Engine cut out, ECS & ESP lights on

Guys,

This exact same thing happened to me last night!! Was driving home after being out (drove fine on the way out) and everytime I came to a junction, lights or just to a stop where the revs dropped below 1k the car would lose all power.

The battery and engine management lights came on as if I had stalled, along with the ESP light (which is now constantly on).

I managed to get her re-started and nurse her home using alot of revs but every time I needed to stop she just cut out again!

When I got home, I started her up just sitting on the drive, she would fire up fine but immediately cut out when the revs dropped to idle!!!

At first I thought it may have been the battery (cold weather and all) but the lights and everything else seem to be working fine, so I can only assume maybe a coil pack, cold start valve or idle control valve being faulty

Has anyone managed to sort their problem out???

Will be sending it to my mechanic shortly.....

Nice One!

Ryan
 
My car has been at Soton Audi since 23rd of Dec, they wanted me to have it back unfixed but I complained to Audi Uk. Got the mater escalated technically through Audi Uk, because Soton Audi have been rubbish.

The conclusion they are now at (already had MAF replaced) is it was a partially blocked fuel filter that ever now and then would cause the engine to run lean and a fault to be detected which looked like there was a problem with the MAF. Luckily Audi UK are paying for the filter and all the investigation work from the 23rd because I have been messed around by Soton Audi so much.

They are doing more testing over the weekend and will maybe pick car up on 23rd. If it really was some thing as easy as this I am very disappointed it has taken this long to find it. Although at this point I am not 100% confident that this is the actual fault.
 
I wouldnt be very confident of it being fuel filter....
 
clem2192 said:
Guys,

This exact same thing happened to me last night!! Was driving home after being out (drove fine on the way out) and everytime I came to a junction, lights or just to a stop where the revs dropped below 1k the car would lose all power.

The battery and engine management lights came on as if I had stalled, along with the ESP light (which is now constantly on).

I managed to get her re-started and nurse her home using alot of revs but every time I needed to stop she just cut out again!

When I got home, I started her up just sitting on the drive, she would fire up fine but immediately cut out when the revs dropped to idle!!!

At first I thought it may have been the battery (cold weather and all) but the lights and everything else seem to be working fine, so I can only assume maybe a coil pack, cold start valve or idle control valve being faulty

Has anyone managed to sort their problem out???

Will be sending it to my mechanic shortly.....

Nice One!

Ryan
Click to expand...

Ok guys, quick update....been with the mechanic since Fri, he did a scan on VAGCOM which showed fault codes relating to MAF, Mixture, banks 1 and 2 etc... Lead him to believe that the MAF was at fault.

He cleared all the fault codes and the car now seems to be idiling / running smoothly again with no problems.

He doesnt want me to fork out for a new MAF just yet incase it was just a blip so is going to give it back and if it goes again will take it back in, re-scan it and if the same fault codes show then replace the MAF.
 
whippet said:
My car has been at Soton Audi since 23rd of Dec, they wanted me to have it back unfixed but I complained to Audi Uk. Got the mater escalated technically through Audi Uk, because Soton Audi have been rubbish.

.
Click to expand...


Its only the 21st now......thats ****** quick for Audi :think:
 
Maybe AUDI have had it since 23rd Dec 2008 Paddy.... :)

Anyhow, dont know if you've read the full thread Clem but I had the MAF sensor replaced and it didnt resolve the issue for me but my fingers are crossed for you ;)
 
Hellz - I have read the full thread, received the car back from my mechanic last night; all seems to be ok again (for now), he cleared the fault codes which cleared all the warning lights on the dash and too the car out of what I can only assume was limp mode. He showed me a print out of the faults, one of which was to do with the MAF, the others could have all been related, mixture fault, banks 1 and 2.

Fingers crossed it was just a blip, he said if it happens again then take it back to him if we get the same codes then are going to try changing the MAF and seeing if it makes a difference.

Does anyone know how much a replacement genuine MAF from Audi costs?
 
I think generally you're looking at around £70-80 fitted, at least thats what the receipt stated for mine - Dont quote me on that though :)
 
The problem appears to have reared its ugly head again last night......GGRRRRRRRR!!
The ESP light is constantly on and the car struggles to keep revs below 1000k and a majoirty of the time will cut out!

