Cylinder 1 Zero Compression!!

[Voltguy]

Hi all, I have made the purchase of Palettes RS6. So far so good, if I could keep it out of the shop. Had a CEL on Friday afternoon after it was in for simple things. Oil change,headlamp washer repair, headlamp retaining ring and temp sending unit. Started it up and CEL flashing, immediately asked tech to VAG and it was miss firing. Tech took it for a ride and it cleared itself. Ran fine all weekend. Monday morn same symptoms, had it flatbedded to shop. So cute worlds fastest family sedan on the back of a CAA truck!! Now the shop is telling me that there is no compression on cylinder 1. Any ideas?? Thanks

[na1mt]

......sounds like this is gonna hurt. No,meaning zero, or just low compression?

[Voltguy]

Tech was going to pull valve cover this afternoon and keep me informed. I am REALLY hoping the third party warranty will cover this issue. Will post updates as they arrive. Thanks

[kismetcapitan]

interesting, hearing of engine damage on these cars is few and far between. What mods have you done?

[Brav]

well if its ZERO its probably a valve issue.. I'm no mechanic, but may indicate some valve/head work, but block could be ok. don't panic yet until you get some firm info back..

[4everRS]

Broken spring? That would be noisy though.

[speedtrapped]

He did have tuned IIRC, and I think meth?

[tightgroup]

zero comp has to be valve train related

[ben916]

I haven't heard of anyone having this issue...

Please keep the forum informed of this...

[ben916]

He did have tuned IIRC, and I think meth?

um, yes.... 3.9... remember? PBOX?

[speedtrapped]

yes Ben, I do remember...actually I think he was sharing that he hit 3.7 on Vbox, EPL tuned...but before Mike cuts my tongue out, I am in no way suggesting EPL's tune caused this....But I do know he hammered car, to get 3.7, is to hammer.

[bakes]

yes Ben, I do remember...actually I think he was sharing that he hit 3.7 on Vbox, EPL tuned...but before Mike cuts my tongue out, I am in no way suggesting EPL's tune caused this....But I do know he hammered car, to get 3.7, is to hammer.

I also believe that after he hammered it to get the 3.7 he had to get a bunch of transmission work done! I considered his car but went with Headshot's as he seemed to take it easier on his.

[hahnmgh63]

I wouldn't even turn the engine over without a video borescope of the cylinder first, not just a valvetrain inspection. I have a new video borescope and it's unbelieveable the detail you can see of the inside of a cylinder, and the good ones come with a mirror attachment so you can see the complete valvetrain. When my engine was out I inspected all 8 cylinders for a piece of mind.

[Voltguy]

Thank you everyone for info and tips. Waiting for tech to call this afternoon with more info. Will share if I don't hit the floor first.

[Bigglezworth]

Could be a blown head gasket too.

[aussie rs6]

my money is on a cracked head. Mooch I believe had a cracked head and his engine was worked harder than most with its tune.

But hopefully something less expensive like a blown head gasket.

[kismetcapitan]

zero comp has to be valve train related

not necessarily; I once melted the piston rings on all six cylinders in my Skyline, and there was zero compression across the board. That was expensive :(

But if compression is normal in the other seven cylinders, it could be something like a valve issue. Loss of the seal from the rings is easy to see - lots of smoke from the burned oil in the exhaust!

[Bigglezworth]

Thinking more about this, it's highly unlikely a head gasket blew out the side. They usually blow across the thin points (i.e. adjacent cylinder, oil passage, coolant passage). Any of those three conditions would provide different compression results than the zero you are getting. As stated earlier in the post, it is highly probable valve related - likely burnt valves. Worse case - and I mean worse case, it's piston related. Either way, it will require pulling the head which on this car is easier when you pull the entire powerplant. I'm sorry to hear about this as it would be the first time I've heard of one of these engines having internal mechanical damage. Lots of people have aggressive tunes and are without problem.

[ttboost]

No tongue cutting here...I have some ideas, but waiting for the verdict...no use speculating now...

[Brav]

I suspect valve. To have only one piston completely go would be strange.. however if there was meth/water injection, I have heard reports of the vaporization process "washing" the sleeve and combustion champer, which can also remove the oils lubricating properties and cause a lot more wear in some circumstances. But in this case it should be a reduction, not zero compression. Here's to hoping for a simple solution..

[kismetcapitan]

every engine has a "lean" cylinder, depending on the intake manifold design. When highly boosted, if something goes horribly wrong with fueling, the lean cylinder can melt. I killed three Skyline engines, and the first blew only the 6th cylinder, which is the "lean" one with that manifold design. But I'm guessing against that, as IIRC I didn't lose 100% compression, and catastrophic preignition tends to take out multiple cylinders.

[PALETTE]

Wow what a shitty situation. So to clear a few things up. The tune is not the issue. The meth is not the issue. Why? Because there is no Meth on the car and the tune was installed back to the no meth tune. It is still a solid EPL tune and it did a solid 3.8 0-60.

I suspect it's a bad rocker/or valve spring. Can sea a piston letting go.

I bet your glad you bought the extended warranty. It was worth having it bumper to bumper

Jeep me posted how it works out.

[PALETTE]

Btw who is working on the car?

[tightgroup]

not necessarily; I once melted the piston rings on all six cylinders in my Skyline, and there was zero compression across the board. That was expensive :(

But if compression is normal in the other seven cylinders, it could be something like a valve issue. Loss of the seal from the rings is easy to see - lots of smoke from the burned oil in the exhaust!


