucked up A5. You bought an old performance car and you're complaining about your repair costs? If you can't afford to pay for the repairs and running cost of owning an old S5 you shouldn't have bought one.

Give me a break!

 

Audi lied to me before I bought the car and when I went up and bought the car. One of the questions i asked them was if there was a problem could I bring it to my local Audi garage here in Dublin and was told yes. I asked them again when I was buying the car about the warranty and was told again that I could. Then when I did have a problem I was told I couldn't! That is not by the book, they then went on and told me a couple of other things about how the warranty works that was never explained to me.

Look I'm not going to get into an argument with you on the internet over this. I hope to get my car back sooner rather than later and I hope your repairs are small and a pleasant surprise. Happy Christmas

 

22nd today - is the car coming over the horizon yet? Have fingers crossed for you and that it lives up to your gear changing expectations!

 

lol! Cheer Mr Fold! It's not on the horizon yet. They are keeping me up to date and here's the lastest report:

"Not good news I’m afraid. The engine has only made it as far as Audi UK over the weekend. It is due for despatch to us today (by Air freight) and should arrive in N Ireland either late today or tomorrow morning. As this means we will not be able to do any more work on your car until tomorrow, I doubt if we will have enough time to complete the job, even with two technicians working on it.

I will be in touch tomorrow morning to give you the latest update and confirm if the car can be ready before we break up for the holidays."

There's no chance I'll have it before Christmas so I'm surprised he's even hinting I might get it before? I'll posting back here with what ever news I'm given tomorrow. I'm dying to get my car back now :moped:

 

I rang Audi just now to see what the current status is and they have now got the engine So at least they can start to put it in the car. They hope to have it finished by Tuesday the 30th and they will keep/drive it over night to see how it runs so hopefully I will get it back on the 31st. Fingers crossed it all goes well

They made a little clip of the old engine and the new engine so here's the link so you can see it.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?res...m/redir?resid=F10890081966C056!145436&authkey=!ABiB40FonoZujPg&ithint=video,MP4

 

At last! I got my car back today It's like driving a completely different car. The gear change and the clutch are silky smooth now and also for some reason the car seems really pokey and eager to go. It's most likely just the change from the 2ltr diesel (136ps) back to the 1.8ltr petrol (170ps) and me just getting used to it. Or it just like a new engine ;-D

The main work that was done was a completely new base engine put in and also a full new clutch assembly as well :2thumbsup: Now I just need to get my window tints redone