My S3 is a total bag off ****e someone please help!!!!!!

[will8971]

Had problems with the car starting past year, sometimes it struggles to start, then once started it shudders till revs held up for a while or start driving, thick white smoke coming from exhaust, driving to Germany last week in uk half off trip, oil min sensor kept coming on, even thought it was 3/4 full, i topped up a little touch every time and it went off for a hour or so!. Parked up at a friends over night and set for dover calais to Germany, totally fine no problems.

Car starting problems still present but now on start sometimes immediately stalls. Now the other night I drove to pizza shop, bought my pizza and the car wouldn’t start. Everything was there but it just wouldn’t fire. Tried push starting it started but revs was like at 200 and soon as took foot off accelerator it died. Parked it up and abandoned.

Last night got my friend to take me to see if it would start out off the off chance, first time start no shudder or nothing. I’ve driven it back to my army barracks and parked up and left it.
Now whats the problem?? I had problems with coils and sparks in the past could it be this?? or is it something serious like i need a new engine or something! ****** thing needs torching and claiming as theft on insurance if you ask me!

Any help solutions or answers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gops]

You need to get it scanned to see what codes it's throwing up, then it'll give you more of an idea of what's going on.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Welcome to ASN (even though you have been a member for a while...)... sorry you first post is about problems with your car (aren't they always!) but lets see if we can help

I have edited your post to make it a little more readable... guess you did it from your phone

What you need to first is get the car scanned for fault codes... this would give us an idea of whats going on hopefully... use VCDS ideally and post the results of the scan as this gives fault codes and messages to work from...

You problems sound like a few things... air leaks being among the most common issues... not starting could be immobiliser or maybe crank position sensor but a scan should show these up..

The oil sensor issue could be a faulty sensor or seeing as you are having intermittent starting issues could also be potentially a wiring issue..

Get the car scanned for fault codes first and post up the results...

<tuffty/>

 

[s3dave]

I would also look at the fuel pump...

 

[will8971]

Ok thank you for that, being in germany this might be a problem, i had a german mechanic on camp that has doing abit off work, he read it before, due to missfires. I do appologise for my poor english and grammar, i am not on a phone, its just me being illiterate. lolI will have a look if i can find the mechanic, might not be till next week as i am not sure he still works here due to barracks closing down.If not i will take it to a local gaurage or even a German audi dealer. Thank you for your help and i will be back soon

 

[s3 Hoggy]

My sisters A3 had a problem very similar which had us puzzled for ages! Thought about getting rid of it, after 3 garages had a look and couldn't fix it it finally threw a code and showed up to be the coolant temperature sender!? I was very doubtful that it could be that but still I changed it and bingo! Was so strange as it really was running like a bag of spaners until it got to temp and always started with a cloud of white and blue smoke!

 

[karl210]

Mine does exactly this too, if you drive it for a short whileand turn off the engine before it gets warm then nip into a shop and then it wont start for a couple of mins then when it does it only fires on 2 cylinders for a minute. I had mine scanned and the faults where coolant temp sensor and cam position sensor so my bet is either 1 of those

 

[will8971]

hello, just a reply to your recent posts, thank you everyone for your help and advice, i was thinking about buying a code reader from a local supermarket type german thing, it cost 70 euros and i have had a look at the destructions and seems to be the correct thing, but i'm just wondering wether its only going to throw a code up if my engine management light has been on, which it hasnt. Im not sure wether to purchase or not. Or waste time and money trying to communicate with ze germans. lol

 

[Sevv]

no you EML doesnt need to be on mate, just get a VSDS lite they are like 10-20$ i think for the most part of it.. it will tell you the problems or you can always take it to a VAG specialist and ask him to do a scan and print a copy of the errors. and from there im sure the guys here will help you

 

[will8971]

Hello again guys, guess what, Still no joy. lol I had it in with a mechanic on camp and he ran a bosch diagnostic on it and still no codes, nothing. I went about today at looking for the coolant sensor online and how to replace it. When i went to locate it i noticed a tear in two off my breather pipes, ive pulled them off and plan to replace these tommorow, they are full off gunk, could this be the issue?
One other issue??? If it is the coolant temp sensor, would the coolant be disapearing after a couple off long runs??? Im worried the problem could be a blown head????

