ECU problem??!! Newbee to the forum - after some advice

[stefanhenchoz]

HI guys a newbbe to this forum and in need of some help - thoughts - opinions,

Had my 2004 Audi A3 2.0 FSI (engine code AXW) since Sep 09. Love the car really pleased with it and to be honest the nicest car I have owned. The garage I bought it from gave me a 3 month warranty with the purchase - so unfortuantely I will be unable to use this to cover the costs of the problems below.

In Jan 10 I was out for a drive (in the rain) when the ESP light came up. Kept driving and within 5 mins the light went off again. Though nothing off it and car drove fine. Until I was at some lights in early Feb and the tick over felt really lumpy, the revs were "hunting" as if it didnt know where to idle. From then on throughout the month of Feb and ever since, the car has hesitated to start first time (especially when it is damp). And I still get the lumpy tick over - but this is intermittent, some days the car is absolutly fine.

Anyway end of Feb I came to some traffc lights and upon take off, the car jolted and practically died on me a few lights came up and it went into this limp mode" the ESP light kept coming up for the next few days. so very angry by now i took it in to get plugged in and up came a P1388 code which read "engine control module faulty - resistance too high". The guy there and then said that looks like ECU for sure.

Week later took it into my local audi specialist - they confirmed the faulty ECU whilst doing a scan during a full service. Since the service the car has run much better, however still get the lumpy tick over and refusal to start. And only this weekend gone, I was at the beach - came back to my car started fine - but then had ESP light and ABS light come up with a large "BRAKES" (!) warning on the middle screen inbetween the rev and speedo clocks. Turned the car off and re started it and then everything went back to normal.

What I really want to know is -

(A) does any one have experience of the same?

And

(B) whether anyone thinks that this most recent BRAKES and ABS warning lights that have come up are related to the ECU problem?!

Car is going in tomorrow for replacement ECU - yet more money on the ****** thing!! Any help/advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance

SHane

 

[hollows wife]

hi
looks like its not just the petrols that have the problem ,earlier in the year my ecu died on my tdi ,but knowing some about electronics i revived it by reflowing the whole thing ,until this week when 10 seconds after pulling away from the house the ecu died completely . first thing i saw was a big brakes symbol on the dash ,then the cooling fans kicked in . car just wouldnt start .

vagcom states ecu error : internal rom error .

luckily i found a replacement ecu ,clocks and key for 150 notes . on ebay

alot cheaper than a new ecu ,even when the mileage has been corrected on the clocks , fair enough the ecu and clocks will read the wrong chassis number but this can also be changed if you know enough about hex editing

 

[stefanhenchoz]

hi mate,

thanks for the reply. you have settled my mind a little with you experiencing the same BRAKE warning light etc as what i experienced - (must be located in the same sort of area on the actual ECU i guess?!) either way i did have a look at ecus on ebay there is one for £340 with clocks and key but i stayed clear cos I wasnt sure of what work it involved - apart from the mileage etc someone told me it would have to be recoded and in order for that to happen it would have to go to delaership so they can retrieve the codes etc. every garage/audi dealership has just sort of shrugged their shoulders at what a repalcement ecu actually involves - which made me laugh!! no one could give me a definite price or how many hours labour it involved.

anyway cars in today for replacement ecu and a few gaskets and a collant flush. how do you find the diesel anyway? you got the 140BHP or 170BHP?! any mods to it?

Thanks again

Shane