I had someone who’s very experienced with a6s and s4s come have a look at the car, and he thinks the ticking is a noisy lifter from the engine previously being ran low on oil. He told me an experience he had where a customer had a similar ticking. They replaced all lifters and still ticked so they replaced the whole motor. I guess I will just live with the ticking and not sink too much money into it.
I tried inspecting the cam follower but one of the hpfp screws were rounded so I can’t get it off 
I tried removing the housing but it is stuck on very tightly and don’t want to damage something from prying.
I tackled fixing my flex pipe leak today, and wanted to delete and sell both cats as they are worth quite a bit and are both defective anyways. I discovered that both of my cats are completely empty on the inside from failing, so unfortunately no profit. I was also able to easily get at the banjo fitting for my ps pressure hose with the dp removed.
My gf feels it’s best that we try to part with the car, since it’s not practical for her to do such high mileage week to week, and we’ve already invested more than it’s worth, and it still needs a lot of paint/body work to make it look nice.
How much were your cats worth, where would you have sold them? I was offered $40 each for the 4 on my s6…
Yea at least cosmetically the car will be nice and when it goes it goes. I know what you mean about some issues not being worth it for the worth of the car. You could also consider selling as is I suppose.
Curious if you feel some gains from the cat delete, let us know how it feels with open DPs
Sorry to hear about all the little issues. Every now and then you can hit a good deal and be cheap in and cheap out with some of these cars. sounds like you just keep finding out litttle issues. But 10 little issues i 1 big expense.
One way to test the blower is just pull off the belt. and start the car it should still run.
I had some success this weekend. I replaced the power steering hose and now have no more leaks! It took me about 5 hours to change. I wish I took pics, I could have made a good DIY article for it.
I also spent quite a bit of time replacing my downpipes with ones I made myself. They’re 2.25", I re used the factory flanges and o2 bungs, I’m really happy with how it sounds! The flex pipe on one of my old dps had a clean break and sounded awful.
I didn’t get anything for my cats because all of the substrate had blown out making them hollow.
I added spacers for the secondary o2s. The guy I mentioned before said having no cats and no spacers in the secondaries can cause the car to run rich and have bad mileage. The amount of soot that was on my secondary o2s + the amount of fuel I was going through makes sense now. I’ll see if there’s any change as long as the spacers do their job.
Video after exhaust repair
I also couldn’t help myself and started it up with no downpipes LOL
Happy to report an improvement in fuel economy after doing all of the work. I’ve consistently gotten 2-5 mpg better in all driving conditions. I still get a p0430 code sometimes, but then will go intermittent, so I could put more restriction on the spacers and it should be fixed for good. The exhaust is also pretty rattly accelerating at 2500-3000, but doesnt drone when cruising 'm not willing to invest into an exhaust upgrade at this moment.
I also still can’t solve my P0441 EVAP insufficient flow. I replaced the vent solenoid a while ago, and the code is still present (also goes to intermittent some times), and the car wants to stall after I fuel up at a gas station. I’m wondering if the canister is causing my issue.
I have the car up for sale and had a person seriously interested and come look at it yesterday, but he heard the ticking and saw the rust on the car and he eventually ghosted me.
Not sure if any members on here are close to me but the car is still for sale. It would probably be a good fit for someone on here, the reality is I have way too much into it and still needs a good bit more work to actually make it look nice. I’d like to get 4000$ CAD OBO.
Where in canada? are you
Near Ottawa
Well, I had a HUGE facepalm moment yesterday. I found the cause of my p0441 code, hard start after refueling, and piss poor fuel mileage (I know it’s an a6 but it’s BAD). The hose from the evap canister was hooked up to the intake boot, and the breather hose was hooked up to the evap purge solenoid. I thought of this after coming across a forum post where someone had the exact same issue. I swapped the hoses, cleared the codes, took a test drive, and it feels like a whole new car.
Before the fix, I’d typically average 30mpg at 60mph, 27-28 at 75mph, and I’d be lucky to hit 25mpg on my mixed 13 mile rural/small town commute if I drove like a granny. I am now seeing ~35 at 60, 30 at 75, and when I popped by my work this morning, I averaged 27 on a spirited drive. Not to mention, the car drives so effortlessly and revs much more freely. It feels like I’ve installed a tune. Oh, and no more CEL’s, or smoke at full throttle!
