S3 Strange behaviour? Possibily clutch?

[[Dave B]]

Hi All,

When out in the car yesterday I noticed what I think might be signs of slipping clutch but i'm not sure.

I was doing about 65-70 in sixth on a slight incline and pulled into the fast lane to overtake. Pressed the loud pedal as usual (didn't floor it though) and the car started to pull but then hesitated whilst delivering a shuddering feeling through the steering column/car. I immediately backed off, waited a few seconds and tried it again, at which point it seemed ok. Through the rest of the journey I tested it at different speeds in different gears and it seemed to do the same in third gear upwards, generally somewhere between 3k and 4.5k (maybe no coincidence that this is when the remap delivers peak torque?).

I've read other posts and thought it might be clutch slip, but there are none of the other reported signs? The revs don't rise when it happens, they always rise in line with acceleration. I've also tested it by trying to pull away in second gear with handbrake on, but there's no slippage, just some groaning from the rear and it pulls hard.

If it's not the clutch then I thought maybe the MAF? (still on original one I think). I'll get vagcom on it next week sometime but in the interim i'm looking for suggestions.

The car is an S3 225 that was remapped 5 months ago (graph in sig, 306lb torque) and has done 45k.

 

[fingermouse]

diverter valve sticking / failing ????

 

[[Dave B]]

diverter valve sticking / failing ????

Would that cause these symptoms? It's on the standard DV which i'd expect to be the original. The standard DV split in my 1.8t A3 but it didn't cause similar issues? It just farted on overrun.

 

[fingermouse]

not sure but ive had a slight hessitation in mine sometimes when pulling out to overtake, I serviced the dv and it hasn`t done it since. oh I also found one of the sparkplug connectors raised slightly when i took the cover off to do the dv.

 

[[Dave B]]

Cheers fingermouse, i might just change the DV regardless of whether it turns out to be that or not, given the cost of the standard part. I'll also check the spark plug connectors.

Any more ideas people?

 

[fingermouse]

if you were near huddersfield I think ive a std one in the garage.

 

[[Dave B]]

I am, i'm off J21 of the M62

 

[[Dave B]]

Ok its been on vagcom, all clear apart from this which I suspect is my problem:

Address 01 -------------------------------------------------------
Controller: 8N0 906 018 BH
Component: 1.8L R4/5VT 0001
Coding: 10710
Shop #: WSC 00000
3 Faults Found:
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 35-00 - -
16687 - Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected
P0303 - 35-00 - -
17658 - Fuel Level too Low
P1250 - 35-00 - -
Readiness: 0000 0000

Any ideas? coilpack maybe?

 

[[Dave B]]

Ok, from searching it seems like its likely to be a spark plug, coil pack or air leak somewhere after the MAF (probably in that order of likelyhood). At the risk of sounding dense (probably already there) which cylinder is cylinder 3 as you look at the front of the car?

 

[[Dave B]]

BUMP! Any idea which cylinder is cyliner 3?

 

[fingermouse]

Think they go 1 2 3 4 looking from the front but you could always swapp 1 with 2 and 3 with 4 and see where the problem moves to

 

[S3 GAZ]

start the engine then pull the lead off of the end of coil pack number 3 if it makes no difference to the engine then its the coil pack thats gone. if the coil pack is working and you pull the lead off the engine will sound like you put a bag of spanners in there.

 

[[Dave B]]

Ok, but which coilpack is coilpack number 3? I've just swapped over the coilpacks on the left two cylinders as you stand in front of the car looking at it. Took the car out for a drive and the hesitation is still there but it didn't log a fault on vagcom. Changing the coilpacks on the right of the engine is a bigger job as there is a bunch of stuff to remove. I'm happy to do that as long as someone can confirm that cylinder 3 is indeed on the right of the middle...if that make sense?

 

[[Dave B]]

Well after some arsing around with allen bolts I managed to fit the new coil pack in cylinder 3 and its sorted, back to maximum boooooost again

Cheers to fingermouse and gaz for your input.

 

[[Dave B]]

Just a quick update on this. Another coilpack, this time in cylinder 4, has just given up. A word of advice for anyone whose coilpack goes, replace all four rather than just the one like I did. Eventually they'll all go!!

 

[Jampublic]

The car is an S3 225 that was remapped 5 months ago (graph in sig, 306lb torque) and has done 45k.!!

306ft/lb wow thats high, I guessing you went with a phase 2 remap! I thought a 225bhp surely it should be more like 275ft/lb, how did you get 306ft/lb I would like to know!! Tell me more

 

[MikeA3]

Just a quick update on this. Another coilpack, this time in cylinder 4, has just given up. A word of advice for anyone whose coilpack goes, replace all four rather than just the one like I did. Eventually they'll all go!!

