Germans still causing harm to free world

I own and drive a 2004 Audi A6 3.0. I like the car very much, it has just over 60,000 miles. Two Saturdays ago I took it in for an oil change. One week later, the engine light came on and the following morning, it was missing on one cylinder right when I started it to go to church. Within a few seconds the cylinder started firing and everything was normal except the engine light.

At work on Monday, I called Carousel Audi and told them about the problem, asked if it was okay to drive with the light on and made an appointment for the next Saturday. I was under the impression that the engine light was on because of the misfire which I experienced one other time as a result of a bad ignition coil which is German for spark plug wire. Not going to do any harm to the motor.

Tuesday I left work which is 30 miles away from home. I drive just under 80 mph and it was cold Tuesday. Immediately upon entering the highway I notice quite a bit of exhaust out of my rear view mirror. Hmm, I wonder if I should pull over and check it out? Nah, it seems to have subsided and I'm already racing home to get a bite in before interviewing a nanny candidate.

I pull off the highway at my exit and am waiting for the light behind a rather old truck. I immediately smell burning car something but I still have oil pressure and nothing has changed on my guages. I pull into my garage a mile from the highway and it stinks like high heaven. Something is definitely wrong so I pop the hood half expecting flames to shoot out as I open it. Everything just felt hot and burning. Fortunately, no flames but like I said, its hot under there. I pull the oil dipstick and its dry. I wipe it, dip it again and its bone dry. Uh oh. I look under the car and there is a small pool of oil and drips coming from the plastic shield that protects the underside of the vehicle.

Now I'm thinking that I'm out of oil and very lucky that the engine didn't completely seize up on me while driving home. As I'm looking for clues, I see some oil spray near the top drivers side of the motor but its minimal. Doesn't appear to be leaking out of the oil filter which is almost guaranteed if the gasket from the old filter didn't come off when they did the oil change. On to my back I go and the car is low enough to the ground that I really can't even get underneath far enough to check if the oil drain plug is indeed in the pan. Plus the plastic guard is in the way. So I get my ramps down from the rafters but quickly learn that the car is too low to drive onto the ramps. So I jack up one side and slide under as best I can. Still can't get under far enough to see the oil pan and where the plug is supposed to be.

I don't dare start the vehicle considering I don't thnk it has any oil left in the motor. Nor am I going to risk filling it up and driving it to the dealership so I call a tow. I'm hopeful this is Carousel Audi's fault but nothing ever goes my way.

The next morning, I speak with Audi and they tell me it was only 1.5 quarts low on oil and I find that hard to believe since there was nothing showing on the dipstick but that's another story. Anyway, that's good news since it likely means I didn't do any permanent damage to the engine. Its not difficult to warp lifters and valves when metal gets as hot as my car was.

But of course, the oil change was performed flawlessly and the breather valve 'froze' causing pressure build-up in the valve covers causing the seal to blow out. I'd be skeptical were it not for the oil spattering near the top of the motor. The service guy from Audi recommend I replace the serpentine belt since they need to rip things apart and there will be no additional labor involved. Also, I should replace the timing belt since that will be due in another 10-15,000 miles. Total estimate is $2,544 not including the tow charge I already picked up. The misfire he claims is no longer occurring and was likely caused by oil spilling into the number 5 cylinder because of the frozen breather valve.

I decline the timing belt recommendation and get out of there for just over $2,000 with the tow. Car ran good today and I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

Two positive takeaways from this whole expensive endeavor: One, I was NOT the guy I saw talking to the Audi service tech who damned near keeled over when he heard the estimate of $3,850 to repair his car. "$38.50?" he said. "No, $3850" the Audi guy told him. "$385" the guy asked?

"No, three thousand, eight hundred and fifty dollars."

I heard the guys jaw hit the ground with a loud crack.

Second thing is that I was forced to work from home on Wednesday. My wife got off work early and then again at home when I got an afternoon delight.