im new, im a girl and my Audi is driving me crazy.

[bone89]

Ok, I have an A3 on a 52 plate, 1.8 turbo. So basically, I have had the car since september and been a nightmare, the engine management light came on and a week later I was driving, approaching a round about and power cut out, it quickly came back but on approaching the next round about it did it again and juddered then stopped completely, got diagnostic plugged in and said engine is running too rich, got told to bleed the fuel and clean air filtwt, did that then the same thing happened 2 weeks later, same code reading, got told by RAC to give it a good boot to clear it and it will be fine, did that and was ok for a couple of weeks and then the same again. Its happened about 5 times now, car dying, light coming on and always reading the engine is running too rich, ive had a full service, the injectors cleaned and mechanic said its not running rich? The car is quiet, smooth to drive, just keeps getting the light come on and dies on me, ive read about lambad sensor? Disconnecting the battery? Thermostat? I've spent so much and just want to know whats wrong. Please help.

 

[Sandra]

​Have you had the car scanned for fault codes with vcds? x

 

[bone89]

No, I don't know where I would need to go to get that done.

 

[Sandra]

No, I don't know where I would need to go to get that done.

ok, where are you located? When i know that i will try find you a user on here thats close to you. x

 

[bone89]

I live in walton on the naze in essex. Its near Colchester area.

 

[16Klappe]

It sounds like a sensor or valve issue, I would be tempted to check the MAF sensor.

Your "mechanic" sounds ****, and like he is taking you for a ride. When you have been told the engine is running to rich; where have they got this information from? Ask your mechanic to scan the engine for fault codes, then bring the fault codes to us and we will tell you what is wrong.

Nobody can fix your car over the internet, let alone without fault codes.

 

[bone89]

It said engine running rich bank 1.

 

[16Klappe]

What is "it" though? A fault code scanner?

If cylinder 1 is running rich then it will be one of the things outlined in the Ross-Tech Fault Code Wiki.

As detailed here - 17545/P1137/004407 - Ross-Tech Wiki

17545/P1137/004407
Contents [hide]
1 17545/P1137/004407 - Fuel Trim: Bank 1 (Add): System too Rich
1.1 Possible Symptoms
1.2 Possible Causes
1.3 Possible Solutions
1.4 Special Notes
17545/P1137/004407 - Fuel Trim: Bank 1 (Add): System too Rich

Possible Symptoms
Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) active
Possible Causes
Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor faulty
Fuel Pressure Regulator faulty
Fuel Injector(s) faulty
Oxygen Sensor Control faulty
Oxygen Sensor(s) faulty
Evaporative Emission (EVAP) System faulty
Possible Solutions
Check Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor
Check Fuel Pressure Regulator
Check Fuel Injector(s)
Check Oxygen Sensor Control
Check Oxygen Sensor(s)

If your mechanic has sent you away and just told you that it isn't too rich then sack him off and get somebody that can actually do his job; because if it has thrown that fault code up with that description then there is a basic issue which he should have been able to sort.

 

[hades-]

as above sack them and get someone who knows what there doing.
id say lamba only cos i had it on a a3 some time ago.
same kinda fault your haveing

 

[bone89]

A diagnostic machine.
Well yes I thought this about the mechanic too, hence why I'm on here.

 

[bone89]

Just disconnected MAF sensor and it run no differently? Is this right or wrong?

 

[16Klappe]

Right on your car.

 

[NHN]

Problem is you can scan it with vcds & it may not show anything if its only happening intermittantly, but hopefully the fault codes are still logged & we could use those to ascertain what its doing or at least a proper log to work from, trying to think whose near you, Scotty was yarmouth way iirc.

 

[<tuffty/>]

Have seen this code come up when the fuel pressure regulator (FPR) has been blocked by rotting fuel hose... FPR gets blocked, fuel pressure increases and the ECU adapts the extra out... gets to a point when its so blocked it can no longer adapt... I suspect if you looked ad block 032 in VCDS you would see 25% in long term fuel trims...

If this is the cause then you will need to have the fuel rail and injectors cleaned plus new fuel hose... I have had a similar issue myself recently although not as bad as the pic above...

Modern fuel has more ethanol in it these days and it is rotting the old rubber fuel lines...

