New Audi Recall Issued for valve cover; May 7th, 2025

[rstcso]

I’m telling you these things look sharp, my neighbor got a blue one and it looks great

I wish I could be happy with the previous generation Passport, but it still has a manual parking brake you have to mash down with your left foot. The new one has brake hold, a feature my wife loved on the 2018 CR-V. The Audi has an electric parking brake which would release when in gear and you stepped on the accelerator, but if you're going through a pick-up window, you have to manually reset the switch each time you stop.

Going to see what the dealer says about the recall when I call them, but the wife agrees it's time for the Audi to go to a new home. I still have the service appointment Tuesday morning. We bought the service package when we bought the car, so it will be good to someone having a record of all that's been done.

 

[MCompact]

TSB’s are more of a “common problem” type of thing. My truck shows 27 recalls and 1,079 TSB’s. My truck has had 1 actual recall (wiper arms may not have been torqued properly and could fly off in use) and I haven’t noticed anything that would fall under any of the TSB’s I did read.

I’m telling you these things look sharp, my neighbor got a blue one and it looks great
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That Passport does look nice.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Should be a simple fix. right? A quick twist of a torque wrench and all is well in the world.

I did find that video and it showed the cap bolts are breaking and or loosening. And on that particular engine those bolts are torqued 89 inch pounds. That means a small bolt.

Too small of bolt could also pull out the aluminum threads in some cases, especially if someone over tightens them.

 

[raaizin]

I expected to pay about $13,000 in repairs over the next 8-10 years.

I am too cheap to pay that kind of money out for maintenance I do it myself. The only thing I had an independent do was the DSG fluid at 40k I did plugs and filters myself. I had a 2007 A6 3.2 that drove for almost 12 years and 148 k miles and probably spent 20% of that. My Porsches don't even come close to that.

 

[ammolab]

I am too cheap to pay that kind of money out for maintenance I do it myself. The only thing I had an independent do was the DSG fluid at 40k I did plugs and filters myself. I had a 2007 A6 3.2 that drove for almost 12 years and 148 k miles and probably spent 20% of that. My Porsches don't even come close to that.

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You did great on that A6. I had a 2000 S4 and while a wonderful car…SO MANY faults that were common to almost all of these cars: anti lock brake control module / door lock control module / after run electric water pump / tie rods / and after 100,000 miles the 8-10 CV and universal joints in the drive train were a nightmare.

 

[raaizin]

You did great on that A6. I had a 2000 S4 and while a wonderful car…SO MANY faults that were common to almost all of these cars: anti lock brake control module / door lock control module / after run electric water pump / tie rods / and after 100,000 miles the 8-10 CV and universal joints in the drive train were a nightmare.

It was VERY reliable sad to let it go it was a tank on the Highway 80mph was a very nice ride

 

[rstcso]

I called the dealership yesterday and they confirmed Audi does not have a fix for this yet. With this open recall, I'll take a huge hit if I try to sell or trade it in before it's shown to be resolved on Carfax or any online open recall checking websites. Even once Audi shows it's resolved, I can no longer keep this car. Two major engine recalls so far. I don't want to wait for strike three. This does give me time to find a screaming deal on a new car. It so nice buying when you don't need one ASAP.

After calling around to Honda dealerships yesterday, most of the 2026 Passports are pre-sold with deposits before arriving. Getting a good deal might be MSRP with no dealer add-ons. We're considering whether we should get the 2025 Pilot instead, although the third-row seats are a total waste for an old couple like us.

 

[JHZR2]

Audi calls it a cylinder head cover and not a valve cover due to the camshaft bearings being part of the assembly#14, best I can tell from these pictures. Second picture shows camshaft installation, then the cover.

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I know you got rid of the car but this came up in the related post history from your other thread.

My (200k mile) MB OM642 diesel has this same type of setup. Valve cover and bearing caps are all part of the same assembly. I really don’t get it. Is it that much savings or benefit to the design over tried and true?

Also, valve covers leak all the time, but don’t cause fires. Scratching my head as to why this is different.

I wonder if the original bolts were TTY? How do they loosen over time as compared to any other bolts that don’t?

 

[rstcso]

I know you got rid of the car but this came up in the related post history from your other thread.

My (200k mile) MB OM642 diesel has this same type of setup. Valve cover and bearing caps are all part of the same assembly. I really don’t get it. Is it that much savings or benefit to the design over tried and true?

Also, valve covers leak all the time, but don’t cause fires. Scratching my head as to why this is different.

I wonder if the original bolts were TTY? How do they loosen over time as compared to any other bolts that don’t?

To be fair, Honda's J35Y8 engine used in the Pilot and new Passport use the same design. The difference is, Honda's don't leak. And even if it did, don't need to worry about the oil hitting a super-hot turbocharger and starting a fire.

 

[motech]

Just had my wife's Q5 in for this problem this morning. According to the service representative the recall doesn't have a fix on it as not every Q5 has the problem. Ours definitely does, with the fix being ten new engine cover bolts all tightened to the correct spec. We'll see if this corrects the issue.

 

[rstcso]

Just had my wife's Q5 in for this problem this morning. According to the service representative the recall doesn't have a fix on it as not every Q5 has the problem. Ours definitely does, with the fix being ten new engine cover bolts all tightened to the correct spec. We'll see if this corrects the issue.

Best of luck to you. Mine wasn't leaking... yet.

I've seen references to having to disassemble quite a bit to remove the cover, then it's more work to clean the old silicone used to form a gasket. There's a groove in the head cover that a pick is needed to thoroughly clean it before applying new silicone.

If it's already leaking, I wouldn't think they could get by with just replacing the bolts and tightening them even more on old gasket material. Then again, if it gets past the warranty period and they've already performed the required steps of the recall...