# 2000 A6 4.2l, pros and cons



## blinkinbanana (Jul 14, 2000)

I'm looking for a new car and I've come across an A6 4.2 liter. I'm curious what you 4.2l owners think. What are the known issues of this car? What are common issues of this motor? I come from the R forum where there are nice stickies that are much easier to search, I couldn't find much on this motor in the forums. 

So what are the pros? What are the cons? 

The other cars I've been looking at are the 3.o A4, and the 2.8 A4. I'd love an S4 but not sure I want to deal with the 2.7, likewise with the allroad.


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## Audi4.2S (Apr 13, 2011)

the 4.2 is a really good engine, it is one of the better engines audi developed. very reliable if you keep up with maintenance 

common stuff is Valve cover gaskets, steering pump, control arms the usual stuff


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## blinkinbanana (Jul 14, 2000)

good to know. I'm a little concerned about gas mileage. I drive about 300-400 miles a week. Two days is mostly highway, and the other days are mostly city. I figure it will be a great ride though.


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## Audi4.2S (Apr 13, 2011)

fuel economy is not the best. On highway it is actually pretty decent, but city is bad, depends how you drive though. It definitely is a better car than the 2.7t or 2.8 that's why i got myself one.


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## jgruen78 (Jul 17, 2008)

I assume this is the same motor that is an 02' S6? I'm very close to buying one at a local dealership (just checking to make sure all necessary maint. up to this point) has been done on it since it has 145K on it.

Anyone have any beef with this car or engine?


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## blinkinbanana (Jul 14, 2000)

The 2005 S4 4.2 has 340 hp. I didn't think the A6 4.2 was rated as high, 300 maybe. Not sure about the S6 in 2002. I thought the S motors got a little tweak. I'm still learning about Audi trim lines.


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## jgruen78 (Jul 17, 2008)

I believe the C5 S6 motor has a little different set up such as a different intake manifold, throttle body, and ECU mapping for more performance. Little odds and ends like that bump it to 340hp


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## mithril (Feb 6, 2003)

jgruen78 said:


> I believe the C5 S6 motor has a little different set up such as a different intake manifold, throttle body, and ECU mapping for more performance. Little odds and ends like that bump it to 340hp


This.

The engine itself has very little issues however the transmissions are a known wear item on the all 4.2L Audi's of this era, especially the pre-face lift model A6. So much so that most consider a transmission rebuild to be more or less standard maintenance for any 4.2L with over 100,000miles. It's not a cheap maintenance item, typically in the $3500 - $4000+ range. That said, once rebuild it's generally pretty bombproof.

As already mentioned, fuel economy is horrible for in city driving. I average about 20L/100km (~12mpg) in town; all surface streets w/ no highway, short trips with lots of start and stop. That's the price you pay for driving a 2 ton car with an older technology V8. However on the highway it's pretty damn good. I average about 11 - 11.5L/100km (~20 - 21mpg) on mountain highways with lots of high alitude and steep elevation changes, a number I verified again this weekend by pulling 606.9km out of 70.4L. On long flat runs like Vancouver to Seattle I can get my fuel economy down to about 9 - 9.5L/100km (~25 - 26mpg).


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## pvw4ever (Nov 19, 2001)

*4.2 a6 quattro*

I bougth mine with 142,000 miles. Ran great shifted fine. I already replaced all the upper control arms, and new sport tie rod ends. It needs catalysts, trans rear tail shaft seal, r/s outter front transaxle seal and routine service. I've lowered it (H&R, Bilstein) new tires, brakes ect. I paid 4,200 for it and all my friends and family love it! I will continue to repair it (fixed all the old) because it still feels and treats me like the 50,000+ vehicle it is..... 

As for the engine, Oil leaks, p/s pump, intake flap rods ,vacuum lines are the common. GOOD LUCK you will not be disappointed

P.S. The Wide Body is also a great look :laugh:


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## jgruen78 (Jul 17, 2008)

wouldn't the tranny componets on the C5 S6 model be different aka a little stronger as they are supose to with stand more hp and possibly harder shifting as it is sold and sought after as the high end performance model?


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## mithril (Feb 6, 2003)

The RS6 used a different transmission, but it's also 50% more powerful than the 4.2L. The S6 has basically the same torque as the 4.2 and only 40hp more, it's not that significant a difference. The S6 and 4.2L use exactly the same transmission, it's just the TCU programming that's different. The 4.2L was aimed at much the same market as the S6, it was introduced to combat criticisms in the first couple years that the C5 A6 was underpowered and slow when the 2.8L was the top of the range engine.


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