<tuffty/>

 

[phil miller]

I would say its either a Maf issue, or a lambda sensor issue, your car has 2 lambda sensors a before and an after cat sensor, so if using say a snap on solus to code read it the code code be 'lambda B1 S1' that means bank one sensor one, yours is a 4 cylinder in line engine so you only have B1 S1 and B1 S2, S1 stands for before cat sensor and (yes you got it) S2 is the after cat sensor

You really want this car on VCDS that way you will get a good idea of whats wrong, mine has 4 codes atm, my handheld cheap thing only shows 1 code, yet when i plug VCDS in it shows all 4 (my laptop battery is crap and its a pain to take ext lead and ltop charger outside lol)

find a VAG indy, they will sort it for you without issue

 

[bone89]

Thanks for explaining, is it that obvious im dumb to cars lol so are the MAF sensor and lambda sensor expensive?

 

[turnstyle]

Depends on what you think is expensive - put your reg into eurocarparts.com to give you an idea on parts cost.
Add more if you buy direct from Audi for an original part.

Good luck with finding the fault. If you are having issues drop me a PM. Im only in colchester so im sure i could have a look if im free.

 

[Sandra]

Try Scotty for vcds, just pm him. His profile link is below x

View Profile: scoTTy - Audi-Sport.net

 

[phil miller]

If it is your Maf then get a genuine one from the dealer or TPS as aftermarket ones are crap, if its a lambda sensor get a direct fit one not a uni one

 

[<tuffty/>]

Not convinced its the the lambda and the MAF can be tested by unplugging the MAF sensor plug and seeing if the car feels like it runs better... for a too rich code to be caused by the MAF it would have to be reading high and that would normally thrown a MAF signal too high as to get 25% rich it would be reading over the diagnostics limit for airflow...

I would have the FPR out in the first instance and see if its clogged... cleaning it won't help as it will come back... if it is clogged then you will need to replace the rubber fuel hoses going to the fuel rail... I bought a metre of 8mm fuel hose (make sure it rated for fuel injection to at least 6bar) and and hose clips.. you will need to reuse the special clip on fittings that are on the opposite end of the hoses to the fuel rail... they are a bit of a ****** to do but you will need them...

Lambda sensor faults normally throw codes... if no lambda specific codes then I would be looking at effect rather than cause to diagnose... far too many people misinterpret a fault code as the actual fault when it could be a symptom of another fault...

System too rich code is thrown because the ECU is seeing too much fuel at any given point and is adapting it back out... it can do +/-25% adaption before a fault code is thrown...

Before throwing money at sensors etc I would check the stuff thats cheap/free to do first...

<tuffty/>

 

[bone89]

Ok so iv reset the ECU and after doing that the engine management light has gone off she its driving ok. Could it be ok now?

 

[<tuffty/>]

Ok so iv reset the ECU and after doing that the engine management light has gone off she its driving ok. Could it be ok now?

I very much doubt it... do you have VCDS or are you using a generic code reader? if you have VCDS then you could do some logging or at least look at blocks 001 and 032 as a start.. 001 will show you lambda control and if its mostly negative numbers in there (normally its +/-3% to 5%) then the ECU is fighting this issue you have... block 032 will show you fuel trims... the second box has the long term fuel trims in... this will be an increasing negative number if the problem exists... once it hits -25 then the fault code will come up again... it takes a little while for it to advance to that depending on how bad the issue is but if its still there then it will happen soon enough...

<tuffty/>

 

[[Dave B]]

<tuffty/>

That looks familiar!

I very much doubt it... do you have VCDS or are you using a generic code reader? if you have VCDS then you could do some logging or at least look at blocks 001 and 032 as a start.. 001 will show you lambda control and if its mostly negative numbers in there (normally its +/-3% to 5%) then the ECU is fighting this issue you have... block 032 will show you fuel trims... the second box has the long term fuel trims in... this will be an increasing negative number if the problem exists... once it hits -25 then the fault code will come up again... it takes a little while for it to advance to that depending on how bad the issue is but if its still there then it will happen soon enough...
<tuffty/>

^^^This. When this happened to me I could clear the fault and everything seemed fine, a few days later and boom it's back. Whipping the FPR out is dead easy, or at least it should be for anyone with experience of these engines (such as Scotty).

 

[woody.dub]

Hi I am in Oakley just couple of miles from you. I have vcds and can fault find this for you ill drop you a PM with my number