Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'...

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Sun 17 Feb 2013 11:06
Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'... - Mizpah

I am posting this article on behalf of my partners father who is not the forum type!

He owns a 2005, A4 (B7, 2005) 2.0 TDi S. He appears to have tun into the oil light / wrecked engine issue as explained in this article this article of yours - with an estimated cost of £8000 from the local Audi dealership to fix.

Ironically he was in the process of looking into a new car!

The Car has full Audi SH, but interestingly when the light came on (orange) he rang his local Audi garage, and asked if he was ok to drive on - he was asked in return if the light was orange or red - he replied that it was orange, and was told that as long as it was not red, he was ok to drive on a moderate distance, and did so (round 10 miles) for the purpose of returning the car to the garage.

The garage now want no part of it - and upon being asked what they could do in the circusmstances to to mitigate the cost have replied that they cant do anything and that its 'just tough luck', and a 'very rare fault'.

I believe from looking around that this is not a 'very rare fault', but 'well known', with many people reporting the same issue, and Audi subsequantly changing the design to avoid the issue.

I also believe that the advice from the dealership was wrong, and that 'driving on' has added significantly to the cost of repair.

What would you think is a reasonable resolution to the current fault from Audi (I see some reference to goodwill, and also to some cars (fleet) being recalled to void this happening) in the circumstances ? The car is currently in the dealership, however the repair has not been authorised due to cost.

It is my belief that as Audi advised him to 'drive on a moderate distance' and that the advice has caused significant damage, then they should make sure he is not out of pocket due to this advice ?


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Sun 17 Feb 2013 13:45
Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'... - SlidingPillar

Don't know the car, but oil pressure lights are traditionally orange, plus the sensor pressure is usually so low that if the light lights, a fair amount of damage has been done by the time this occurs.

Implication from your post is the car has a two stage system an orange and a red light. Could have, it would be in the car's book - and that would be the first place I'd look as warning light actions are usually fully described in the early sections.

If the car hasn't got a two stage system the correct action would have stop the engine right now, but proving the garage said otherwise is going to be difficult. Plus, unless they had the light correctly described to them, a lot of the orange lights are what you might expect - 'cautions', not 'stop nows'.

No idea why historically most oil lights are the wrong colour, but they have been for a huge number of years.

This one is in the realms of you need a solicitor, but I'm rather doubful a lot can be done as it all hinges on what was said in a phone call, and the understanding obtained which may be contary to both the handbook and good sense.

Edited by SlidingPillar on 17/02/2013 at 13:47

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Sun 17 Feb 2013 14:12
Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'... - Mizpah

Thanks Sliding - I think you may be right - Proving what was said may be very difficult...

However there is also a significant issue that I woudl like some feedback on, and that is the specific issue mentioned of the 'known fault' as described on HJ, and I have found on the audidriver novermber 2012 article (link - if this link is not allowed please remove!)

There appear to be multiple cases of this - a general stance of denial (my observation form research) from Audi, and multiple instances of people in touch with the Audi CEO's office (whereby interestingly the fault is still 'not known'), and in some instances goodwill paym,ents being made.

I simply cant get my head around it being a 'not known' or not a design relatedfault when there are so many instances of the issue (I have multiple sources from various forums and first hand experiences), and technical publications discussing it.

Is this normal (in peoples opinions) for either for Audi / in the industry ?

Cheers,

Mizpah

PS: I no know to treat any orange oil light in any car significantly differently to the way I may have done before encountering all of this information - I wonder to what degree the general lay person would know to treat it with the proper degree of respect ?

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Sun 17 Feb 2013 16:08
Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'... - galileo

As Slidingpillar says, if the oil warning light comes on it usually means oil presure at the sensor is 10psi or less, and may be less than that at critical parts in the engine, so a good idea to switch off and find out why.

Older cars (such as original mini's/minors) would sometimes have a faint flickering oil light when ticking over, but at normal engine speeds a steady light meant trouble.

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Sun 17 Feb 2013 17:57
Audi A4 B7 2.0 TDI S (2005) - Oil Pressure light, dealer advised 'drive on'... - SlidingPillar

I'm no mechanic, but HJs description of the problem does not sound quite correct. An interference fit on a splined shaft won't wear out with miles - unless the fit is a bit loose, and the joint moves. And if it does, arguably defective from day 1.

So it's probably an issue of tolerances really, that and poor design as you always have to account for the worst case.

The Austin Maxi also can suffer from a flickering oil light, but the one I had, the problem was cured by the fitment of a new sensor. One can only assume they get tired!

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