AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 15:37
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

Hi,

I bought an Audi A4 2008 TFSI petrol last summer and started having problems with it. Went to a garage nearby in SW London and the mechanic told me that it has a broken valve inside the engine and the repair will easily cost over £1000 because it's a big job. The oil pressure light was coming up on the dashboard while I was driving so after a couple of checks and repairs he finally found out that the engine misfires and the broken valve is the cause. If I drive the car for more than 20-30 min the oil pressure and engine lights will come up again. I was told I shouldn't drive it like this because the car might stop at any time.

What do you think? Just asking for a 2nd opinion and maybe for a cheaper solution that can fix the issue? Anyone knows some good independent mechanics that would be able to fix this for a decent price? I don't know what to do and would lose a lot of money to just scrap it - car looks really nice.

Andrei - 07400943395

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 17:04
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Adampr

If the valve does have a problem, the garage is probably correct. It's a lot of work to get to the valve in the first place. What's the mileage on the car?

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 17:12
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - skidpan

If you carry on driving it with the light on you will soon have no issues, just a knackered car.

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 17:39
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - sammy1

What is the mileage on your car? Has the mechanic looked inside the cylinders/ head to diagnose the broken valve. Is the engine noisy smoking or down on performance or not pulling properly?

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 18:33
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - paul 1963

When you say broken valve do you mean a inlet or exhaust valve? If so there's no cheap fix sadly ,it's a head off job.

Presumably you have a massive misfire if a valve has 'broken' although I struggle to see how a engine valve could break,

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 19:18
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

I'm not sure but the mechanic said it's a broken valve inside the engine so I would guess the inlet one. He did say that on diagnosis the engine missfired after running for about 20-30 min and that soemthing is really wrong with it. He even asked me if I did some changes/modifications to the engine, but I didn't, unfortunately this is how I bought it from the seller. Any idea if private mechanics may charge less than garages where obviously will cost more with taxes and everthing?

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 19:12
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

mileage is 100k, I don't think the mechanic looked inside the cylinders/head, he just said that on diagnosis the engine missfires after running for 20-30 min and that's probably a broken valve. The engine is not noisy and the car is running ok until the engine gets heated I guess, after that I am feeling some vibrations inside the cabin and I get the oil pressure light. This will go off if the engine will cool but show up again on the dashboard on driving it for longer than 20-30 min.

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 19:21
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

the light keeps dissapearing after the engine cools off but it will show again after driving it for more than 20-30 min. the mechanic told me that I should be careful as the car could stop running at all but also told me that this could cost me well over 1000 pounds because they need to open the engine and see what's wrong.

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 19:01
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

the mileage is 100k

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Fri 20 Jan 2023 19:14
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Big John

What colour is the oil light when it comes on? Orange is an oil level issue, red is an oil pressure issue. If you've driven with the red light on the engine will probably be cream crackered. Is this the engine type that used to have oil pickup strainer issues?

Damaged inlet or exhaust valves will not cause low oil pressure on their own, possibly a hydraulic tappet could?

You could spend an awful lot of money on this and still end up with a dodgy engine - possibly the best way is to get a replacement / second hand engine fitted.

Edited by Big John on 20/01/2023 at 20:46

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 19:35
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

What colour is the oil light when it comes on? Orange is an oil level issue, red is an oil pressure issue. If you've driven with the red light on the engine will probably be cream crackered. Is this the engine type that used to have oil pickup strainer issues?

Damaged inlet or exhaust valves will not cause low oil pressure on their own, possibly a hydraulic tappet could?

You could spend an awful lot of money on this and still end up with a dodgy engine - possibly the best way is to get a replacement / second hand engine fitted.

the oil light is orange and it comes with a beeping sound as well but dissapears if I won't drive it for some time - until the engine cools off I guess. It will pop up again though.

Thanks for your answer. I already paid 3200 for the car and about 1000 in repairs so I don't know what I'm gonna do with it. Changing the engine is probably a costly job too.

