I am soon-to-be audi owner. My potential 2005 Audi S4 is leaking oil, and needs to have the valve caps replaced. I am wondering if this is a serious issue.
Valve caps?
Do you mean valve cover gaskets?
yes, my mechanic told me he would start with replacing the valve cover gaskets, and work his way up to find the leak. I am about to purchase the vehicle, and I am hoping to get some advice! Thanks!
Do you trust your mechanic? Has he given it a thorough exam? Without knowing what the actual leak is, it’s hard to tell how serious it is. Valve cover gaskets by themselves aren’t much of a problem, IF that’s the problem. This has the V8 in it, and may have been driven hard. Needs a good going over by a mechanic that knows Audis. You do know the repair and maintenance will cost you, correct?
Maybe you should verify beyond all doubt what this oil leak is before becoming a soon-to-be Audi S4 owner.
In the old days of cork valve cover gaskets leaks were somewhat common. Anymore, they’re not unless the car has high miles or a problem.
If the crankcase is pressuring up excessively due to piston ring blow-by then this oil leak, whatever it is, could be extremely serious; a.k.a. $$$$$.
No way should this car be purchased without a compression test.
Advice? RUN, don’t walk, as far away from this money pit as fast as you possibly can. Do not look back. You can thank me later.
If you insist on buying the car have the PCV system rebuilt before replacing the gaskets . Only use synthetic oil VW spec 502 like Castrol Syntec 5-40 or Mobil 1 0-40 .
The car is a 2005. It has 56,000 miles. I do realize this car will go down and I will pay big bucks to fix it. How much to rebuild the PVC system??
I am a girl, with no knowledge of fixing cars, let alone an AUDI S4.
No knowledge of cars ? Then stay away from that one .
Yes, now that you say that, this is a bad car for you. Why do you want it?
edit - I actually would not recommend that ANYBODY buy a car with clear, but undiagnosed, problems. Why not take that money and buy a newer A4? That V8 is overkill, anyway.
Thanks everyone, chatting like this has actually swayed me out of this car.
I want it because i like the styling of an Audi, it is fast, it is a convertible and oh so much fun to drive.
You made the right decision. Styling, speed, convertible roof, and fun doesn’t account for much when you’re sitting on the side of the road calling AAA or being given some bad news by a repair shop 2 weeks after buying the car.
You refer to fast, convertible, and fun to drive. With cars like this it could be pointed out that the original owner (or plural) thought the same thing and that 56k miles is actually equivalent to 156k miles of use; hard use.
“I want it because i like the styling of an Audi, it is fast, it is a convertible and oh so much fun to drive.”
You forgot to include, “and oh so expensive to diagnose and to fix”!
An Audi–especially a high-performance Audi–is a fun car to own when it is new.
However, once the warranty is over, it is time to get rid of these overly-complex, unreliable, very difficult to diagnose, and very expensive to fix cars.
You made the right decision. Either save your money for a new Audi, and then dump it when the warranty runs out, or–better yet–buy a vehicle from Japan, the US, or South Korea.
You are right VDC driver, about the reliability of another car, from say the US or Japan. I have and am still driving a corolla with 173,000 miles, it’s never had a problem in the 10 years that I have driven it. I suppose I will invest in a new Audi someday when I can afford it.
You’ve received a lot of good advice here from some of those I respect the most. And it all adds up to this not being a good choice for you. You’ve shown yourself to be an intelligent lady by (1) asking, and (2) listening.
Allow me to suggest that you get a consumer review magazine or two from the local bookstore that’ll give you some information on reliability and cost of repair. That may give you lots of good ideas for cars that’ll be reliable, affordable, AND sporty.