 

[sportquattro]

Sounds like head gasket failure to me, not good news if it is.

 

[hades-]

id say HG it wont loose any water if the CTS has gone

 

[karl210]

I changed the coolant temp sensor on mine and it fixed the problem, i can pretty much guarantee thats why the car wont start when left for 2 mins

 

[s3 Hoggy]

Check your not loosing coolant from around the temp sensor as the O-ring might be dead?

 

[will8971]

I think i might just be losing coolant from there, the possibilty is high as its got damp dirt/grime on the engine below in that kind off area. What is th O-ring??? is that the little black clip you pull out that secures the sensor? Also when you pull the sensor out, what colour should that fluid be?? The same colour as my coolant?? Because it looks nothing like it. Does the sensor come with the O-ring when bought or do i have to ask for it?? Do you have a part number please.
Also those clips are abit off a beast. does it matter if i swap them for screw clips? (jubilee)
Cheers for your input guys, its greatly apreciated.

 

[Gops]

Yeah mine had a green o-ring! Part number I cant remember.

 

[dancuz]

One of these buddy:

GENUINE VW COOLANT TEMP SENSOR SENDER AUDI A2 A3 A4 A6 A8 TT S3 059919501A | eBay

 

[hades-]

ask for the o-ring and clip they dont come with the CTS
you cant use a jubilee clip it just wont fit
the fluid should be the same as in your bottle cant see how it can change

 

[karl210]

it should be the same colour, there could be a bit of a blockage, does the temp always stay bang on 90 degrees? i would probably change the thermostat too as thats only £10, little bit of a bugga to get too but it aint too bad, its under the inlet manifold.

 

[will8971]

Right guys, thats breather pipes changed, cts changed, car still wont start. Epc and engine light is staying on after checks. Oil pressure light comes on after about 10 seconds off holding key to start. Also what i noticed was that smoke comes from coolant bottle and out the top off engine oil cap once opened after trying to start. My car is stook in the army barracks in germany. Im due to leave this camp in the next month as it will be closed down for good. Am i just going to have to say goodbye to the piece off sh!t??? What do i do??? This is beyond a joke. Only had the car 2 years, bought it for 5.8k and spent about 5k on it since ive had it. Feels like ive had a dud deal. Some please install some faith.

 

[tedward]

Had a similar problem on my old S3 many years ago. intermitant starting rough running etc etc. Turned out to be the MAF or air flow meter.

Fitted a new one, good as new.

Worth a try as they are readily available and easy to fit.

 

[will8971]

Hello everyone, been a while since my last post, just would like to thank everyone for your posts, just recieved my car back on friday having a head gasket change! Took a while to get this done as constaints being out here in germany! I took it to one audi, they said it was the petrol pump amongst other things, something to do with the idle, all in all it cost me 1000 euros rounded off, then i drive it 200 miles to my new camp, same problem, this new audi said yes its the head gasket, so i get it back, and now its smoking like a real mother Fker, i i just took it back to get them to look at it as i noticed the dip stick outer casing was broke, and not sure of the oil cap seal. The dude i seen said the smoke is normal after a gasket change, need to take it for a good run to clear out any water in the engine???? Im not convinced after having such incompitent solutions in the past. Is anyone here clued up on head gasket failures and is this smoke normal. It never smoked like this before the change!!!

 

[badger5]

if it was gone before and water/oil got into exhaust it will burn off, but that would'nt continue once burnt off

 

[will8971]

if it was gone before and water/oil got into exhaust it will burn off, but that would'nt continue once burnt off

The mayo keeps coming back on the oil cap, to be fair i have only drove it for 2 five minute intervals since ive had it back! Can air getting in through the oil cap, or dipstick casing cause the mayo???

 

[superkarl]

The mayo keeps coming back on the oil cap, to be fair i have only drove it for 2 five minute intervals since ive had it back! Can air getting in through the oil cap, or dipstick casing cause the mayo???

short journeys, warm oil + cold engine = condensing and a slight bit of 'mayo' might be seen.
needs a good run to test it in my opimion

 

[will8971]

short journeys, warm oil + cold engine = condensing and a slight bit of 'mayo' might be seen.
needs a good run to test it in my opimion

Thats what i will do then when i get it back, hopefully it be fine! Cheers