forum.audiv8.com Foren English Audi V8 Forum Nikasil problem ?

My engine burn a lot of oil (2-3 L for 500 km)

I have opened it and i'm looking for the problem...

The 2 heads seem OK (I still have to check valve seals)
The cylinder seem perfect (no stripes) but how could i check if I have the famous nikasil problem ?
I can give photo of the cylinder if you want !
But i have not yet dismounted the pistons.

thanks

I forgot to tell :
it's a V8 4.2L engine (ABH)

hi yannick,
and you have a manual gearbox ?

Yes, I've got a manual gearbox...

But what is the relation whith my oil consumption ?

I juste have contacted a society wich is specialised in engine reparation. They think my cylinders are "iced" (translation from French Word : glacé I don't know the technical word) because they are very smooth

photo here : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yannick.fetre/temp/DSCN0198.JPG

4,2 liter, abh-motor, manual gearbox = high öl consume !
my audi take 1-1,5 liter öl / 1000km now (180.000 km total).
after i used mineralöl 20w50 with visco-stabil (liqui moly).

greetings joe

p.s: where you from ?

1-1.5 L / 1000 km is nothing compared to my 2-3 L / 500 km !!!!!

My car isn't a Audi V8, but a 100 S4 V8 (same engine)

I live in France, near Evian (where are made the famous bottle of mineral water)

Hy Yannick,

i think your "Kolben" -dont know the word in english - are broken. Maybe the "Pleuel" too. I ve had the same prob with an Alfa Romeo 164 QV in 1992. This will be a complicated and expensive engine rpair if you dont have the possibility to repair it by yourself. Maybe one of this forum can help you.

But the English spoken forum is not well used - I think...

Good luck and if you need any help - please post an answer here.

Greets from Cologne/Allemagne et bonsoir á tout!!!

Hi Yannick,
if the pistons in cour cylinders are not broken, have a look at your crankase ventilation system. There are three tubes ( one in front of the engine, one on the top and the last one in the backside).
If they are broken, you may have a high oil consumption in some cases.
This informations i get here int he forum, i never had these problems.Maybe it will help you.
Bye Bernd

this is indeed abnormally high. Audi considers up to 1l/1000 km as normal, consensus within this forum is that up to 1.5 l/1000km are perfectly normal for any early ABH engine with more than 150.000 km.
Did this develop over time and the engine was gradually using more and more oil or did this behaviour come all of a sudden (or did you buy this car that way)?

Does the engine run OK and on all eight cylinders? Did you make a compression/leakdown test?
Check the valve guides and seals as well as the valves themselves. Burnt outlet valves are not uncommon in heavily used 4.2 engines. Thomas Müller did have a similar issue with his engine and there the valve guides were to blame.


If compression is decent, you can rule out any valve problems, have checked/replaced the crankcase ventilation tubes and the engine continues to burn obscene amounts of oil, you might indeed have this "nikasil" problem where the nikasil coating is washed off the block by sulphuric combustion byproducts originating from fuel with high sulphur contents.
If it really is the "nikasil" issue, you are looking at a new block, as IMHO there is no economically sound way of repairing this. I have asked at a reputable specialized shop (http://www.rimotu.de) for an estimate to recoat the nikasil. For the amount of money this will cost, I`d get a brand new short block. In this case, an economically sound way to get your car back on the road would be to purchase and install a used engine. To locate one, have a look in the parts exchange on this board available behind the Marktplatz link in the navigation menu.

Cordialement,
Bastian

I own the same car. In may '05 the compression of the 8'th cylindre went away completely and the engine was broken. In the last month before this damage happened, my engine consumed about 6 Litres oil for ~1.000 km.
I would say that the engine is short to death, because it consume the same huge amount of oil like mine.

I think it's time to search for another, used engine. If you find a good used 4.2 l ABH motor from the Audi Type 'V8' you should change the two transmitters for oil pressure and the two transmitters for water temperature at the motor to get these things working the right way in the 100 S4.