I've Had the same thing happen to my S3 at the moment, even had the same fault codes as yours

I've had all 4 coil packs and the spark plugs replaced but the problem is still there, not quite sure where to go next - it feels like it's way down on power and misfires quite a bit as well.

****** annoying as i'm really not sure what to check next - any ideas?

Mike

 

[Jampublic]

I've Had the same thing happen to my S3 at the moment, even had the same fault codes as yours

I've had all 4 coil packs and the spark plugs replaced but the problem is still there, not quite sure where to go next - it feels like it's way down on power and misfires quite a bit as well.

****** annoying as i'm really not sure what to check next - any ideas?

Mike

Not the MAF then!?

 

[MikeA3]

Not the MAF then!?

Thats next on the list although could that cause just one cylinder to misfire? (cylinder 1 in my case).

i was going to clean it at the weekend and see if that made any difference before replacing the whole unit

 

[[Dave B]]

306ft/lb wow thats high, I guessing you went with a phase 2 remap! I thought a 225bhp surely it should be more like 275ft/lb, how did you get 306ft/lb I would like to know!! Tell me more

TBH I have no idea, but it doesn't half give you a kick in the back when it goes

I just took it too Jabbasport, ordered a custom map on V Power, and asked for as much power as possible in as linear fashion as possible. 4 hours later it came back like this. Miserable b@stards on here moan about Jabba's power output figures, but IMO its just ****** quick, and I like the figures

 

[[Dave B]]

Thats next on the list although could that cause just one cylinder to misfire? (cylinder 1 in my case).

i was going to clean it at the weekend and see if that made any difference before replacing the whole unit

I'm not sure if the Maf would do this, I'd expect it to be across all four. When it started misfiring this time I was really concerned that it had blown cylinder 3 again and there would be a deeper root to the problem, so I was quite relieved to find it had gone in a different cylinder. Hopefully changing all four will be the end of the problem.

Are you running revision 'R' packs as they are the latest I think? If you are and you're still blowing them then all i'd point to is the plugs. If you've changed them as well then I'm a bit out of ideas. What year is your car?

 

[MikeA3]

I'm not sure if the Maf would do this, I'd expect it to be across all four. When it started misfiring this time I was really concerned that it had blown cylinder 3 again and there would be a deeper root to the problem, so I was quite relieved to find it had gone in a different cylinder. Hopefully changing all four will be the end of the problem.

Are you running revision 'R' packs as they are the latest I think? If you are and you're still blowing them then all i'd point to is the plugs. If you've changed them as well then I'm a bit out of ideas. What year is your car?

it's a 2000 facelify amk engine

I'd assume the garage fitted the revised coil packs as I don't think audi make or sell the duff ones anymore? they also changed the plugs to heat range colder plugs (not sure if that would make any difference though

They also did a compression test and that came back ok so i'm a bit stumped to say the least.

 

[s3_tny]

Hi Mike

are you only having probs with cylinder 1 or is it all of them?

and when it misfirers does the coil pack raise up and out of the head slightly as i had this and at the moment

i have got a coil pack bracket on cylinder 1 to hold it down which has stopped any further issues but i will

probably still change the coil packs as i haven't yet as when we changed them around only cylinder 1 was

still popping?

hope this helps and good luck :thumbsup:

 

[MikeA3]

Hi,

At the moment it seems to be just cylinder one that reports on vag.com, I pulled the coil pack at the weekend and it doesn't look damaged, when the engine is running I can hear something like a ticking / spark sound coming from tha area but I couldn't find the source of it.

I've also tried to check the wiring harness as i thought a bad connection to the cylider one coil pack could be causing the problem but all i could see initially was a damaged earth connection which i'll fix this coming weekend as well as checking the spark plug gaps are correct.

I did think a bracket may help things a bit, failing that, there are also coil packs which you can bolt down onto the engine (hitachi make them I think). where did you get your bracket from?

I'll keep you posted after this weekends "tests"

Mike

 

[s3_tny]

Hi,

where did you get your bracket from?

Well its a temporary one which we made up of a piece of metal and 2 bolts just to test if the coil pack popping up was the cause of the engine light

coming on or vice versa but its been on for a few weeks now and no probs yet but as said before we swapped over coil packs and still only cylinder 1 popped?

so still not sure whats causing it but all i can do is trial and error and hope i find the fault

and yeah the Hitachi ones are what i meant that bolt done but i just had "bracket" in my head,

so i may just get new plugs and the Hitachi packs
if i cant find why it keeps blowing