The real test will be what my gf will get when she takes it to work (usually gets 20 and drives 60 miles per day on average). I could see the mileage increasing to 23-24, and that would probably be enough to take the car off the market. Of course, I fixed the problem AFTER we have already purchased a low mileage good condition 08 Sentra as the replacement, so the A6 still kind of needs to go.
I poured in a bottle of STP oil treatment, just to see how it would effect the ticking, and no change. So, my logic is the ticking isn’t coming from valve train, piston, rods, or crank. I need to get that fuel pump off some how and inspect it and the follower. I have a hunch that it is causing my ticking. I’ve checked supercharger, accessory belt, vacuum pump and valve train on both sides now and no luck. The only thing I can think of is fuel pump or lower timing chain related.
Wow that’s great news. If you are hearing ticking at the FP that’s normal for all these fsi motors. It shouldnt be too loud but is audible for sure
It’s pretty loud. It almost sounds like I have rod knock or a bad lifter. There’s a video i posted further up this thread of the car running
Sounds top end, rocker arm probably. Have you had the valve covers off to see if there is a loose rocker?
It sounds bad enough I am not sure I would be running that engine until it was resolved.
Ed
After I did all of the initial work and car still ticked, I ran the engine with no valve covers and couldn’t find anything, other than some clips for holding the rockers onto the lifters had a bent tab so the clips could move around a bit. That being said, we pulled the car off the road until spring with plans on restoring it further (mechanical and body/paint). I changed the oil before storage and upon inspection there is definitely some bearing material when I squeezed the filter. I guess this thing is really on its way out :(. After seeing this + all the paint/body work it needs, I may be better off trying to find another cheap & lower mile example, and using mine for parts + s line conversion if needed.
I found a potentially good example about an hour from me, an 09 3.0t non s line with 75k miles but with an overheating problem, and a VERY low asking price. I have access to a head gasket tester, which would be the determining factor if it’a worth buying or not. I don’t wanna drop the subframe & motor to replace headgaskets. Plus, I don’t really have the cash to go and buy it even if I wanted to 
I also came across a member of a C6 fb group an hour from me who has a mint s line front bumper for cheap, so the sline conversion is totally doable, and could sell all of the non sline parts (plus cats, etc.)
If your up for it dude, take on the project! It sounds like fun
It’s not hard to swap an engine. How much is a used 3.0t now a day anyway? May be a solution
I haven’t been able to find someone parting out a 3.0t car. I’ve only been able to find someone out west who sells used motors for about 6000 after tax and shipping. I think going after a car like the one I came across is most ideal. For that price, I could probably get close to breaking even on the cost of the new car for parts, plus I’d be driving a car with less than 1/2 the mileage. But like I said, that car will be long gone by the time I have money to buy it, and it’s doubtful another one like it will come up.
Well, that black car I had my eye on is gone now, I guess I’ll go the route of inspecting the motor, and a possible restoration of this one
Sorry to hear it slipped away, but maybe for good reason. On carpart.com there are many motors from 3 to 4k wih warranty for 90 day. They always compression test these before they sell them.
Iirc it is best to get a 3.0t that is MY 2013 and above correct?
Another option is to find a trashed copart car for cheap…
I’m not sure if I can access those 2 sites because I’m in Canada. I’ve watched enough Hoovie’s Garage’s videos to think there would be a cheap yet usable a6 on there.
I plan on going back up to where I stored it as there’s a heated garage I can use, and pull the pan amongst other things to try and find.
I will probably still try to go the route of finding another better example car & use mine for parts, if I were to spend some more serious cash, but that really won’t be for a while, maybe late winter/early spring.
I was also told that a c6 3.0t has a different bell housing than the ones for s tronics & 8hp’s
Haha yup. I watch Hoovies also.
To purchase thru copart you need a license or if your just a consumer you use AutoBidMaster
Well, it’s a bittersweet day. I took a deposit on the car this morning. I unfortunately took a huge loss on the car, but beggars can’t be choosers, and I never expected to get a good return on it anyways.
I got to a point where I realized I would be deeper into the car if I needed to do much engine work (timing chains, bearings etc), plus body work to bring back the curb appeal of the car, vs buying a good condition example in the first place (ive even some clean c7 a6/a7s listed for a few thousand more over a c6). I also find that I enjoy my b8 a5 as much or more than the a6, and it’s a much more economical car to own.
Anyways, it was fun making this thread and I appreciate everyone who followed along and chimed in. Hard to say if/when I’ll own another a6/a7. But when I do, I’ll be posting about it here.
Cheers