A6 Wagon with 180 k 3.0

Found this car. Overall it is in nice shape. Is it realustic to assume that since it has made it to 180k the dreaded head gasket problem is probibly not a problem.

This is a non turbo car. Is this why it has lasted so long?

also it is a 2002.

The 3.0 doesn't have a head gasket problem that I'm aware of. The cam pullies come apart well before that.

I had a 3.0 A4 on the shortlist of vehicles I was looking at earlier this year. Plus I am well familiar with the engine, have the tools and skills to maintain them properly (timing belt cannot be backyarded, NEED the holder tools) and then one came in for service and I did something I never do - I looked at the bill.

Holy crap. Some of the parts on the nose of that engine are shockingly expensive. The number in my head that I walked away with was $700 and I forget if that was for everything to do a timing belt/water pump or just the cambelt tensioner.

But you do not mess around with ignoring the cam pulleys. They bolt together, and the bolts back out over time. When they back out, they destroy the very expensive cam positioner solenoid unit, then the debris damages the belt and you scrap the car. So anytime you have the timing belt off, you install the cam holder tools, remove the pullies, and install new bolts and Loctite them. Period.

I should see what the tool costs and price out the frount end service parts list costs

Toolkit is about $450 or so. You get a bolt that locks the crankshaft, a little stubby socket looking thing that is used to bottom out the cam adjusters, and a pair of scissors-action devices that slot over the cams. Naturally, the flats on the cams are not parallel to anything hen in position so you can't really fake this one.

Jesus... See this is why I drive only Japanese.

Sounds like it would be cheaper to put a porsche motor in an A6 than service the Audi motor.

The 3.0 isn't fast. For that you want the 2.7T.

I paid someone else the do the timing belt service for me (don't ask how much but it could have paid for a challenge car, sigh).

It's not slow though. One ran pretty close to my old 1990 3.0 Dodge Dynasty on the highway.

By extension that makes it as fast as the 2.0T vw's i also raced in that car.

The 3.0 is ~220hp. It doesn't feel "fast" because it's just so smooth and everywhere. Not much of a sensation of having a powerband.

2.8 30V thermostat is same labor as complete cam belt + WP job. That said it was replaced w/ a spotless, 31k mile'12 A3 2.0T sport manual slicktop w/ a service contract good out to 46k miles. So I'm hoping that staring down doing a thermostat in 7 degree weather isn't going to happen so, and if it does it's an order easier.

This is why Audi needs a slap up side the head. Either that or they are brilliant in that it makes for planed obsolescence of there cars at lower millage while still being dealer serviced so in many cases they can tell the customer why spend 2k an a 4k car. Instead trade it in on this shinny new on. Considering the market segment that purchases these new this works.

In reply to dean1484:

You're looking at it backwards. If they weren't so expensive to maintain, then they probably wouldn't depreciate like a rock.

Part of the problem, too, is that the kind of people willing to spend $60-100k on a new car want a NEW car, they don't want to maintain something three or four years old.