I have a few questions for anyone who can answer them. Just to let you guys know, I do most of the work on my car as my dad has been a mechanic for 25+ years.

My friend at work drives a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T with 110K on the clock and he came up to me and asked me to look at his car tonight since he knows I have a decent knowledge about cars in general. So I agree and he begins to tell me he has no acceleration power, and its making strange noises ect..

So I start his car and I notice the ABS, and SRS light come on asap. Put the car in revere and I get an animated light which looks like a volcano and he has no owners Manuel to look it up. Turns out the volcano is just the wiper fluid (google). I drive his car around and it is slow! It feels like its running on 3 cylinders but there was no check engine light so no misfire I'm assuming. So I pull over and check the oil and it is VERY low almost not even on the dipstick and also his power steerting fluid is almost completely empty which was the primary cause of the loud noise.

He had his oil changed at Midas in November and they just put regular 5-30 in, so I just put a quart of regular 5-30 in from the Mobile gas station by our work. I told him I thought Audi requires synthetic oil (especially for a turbo). I did not put any Power Steering fluid in as some cars require special PS fluid and didn't want to mess anything up since there as still enough fluid that his PS was working fine. I told him after I put the quart of oil in he needs to take the car to Audi asap.

This poor guy knows nothing about cars and I don't really know anything about turbo or German cars. What could the cause of this poor accelertation be? It was dark and I couldn't really figure out how to get the air filter out. But he says he had them change it in July. I just want to know what he may be up against so the dealership doesn't take advantage of him.

On a positive note the engine sounded healthy when reved.

I will be happy with any input you guys may have.

Thanks

 

Maybe I can help you. I have owned numerious Audi's and Vdubs. First off not all Audi's need synthetic oil. It all depends on what kind of oil has been used(I'm sure you already know that). ABS UNITS always go bad on those cars, That may be why the abs light/srs light is on. Car probrobly is in "limp mode" right now. Limp mode is there to protect the engine if something is wrong with the car. Coil packs are probrobly the cause of the weakness. Those Audi's are notorious for burning unbelievable amounts of oil, especially the turbo versions. Sludge build up is very common as well. Make sure your friend converts to synthetic. Always do the oil changes before the due date for caution. I hope this helped. By the way, the abs unit can be replaced by ordering one on ebay. They're are 2 choices. 1) Send yours to the company to be refurbished(car can be driven w/out unit). 2)Order a refurbished unit from them. I suggest sending your unit to them.

 

yeah, i am also a huge euro-guy and have a few vdubs currently and tons in the past.That audi is for sure in limp mode.You can only boost 5 lbs to protect the engine from further damage.Is the cel on? anyway smooth got it right on the money!

 

had an audi as well before the evo. smooth is right about the abs crapping out, and its not cheap to have fixed. the limp mode sounds about right. take his advice and switch to synthetic, the eat oil. most important take it to the dealer and have them check it out so you get there opinion before you start ordering parts. gl man. maybe tell ur friend to sell the audi and get an evo!

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

I figured the car was in some kind of limp mode but I didn't see a check engine light so I figured something important like a coil pack would trigger it. But I didn't spend a whole lot of time with the car to even see if the check engine light illuminated before starting the engine. Coil pack sounds like his issue, since the engine sounded healthy.
When I took of the oil cap I had a flash light and looked at what I could and it looks like it was maintained well, no visible sludge inside what I could see on the engine or on the bottom of the oil cap itself. I don't think he is worried to much about the ABS nor do I think he could afford to fix that problem right now. (We work at a restaurant ). I might show him how to change his own oil so he can save some money with synthetic oil changes.

Do you know if Audi requires a special PS fluid?

Thanks again

 

My s4 had the abs problem and I just let it blink. The ps fluid you need is oem. Do you really need oem? No, but that's what was in his car when it was new and from my past experiences oem is always the safest. Pentosin - Pentosin OEM Hydraulic / Power Steering Fluid - CHF 11S is also another brand as well as Febi - Hydraulic / Power Steering Fluid. They are all great but since he is on a budget I would go with oem because believe it or not it's the cheapest of the bunch. Good luck at the dealership.

 

Thanks for all you help guys! I will let you guys know what the problem was if I get any updates from him.

 

UPDATE:

Alright my friend finally got his Audi into a specialized mechanic who owns a shop specifically for Audi's and VW's. I'm not sure of the exact specifics but he told me the car needs about $3K in work. Apparently the turbo itself is not operating correctly and needs replaced, timing belt replacement (maintenance obviously), his A/C compressor is locked up when its engaged so his accessory belt is burnt up a bit and needs replaced, the driverside window is getting repaired since it just falls halfway into the door when it feels like doing so, and finally the ABS unit is being replaced.

I promised an update! Thanks for your help again guys, I will give another update when he can tell me exactly everything that has been repaired/replaced.

 

JF, there is also a sludge bulletin out on these older 1.8 l turbo A4s, which either gets a desludging, a new short block and possibly a new turbo....I'd be curious to see if just the replacement of the turbo cures his ills.