Very Poorly 1999 S3 Please HELP!!!

[deedaskrh]

Hi,

I bought myself a bargain buy S3 knowing full well it was a bit of a shed.
Low and behold a month after its on it backside.

i thought it was the throttle actuator so i changed the throttle body and it hasnt solved the problem....

symptoms

Lack of power (total at times)
hunting
cutting out
occasional backfire only slight tho

now im told that if you change the throttle body you have to have it re calibrated.....is this true? isit a vagcom job?

does anyone have any ideas?

please help

steve​

 

[Sam_]

Do you have Vagcom/VCDS? If so, what sort of fault codes is it showing? That'll give you a good idea of what's up. I haven't experienced that (touch wood) but the common issues which could be related are:

- Tired MAF
- Boost/vacuum leaks

TBA (Throttle Body Alignment) is also done in VCDS. I'm not sure I've read of many issues related to the throttle body though...

 

[s3dave]

Is it backfiring through the intake or exhaust?

 

[KB]

check all your vac pipes, i have a 99 apy, and loads of my vac pipes were split and hanging to bits! plus check the vac hose coming off your servo

 

[Endacy]

Agreed it sounds like intake system or vacuum system leaks, get poking around for split hoses. I drove a mondeo with similar problems (non-turbo) and i left it running and starting pulling and poking around under the bonnet until the engine sound changed and that helped me find the split hose.

 

[sportquattro]

Things to check as aready mentioned are Vac leaks, boost leaks, MAF (un-plug and see if it runs bettter, if so then it is the MAF) Coil packs. VAG-COM really is essential for trying to do any serious diagnostics as without you are poking around in the dark.