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Sat 21 Jan 2023 10:24
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - John F

I bought an Audi A4 2008 TFSI petrol last summer and started having problems with it.

How soon after you bought it? I wonder if the seller knew something wasn't quite right...

Went to a garage nearby in SW London and the mechanic told me that it has a broken valve inside the engine and the repair will easily cost over £1000 because it's a big job. The oil pressure light was coming up on the dashboard while I was driving...

..how long/far did you drive it like this?

so after a couple of checks and repairs he finally found out that the engine misfires and the broken valve is the cause.

This is mysterious. What were the 'checks' and 'repairs'? A broken valve is unusual these days. I would have thought you would have noticed a significant loss of power and an unusual engine noise.

If I drive the car for more than 20-30 min the oil pressure and engine lights will come up again. I was told I shouldn't drive it like this because the car might stop at any time.

What do you think?

I think you have a fifteen year old car with probably more than 100,000 miles on the clock requiring a very expensive repair which is now worth little more than scrap value.

This is a very common problem. You need to balance the cost of repairing it and having a car which might run without a problem for a few more years (if you have a low annual mileage) with little extra cost as it will have done most of its depreciation, against the cost of replacing it with a newer and hopefully more reliable car which will probably depreciate faster and cost far more than the engine repair/replacement.

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Sat 21 Jan 2023 11:14
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - bathtub tom

Everyone seems to be assuming it's an inlet or exhaust valve. Could it be another control valve? I don't see how an inlet or exhaust valve could result in lack of oil pressure, unless the engine has other serious problems.

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Sat 21 Jan 2023 18:09
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Crickleymal

I was wondering about that too.

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Sat 21 Jan 2023 18:18
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Adampr

Yes, could be the PCV valve. TFSIs are notorious for them. Not an expensive fix.

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Sat 21 Jan 2023 19:38
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Big John

Yes, could be the PCV valve. TFSIs are notorious for them. Not an expensive fix.

PCV won't cause low oil pressure directly - indirectly high crankcase pressure could cause excessive oil burning (pushes past valve seals) so the level could be too low. The OP hasn't confirmed yet that warning light was oil level(orange) or oil pressure (red).

In the past when I ran bangers I've owned a car with a badly worn engine where the oil pressure light used to come on when hot(thinner oil!) at times. Oil pressure was being lost at the main / big ends etc. It didn't last long! The other cause can be a partially blocked oil pickup strainer or failing oil pump drive - either way not good.

Edited by Big John on 21/01/2023 at 20:10

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 20:11
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

Yes, could be the PCV valve. TFSIs are notorious for them. Not an expensive fix.

How much would that be roughly?

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 21:04
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Adampr

A PCV valve would be £200-£300 but is easy enough to check at home (after watching a YouTube video). You just detach a little pipe and give it a shake. I doubt that's it, though. After reading a few other comments, it does seem that your problem is coming from the oil.getting thinner as it heats up. That suggests it's not an inlet valve your garage was talking about. I would take it to VW / Audi specialist (not a main dealer) for a second opinion before spending any more.

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Mon 23 Jan 2023 20:03
AUDI A4 2008 2.0 TFSI - PETROL - Broken engine valve - Andrei Pruteanu

I've had problems with it immediately after I bought it - within weeks I would say. the seller definitely knew about the issue but somehow packed the car nicely for the sale and then didn't care anymore.

I drove it for aprox 1000 miles like this and the mileage is 100k.

I had a vibration in the cabin when the car was on neutral or on very low speed, but I took it to the garage and then the guys there fixed it for me. They said it was loosing air and after the fix it was not doing that anymore.

Repairs were: spark plugs replacement, smoke test on air intake system, supply and fit new breather pipe seals from turbo to rocker cover, same for the pressure solenoid, same for grommet seal to end of cam shaft, oil and filters replacement. Last time I went there they told me about the engine missfiring and the broken valve.

I'd like to fix it but if it costs too much I'll have to get rid of it. Are there garages or private mechanics that are buying faulty cars that are still running for a decent price to get them fixed and then resell them?

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