I’ll see if I can get CV to post a video of one of his cars he bough that had a NASTY chain rattle. I listened again and I don’t think your getting that.
But if you have cheap labor. I would have the motor pulled out just to get the cats out. Sooner or later they can cause issues. And with the cats out there is less strain on the motor and a taste more power.
Someone has told me, that the notorious chain “rattle” on the v8 FSI is a total misnomer. Apparently chain problems in that case sound like someone is banging a hammer on the block.
I’m guessing the ticking is coming from the cam adjusters and noisy injectors doing their… doings as normal, might be slightly louder for a moment at startup and cold starts.
I have an exhaust leak, and for the first 60sec my s6 sounds like a Harley, because the SAI pump is pushing extra air into the exhaust to warm up the cats. So that is one thing to take into account. It also makes for a rough idle, so it’s good to wait a few minutes, before driving off.
Also, the engine is designed to run 5w-30. So anything thicker, will probably make it more noisy, that thick tar won’t flow as freely in the tiny passages they designed for 5w-30 oil.
5w30?
Spec is 5w40.
Mine has been in Long-Life service from new (now at 337800km/211,125mi) and VW 504 00 is stated in the cars German manual.
Looking here: https://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/audiusa/Documents/Audi-1997-2012-Technical-Service-Bulletin.pdf
The VW oem oil, as well as other recommended 504 oils, are 5w-30… 
Audi service recommends to use Castrol edge 5w-30 for added protection, over the oem G 052195 5w-30.
I put in the oem oil for now, will need to flush once more (because last oil was crappy and in for over 24000km/15,000mi). After that I’ll stick to 5w-30 Castrol Edge and 10000km/6250mi change interval.
Wrong oil standard. You should be looking at the VW 502 standard.
Owner’s manual says:
LongLife-service:
VW 503 00
VW 504 00
Static service interval:
VW 502 00
VW 503 00
VW 504 00
Audi service plan says:
VW 503 00
VW 503 01
VW 504 00
What do you use to flush engine oil?
Thanks for posting the above photos. Exactly as in my manual. Maybe they recommended 502 in U.S. because of availability? Price? In Finland temps are way below freezing for months, so I usually use 0w-** if possible.
I have successfully used forte brand engine flush, followed by a really short oilchange interval. in a really dirty old BMW m30 engine. But I might have been lucky and doubt it’s merely a bottle of overpriced gasoline…
In a modern engine I only flush by running a fresh batch of the recommended oil for a very short time. ~1500km/800mi…
I just ran liqui moly’s flush I’ve never used liqui moly anything before but I’m going to do a full oil change with the green bottles and want to see what that does for it. I was going to change the oil again at 1500 mi and see how it looks then.