I see running 30 psi of boost, but to melt the rings off completely.. ooufff how much spray .. ..

[4everRS]

I still think valve issue. As far as one cylinder going down, of course it's possible. One injector spraying wrong f's up everything.

[na1mt]

It should be quite impossible to achieve a compression reading of absolute zero from a piston ring failure and not have the motor lock up.

[PALETTE]

I still think valve issue. As far as one cylinder going down, of course it's possible. One injector spraying wrong f's up everything.

very true!

[PALETTE]

Just checking in to see what the word is on this situation.

[Voltguy]

Hello everyone. Sorry for the delay. I do not want to release too much info till I get the car back into my possession which should be the end Of march. As of now the warranty company is flying in a new head for the rs6 from Germany. When all is good I will post the complete story and pics so everyone can learn from my pain. Thanks to all for advice and info. Let's just say that the engine is bullet proof, not screw proof. How a screw got in is still a mystery. Ciao for now.

[Voltguy]

So here we go. Gather around the fire children for I have a tall tale to tell. Seems Audi Mississauga had quoted 2400 for a refurb head from Germany, only to come back two weeks later and inform all that the price is now 5100 dollars. Problem is the warranty company had already issued a P.O. for the head and labour to put her back together.(At the lower price,obviously) So now it is off to the head shop for a rebuild, if that is possible. I will attach pics of the head and the screw for all to view and come up with scenarios of entry. I had driven the car for almost 6000 KMs prior to issue. Let the games begin.

[MaxRS6]

Ooooofffff- Wowza- That is fugly!!!

[Brav]

3 out of 5 valves is enough....

[ttboost]

Knew it would be valves, but it looks like a tamperproof torx screw? MAF screws are on the outside?

[TozoM8]

Looks like it's been tempered with :)

[Elevens]

What a disaster. I can't even begin to speculate how that screw was introduced to the Intake system. If it did enter through the Input side of either Turbo Compressor (MAF side) I would have to assume there is major damage to the Turbo itself. Let's hope not. It looks like a Cam Cap Torx screw. But it looks a little short though. Good luck with the Results....................

[ttboost]

My guess is it sounds like the OP knows who was in there last, and knows where to look for a resolution?

[TozoM8]

I don't think that screw would fit through the inter-cooler. My guess would be it fell into one of the intake tube during some previous work and max boost and hard cornering picked it up. It looks line a very course thread like some used on plastic covers.

[marklar182]

What a disaster. I can't even begin to speculate how that screw was introduced to the Intake system. If it did enter through the Input side of either Turbo Compressor (MAF side) I would have to assume there is major damage to the Turbo itself. Let's hope not. It looks like a Cam Cap Torx screw. But it looks a little short though. Good luck with the Results....................

No way it went into the intake and through the turbo. It would NEVER get through the intercoolers. (Tozo beat me to it!)

I am dumbfounded on how it got in there.

[kevin]

Looks like an air filter housing screw.

We had a MB Kompressor towed in a couple years ago with a locked engine (the owner thought is was) turned out to be a screw the went into the supercharger. Replaced it and was good as new.

[Elevens]

I don't think that screw would fit through the inter-cooler. My guess would be it fell into one of the intake tube during some previous work and max boost and hard cornering picked it up. It looks line a very course thread like some used on plastic covers.

Yea! Completely Forgot about the Intercooler. Obviously It was introduced after It. This is a big time Error. And so the Mystery continues........................................

[SteveKen]

$5100 for a head? Ouch. I'll sell you a whole long block shipped for less than that. In my opinion, I don't think it can be repaired if you want to maintain the same compression. The cleaning up of the stress risers might be an issue.

[Bigglezworth]

Tell tale sign of some maintenance/modification work being done and a screw went missing. This is 100% mechanic error - simple as that. Thankfully you have a warranty. The information disclosed however, I suspect said warranty company might be looking at previous ownership to ascertain how this might have occured.

I once dropped a nut down the intake runner of the pro ram manifold on my old Chevelle when I was putting one of the quad carbourators on and had to do a fetch effort. Luckily though, a pro ram is pretty much straight down to the valves and as such a magnetic pick-up tool did the job nicely without having to remove the manifold.

As for $ for the head, that is nothing short of absurd. A qualified engine machine shop can easily repair the damage as long as the casting itself is not cracked anywhere.

T.

[hahnmgh63]

http://www.ebsracing.com/ Highly recommended for head work. There not cheap but cheaper than that by far.

[grizz]

What about the block and piston , the piston must need to be changed as well if the head is that bad.
The other head will need to be skimmed as well ..

grizz

[kevin]

I was wondering about the piston as well... Need to look it over good. The top ring land could have been damaged.

[marklar182]

The piston surface is more of a concern. The pitting causes hot spots that leads to premature detonation.

[Bigglezworth]

I hate to say it, but I personally would be relieved to find damage to just the head. Pulling a screw out of a cylinder is significantly better than pulling all the pieces of a piston and rod out. Got to enjoy that the hard way on one of my other rides a few years back. lol

12477

[Bigglezworth]

In thinking about this a bit more, I am of the opinion this likely resulted as part of a spark plug change. The screw appears to be one of the fasteners to clamp the air cleaner assembly and could have dropped down through the hole when the coil pack and spark plug were removed.

Unfortunate regardless.