Needle lift Sensor Fault

[mimo]

Hello

After a lot of engine trouble my car is back on the road and running normal. Although this morning in normal driving in 2nd gear the car simply turned off and wouldn't turn back on. After about 2 mins i tried again and it stared up perfectly as if nothing had happened.

I had it on the computer today and only got this error message.

00542 - Needle lift Sensor (G80)
30-10 - Open or Short to B+ - Intermittent

Can anyone shed any light on this? Where is it located? what is it?

any previous experience with this fault code?

Cheers, Mimo

 

[ScottyP45]

Hi mate, it seems to be an injection sensor, see here:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/spogger/17-10-07_1543.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D192648&usg=__LHiuzoRz4yIFBjxxC9cYqiqZLbs=&h=480&w=640&sz=39&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=lfC2HyAw_HP-rM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daudi%2BNeedle%2Blift%2BSensor%2B(G80)%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

Theres a pic (hence the stoopid url) and a page about it.

Hope this helps, just googled it.

 

[quattrojames]

You have a 2.5TDi don't you, recent new engine fitted?

BTDT lol

It is attached to one of the injectors, can't remember which one, but it's on the offside bank of cylinders I think. The recon engine I had fitted had this fault too, but luckily I kept the injectors out of my old engine so I re-used the needle valve. Sorry to say but from memory they are upwards of £200.

I seem to recall a common fault being the wire from this valve rubbing on the cam cover so it would be worth checking that the short you are finding isn't there before committing to a new one.

The pic Evil posted is exactly right :thumbsup:

Seems to be the problem with this engine swapping malarky, just get the new engine in and all sorts of unforeseen problems rear their ugly head and it costs yet more

 

[mimo]

Hmmm.... I can't seem to locate the ****** anwhere. There are 6 injectors and none have any wires coming from it. I spoke with a guy that i know today who works at VW and he wasn't 100% sure what he was looking for so tommorow at work he will have a look on their computers.

My car is a 180BHP quattro V6 TDI, but in first gear there is not that much power at all, and even in other gears at low revs there is no urgency in the power delivery, but as soon as it reaches 2.000 RPM it takes off like a plane. Im presuming that this shouldnt be the case with such big engines????

Having a little read on the net, this "needle lift sensor" can cause loss of power and cause the engine not to run smoothly....

 

[quattrojames]

The 2.5 180 has a notorious hole in the power delivery under 1800 rpm. Are you saying this problem is worse than before you had it rebuilt? On Vag-com is it still showing up as an intermittent fault or a permanent one now?

The needle sensor monitors fuel delivery between the injection pump and the actual injector and reports back to the ecu - if it is faulty the car will be running pretty poorly I would think.

 

[mimo]

I seem to think that it is a bit worse than before but to be honest it wasnt that powerful before either so maybe its just in my head, but im really not keen on the way the power is delivered. Because u can either go slowly or really fast, there doesnt seem to be a middle ground like in other cars.

But the first gear is awful, i also have a 110bhp seat leon and that would leave it from the lights any day.

The fault comesback everytime, even when you remove it, it pops straight back up.

 

[quattrojames]

First gear is very short in these cars, but the engine itself should have plenty of go - even if it does rev out within a second or so - I only ever use first to get it going, then straight into second to let the torque take over

If the fault keeps coming back then it sounds like you need to bite the bullet and source another needle valve.

 

[ScottyP45]

I hate the power delivery in the petrol turbo too mate, either pottering slowly or pinning you to the seat, tyres smoking and eyeballs sunk into your head, no middle ground. I blame the stupid drive-by-wire throttle system.

And the gearshift is so notchy and ****** that it cant keep up with the quick changes to use the sudden burst of power. Its hard work!

 

[mimo]

First gear is very short in these cars, but the engine itself should have plenty of go

Hardly any power in first gear, i pulls away lige a slug. Only if i absoloutly thrash it then it will shift but i dont want to do that every time i want to make brisk progress....

Wierd, i hope that it is just this sensor, if worst comes to worst ill just pay the £200-£250 for a new one...

 

[mimo]

Does anyone know where i can buy a needle lift sensor from? And do i have to replace the whole injector that its on?

 

[quattrojames]

Yes you will, it's a dealer only job really - or PM PJMspeedy - he will sort you out I'm sure

 

[Peanutmnm]

I had exactly the same fault show up on mine (2.5 V6 TDi 180BHP Quattro) at the last service.

I've noticed similar issues with it being an absolute pig to get moving from a standing start. Very frustrating as it's pretty much all or nothing. Had just put it down to the well documented power delivery hole that QuattroJames mentioned. However, it does seem to vary on mine. Sometimes being really slow to pick up and other times really eager.

Local independant Audi specialist I took it to said the needle lift sensor may or may not be the cause of this and the only way to find out would be to replace it. Also said that it would more than likely only affect top end speed.

From memory it's located on or as part of injector 6 and you have to replace the whole injector. Quoted £300 for the part.