Kokies_1

I'm having a bit of a dilemma? I'm looking at older model A6's and i keep coming up against these 3 engine's and I don't know enough about the differences to make a wise decision. I keep reading about the issues with the 2.7T with it's turbos and the 2.8 with the timing belt failures. but I have yet to hear much on the 4.2. Is it worth the extra cash?

A couple of you have helped me out with advising me to run away from the recent car I was looking at (310K) with no history on what was done to it. I still took it out for a tear and it was quite the machine but, the check engine light was on, so was the ABS and also the Emergency brake light was flashing. I figured out that the e brake was not working at all. Even though the guy selling was only asking $2k. I figured that I was looking at a lot of future repairs that I was not willing to get into.

So back to the net to try and find my next crush. This time I'm asking for your help in what I should be looking for. I'm at this point only able to look at cars in the $5-7k range. (If I was able to I would buy a new one but I can't)

So guys and gals what should I be looking for in the engine dept. I'm going to be trying to find a Manual since that is my personal preference. But as for the motor I'm at a loss. I plan to do all the work myself so please help.

cheeba

On the C5 A6, the 4.2 engine cars are also widebody; which, seals the deal for me - they look much more badass than the non-widebody cars.

Furthermore, the 2.8 engine is for boring people, and a low-dollar, high-mileage 2.7TT is potentially a time-bomb for maintenance costs. Unless you need 500HP (modified 2.7TT), the 4.2 is the way to go.

Kokies_1

Thanks Cheeba,
As it turns out I picked up a 2001 A6 Avant with the 2.8L. I guess I'm boring. But since the car only had 2 owners and has only 130,000 kms it should not be a money trap.
It also has a TIP trany. No, it's not beige

Have you ever owned one of these? The car has had the front tie rods changed and the ball joints. What else should I expect?

Corrado_Guy

A buddy has one of the V8 wide bodies and it is a very nice car but pushes the scales at about 3,800 lbs or so which means it is no light weight. The V8 just sucks the fuel in the city so you would pay a lot more for fuel if you do mostly short drives but on the highway the mileage picks up a lot. He was saying today that his car will get about 400 kms in city on around 70 litres of fuel but this will go up to about 600 - 800 kms on the highway. There isn't a lot of tuning for the V8 motor so this is one of the biggest limitations if 300 or so hp won't do it for you.

Keep in mind most Audi 5 valve per cylinder motors have timing belts and if they break they will drive the pistons into the valves. This is a reminder that doing the timing belt well before the recommended maintenance schedule is a good idea. The V6 motors you were looking at potentially have this problem as well as most other engines so this is nothing new. The V8 has timing chains but on this motor they are between the engine and transmission so when they need attention you have to pull the motor. You either having timing chains which wear/stretch or the guides do or you have a timing belt, tensioners, and rollers that need to be replaced.

The regular V6 motor is good and sturdy motor with few problems considering the number of these motors out in the different Audi models. There is not a lot of tuning for this motor other than a supercharger for the 30V units so tuning is limited if it is important to you. The problem with this motor in the A6 is weight to power, the car has a lot and the motor doesn't so it will not have neck snapping acceleration. The are very reliable motors and don't really have any well documented problems and I would imagine a fair number of the 'problems' with the failing timing belts point directly at the owner and not Audi. If you make sure the motor is maintained properly it should keep going for many years.

The 2.7T is the king for power, although it has less displacement than the V8 it can be tuned to put a lot of power out of it. I have heard some of the 2.7T motors have issues with bottom end lubrication and turbo failures but I really don't know how common this is. Almost anything you want to do to them begins with you pulling the motor out of the car which is a hassle but I wouldn't say this is a bad motor. With any turbo motor you have to do more maintenance and you have to make sure you drive it properly but there are a lot of these motors out there and they don't fail on a regular basis.

If you were to ask my opinion and nothing I wrote above really related to you I would say the only mistake was buying an automatic. An automatic transmission is pretty much going to suck the life out of almost any motor and I am not a fan of these. They also have a bad habit of failing so make sure to maintain it and flush the ATF using only factory fluids and replace the strainer. This would be my biggest concern other than little things.

Kokies_1

Thanks Corrado_Guy,
As I said earlier. I bought the 2.8 and plan to just cart the family around with it. It is good to hear that this engine is a less problematic one. I agree about the trans. but it came with the car so what is a guy to do. I prefer the Manual always to a slush box. The timing belt and water pump are getting changed as we speak. As far as the trans. it felt really solid when I drove it. I took it for a good run (about 50 KM) and there was no hard shifts. If I were to do the changeing of fluids myself should I do it every 50.000 km? I want to make sure that I maintain this gem properly so I don't have any issues in the future.

Also, I keep hearing about the valve cover breather and how it needs to be serviced a fair bit. I could use some advise on this and anyother info that I should posess to make sure that my girl runs to her potential.

Corrado_Guy

I'm really not that familiar with the engines on these cars so I am not up on the breathers but all motors have small issues and if this is the only issue you see then it is not all that bad. Audi claims that the automatic transmission fluid is a life long fluid and considering how long some of these transmissions last that may not be an under statement but I wouldn't buy it. When I worked for Audi in the old days it was always 48,000 kms or two years for an ATF flush so I would stick with that number. Just make sure the factory ATF designed for that transmission is the only thing it sees or you may be opening yourself up to problems.

I did read that you bought the V6 before I posted this but it was a good question so I answered it for you not that it mattered and I also answered it for others that follow with the same question.