JCH

Thanks Steve, I'd rather be prepared, the questions are, is it possible to replace the big end bearings without removal of the engine, or is it worth getting a reconditioned engine, or change it for another A3 petrol (say a 1.6FSI for low insurance purposes, or do the 1.6's have issues?), I'm starting to think it may be not worth getting a compression test.

Thanks Gareth, Unfortunately my son has only owned the car for around 5 weeks. We have been given quite a few receipts from previous services, of which haven't been carried out at Audi, but at an independent VAG garage, they have used Quantum oil & genuine VAG filters. When we test drove the car, the engine sounded fine (but I'm not ruling out they may have used some Wynns engine noise reducer). We only ever owned VW's & Audi's, never had any issues, so this is a first.

Thanks Clifford, The engine does seem to run quite hot, the temperature gauge is normal, the oil does seem to have brown emulsion, yes there is a knock from the engine under load, but only at a certain RPM, no smoke from the exhaust. When the engine is cold & in neutral, if you give a short hard rev (say up to 3000rpm) there is a knock from the engine (but reduces when the clutch is pressed down), when ticking over its silent & the knock is less noticeable when the engine is warm. Looking forward for any idea's you have,

Thank you for your reply, do you possibly think something could be lurking within the engine, just with you saying carry out a compression test?

Thanks Gareth for your reply. The oil (Mobil 1 ESP 05/30w) & filter (genuine VAG) was changed around 200 miles back. The mileage is around 76K. I can't tell if its using oil, with the level on the dipstick level increasing, there's no smoke from the exhaust. The engine is petrol & I'm planning to get the oil changed, but suspecting its going to get diluted quite quickly again.

Thanks Gareth for your reply. The oil (Mobil 1 ESP 05/30w) & filter (genuine VAG) was changed around 200 miles back. The mileage is around 76K. I can't tell if its using oil, with the level on the dipstick level increasing, there's no smoke from the exhaust. The engine is petrol & I'm planning to get the oil changed, but suspecting its going to get diluted quite quickly again.

Hi, My son has a 2010 Audi A3 1.4TFSi & I'm noticing there is a significant amount of petrol in the oil, I noticed this when I checked the dipstick oil level, which has increased & smells strongly of petrol, does anyone have any idea's why this may be the case? Thanks in advance for any help,