ooooucha beastie

[tracer]

been lurking off and on here for a few years now, just picking up odd bits of info but feel compelled to post pics of this one.....its a bit of a disaster!?

just bought a new car so have been polishing up the b5 ready to sell it.

anyway , a couple of days ago it wouldn't start, could kinda hear it was struggling more and more so pushed it back into the garage and took out the battery to give it a charge, have been using the radio and the last couple of times i started it was just to move it in and out of garage so figured it was reasonable to assume it was just the battery was low, seeing as it starts first time every time usually.

got the battery back in and turned the key, still struggling to start (not even anywhere like the usual sound) , then there was an almighty bang (my ears are still ringing), then loads of smoke, i figured it had just misfired til i investigated a bit further.

today is not a good day..........

.

.

i was kinda looking for an excuse to hold on to the audi but this wasn't quite what i had in mind.....

 

[griswold]

Christ what would cause that?

 

[10blazin]

lol holy **** hahahahaha must of been blocked , someone put a spud in your exaust

 

[dieselfitter251]

Hmmmm. Blocked silencer? Maybe collapsed if it's not been used in a while though unlikely I must admit. Maybe a haggis crawled up the tail pipe!

 

[rasA4]

How does it sound now?

 

[Lee Goodall]

Bet it was a banana like in Beverly Hills Cop

 

[tracer]

shoulda said "no banana in the tailpipe" gags, pretty funny though just glad it didn't happen before now when i needed the car , have got it out and it doesn't appear to be blocked, will have a closer look though but in the meantime another pic....

had to cut it out so i guess its the original exhaust , can't really complain its done ok for 13 years / 100k miles!?

 

[jcb]

bet it sounds better now!!

 

[dieselfitter251]

..and starts....

 

[tracer]

..and starts....

nope, still no joy

vag-com says - 16518 oxygen (lambda) sensor b1 s1 : no activity
p0134 - 35 -10 ---- intermittent

also took out the two spark plugs at the front which are easy to get to for a look see, look very black and slightly wet (fuel?) , only changed them recently, about 2000 miles ago when i changed oil, filters etc

as i didn't really find much blocking the silencer i don't want to do any further damage by turning her over too much.

grr gonna struggle with this one.

do you think i should clear the code and try again? to see if it comes back

do i need new spark plugs?

i used ngk plugs from eurocarparts, but i'm a bit unsure of them as they were different to the ones that came out , they have 4 prongs rather than just one, but they were listed for 1.8 se and they've been fine up until now, wish i hadn't chucked the old ones now.

 

[Road Razor]

Expansion of metals maybe when it gets hot - and badly welded joints? Sounds plausible.

 

[mac1403]

Can't see that bad welds would cause it to go like that. I have manufactured quite a few pipes with welded flanges before and pressure tested them to 3000 psi. Even when the welds give way they don't go like that LOL. Something must definitely have blocked your pipe. Maybe your cat (not the fluffy one) has broken up and caused a few probems

 

[aragorn]

I suspect a spark module fault.

Are you getting a spark at all?

If the engine was turning over but not sparking, then suddenly sparked with the exhaust valve open and after dumping plenty of fuel down the exhaust.....

 

[tracer]

If the engine was turning over but not sparking, then suddenly sparked with the exhaust valve open and after dumping plenty of fuel down the exhaust.....

would think thats probably hitting the nail on the head, although its a very scary thought. like i said there was plenty smoke when it happened.

could only really see dust lying around, nothing substantial. have put a thin plastic conduit lid through all the pipes in the box and there are no blockages. although its very possible there was a blockage and its been disintegrated.

who knows? thanks for the input guys, have some time to get it going again so will no doubt be back with a torrent of questions

would the spark plug module show an error on vagcom?

 

[dieselfitter251]

Should do. I'm a derv burner myself but I'd imagine it'd show up. Not sure of which code, at best give it all clean up and check for a spark the old way, crank it with a plug out against the head..(though I'm sure you know all this). Interesting to see what you come up with.

 

[Siena]

That silencer must have split due to a massive backfire.

 

[10blazin]

i think some emtied there ash tray into your exaust , just full of dimps .....lol

 

[aragorn]

Spark module or coils rarely shows up on vagcom.

If its a turbo that would be my first step. NA engines are a bit different though...

Do this:

Remove a coil/ignition lead from the engine, put a spark plug in the end of the lead, connect a jump lead between the threads on the spark plug and the battery negative, lay it down somewhere safe and crank over the engine.

It should spark. If it doesnt then thats your problem area. Do this to all 4 cylinders to ensure they're all sparking. Can you take a photo of the coil pack/leads so i can see whats going on, and what engine code/year is your car?

 

[tracer]

yeeeeeeeeeees!, she lives.

bought a set of spark plugs today, fitted and tested, spark ok but still struggling to start, so figured its just flooded, floored the accelerator, turned the key and after a good bit of spluttering and coughing, it roared into life. well chuffed. :thumbsup:

 

[Siena]

Very common if power has been interrupted.

Your throttle body needed to be re-set, and I usually pull the fuel pump relay, to make sure all fuel residue in the engine is used up, before final restart.

Your backfire split your box open, have seen it happen time and time again.