Originally Posted by pilar berg

I have a 2002 A4 81,000miles..has been great to me until now.

Last week the engine made a bad noise. Stopped the car and when I took it to the shop they told me there was NO OIL at all in the engine.. the little oil they drained has metal in it... bad news.. they told me basically to kiss goodbye my car.

I have faithfully changed oil every 5,000 I use always synthetic oil. Never had a warning that something was wrong.

Since the car run perfectly normal after the oil was changed I took it to a european shop and they drained and filtered the oil. Good news..no metal trace anywhere.. not even in filter or pan.

Confusing.. the car runs well..but needs timing belt and CBboots within the next week or so...also the 80,000mile tune up.

Is it worth it to invest on the needed but expensive repairs.. or do I need to look for another car??

My real question is .. One time metal in the oil...with no more evidence of metal or noise.. does it mean the Car is doomed?? I need to make decision very fast

I will appreciate any feedback

Hello welcome to Audi Forum,

Doomed? I don't think so, It Depends on how much metal. if its a little bit like very tiny specks nothing to worry about, that's what the normal purpose of oil is for.

1. Lubricate moving parts in engine
2. Remove debris from normal wear and tear.

But, If you find traces of metal anymore check it if a magnet will pick it up then it is likely crank , sleeve material, rod material, wrist pin material, ring material or it could be impeller material off of a turbo depending what type of turbo you are running. If it appears like a more yellow or golden color likely bearings - rod or crank. If it looks like block or head material that can come from a number of places and you would likely want to tear it down if you can't determine where it is coming from.

Run a oil pressure check & compression check - if you have a low cylinder then it is likely a cracked ring - which can also cause cylinder damage.


Regards
R.B.N.J

Thank you for your reply. It was helpful.
As I said before last week my car was found to be very low in oil with a silvery residue in the drained oil

I have a question. if the oil was drained and filtered a week after the first incident and no trace of metal was found (not even inside the filter)

It is safe to asume that no significant damage was done to the engine??