I have already replaced the MAF from the first time so unless this one has failed too then I guess this wasn't the problem.

Looks like it's back to the drawing board and back into my mechanic to see what fault codes have been logged this time. Will keep you informed.
 
Anyone still getting this issue or has anyone worked out a cure yet?

Jamie
 
Hey guys, looks like I'm reviving an on-going thread here but I actually own a Porsche Audi/VW repair facility in Kansas and have had FOUR different models of Audi's come through in the last 6 months or so with this exact same problem... All of them were around 2002 or 2003 models and it was the Fuel Pump Relay... It seems they have a shelf life from Audi and a lot are currently crapping out. I know this is my first post and being a moderator on two other forums myself I understand there is usually an intro ritual to go through but I just wanted to get some information to anyone still trying to solve this issue. I hope it helps a few of you!
 
ijeremy. Thanks for the info. Mines just come back from the garage who
did the usual and installed a new Air Flow Metre and its running again but
for how long I don't know. If mine plays up again I'll try the Fuel Pump Relay.
How much does the relay cost??

Thanks in advance. Nez
 
Hi everyone,

3.2L DSG, 04 plate. A few weeks ago I'd been on a ten mile trip, stopped at a junction the engine then cut out. The ESP light was on (Bizarrely) Every time it restarted the revs dropped and the engine died (after a few goes at this the engine light came on as well as the ESP light). RAC man ran diagnostics and no faults were found. Started the car again and it ran in limp mode (very lumpy). Switched it off, then back on again and it ran fine - been fine since.

Sounds like a few people have had the same issue - did any of you manage to solve it (eg is it the fuel pump relay?)?

Cheers,
Adam

Did anyone
 
Forgive the 'test' wrote an essay before and it wouldn't let me post, anyway, first of all thanks to Hellz for the reply to my PM, tried to PM back but it wouldn't let me??? lol, this site is definitely an Audi!!
I had THE EXACT symptons as the top of the thread, garages all said MAF blah, blah, read about stretched TC's and thought surely not!! it still runs fine at load. Anyway, took things into my own hands, disconnected maf, no change, cleaned out TB noticed lots of oily black shizzle around the butterfly, obv keeping the intake open when brain thinks it shut = stall. Started and idled perfect at 600?
 
OK, so meanwhile back at the ranch, a couple of times I've had coolant warning on, so filled it and thought nothing of it, but now here's the thing and feel free to tell me I'm talking broken biscuits here, but the oily black gunk must have been unburnt fuel and exhaust gas being fef back into the TB via EGR valve, if this valve is leaking a little coolant hence the warning light, into the EGR and causing this coolant-fuel-exhaust sludge to affect the butterfly? So im gonna' sunday morning the EGR off (hopefully) soak it overnight in petrol, clean and replace and see how I get on.
 
EGR off and cleaned, replaced, TB off and given a proper clean all over, the cars running sweet as the proverbial...for now, hope to get a few weeks out of it before it happens again!!!
 
Hi all, had mine 05 dsg for 2yrs not a problem, great car untill 3 months ago had exact same issues as you all really anoyying, had MAF changed at friends garage all fine for a couple of month then same again at a roundabout totally blocked it complete embrassement manage to struggle to friends indy garage again where he cleared faults and all well again untill yesterday when coming to the end of the A414 esp light came on and car died again complete nightmare manage to limp back to garage only to clear faults again, which now leads me to here looking for advice has anybody solved this problem read all posts. pls help
 
I would like to know what causes this as well, i too have had this problem.
Cured it by cleaning the air flow sensors along with whatever sensors and connections I could reach. Took apart the air filter housing and inlet pipes and cleaned the MAF.
Had to do a master reset to clear the errors then re-train the electric windows.....sorted (knock on wood :keule:)
After reading this thread it seems to be a reccuring problem for people.
Updates as to how everyone is now getting on would be useful.
 
MTRL said:
I would like to know what causes this as well, i too have had this problem.
Cured it by cleaning the air flow sensors along with whatever sensors and connections I could reach. Took apart the air filter housing and inlet pipes and cleaned the MAF.
Had to do a master reset to clear the errors then re-train the electric windows.....sorted (knock on wood :keule:)
After reading this thread it seems to be a reccuring problem for people.
Updates as to how everyone is now getting on would be useful.
Click to expand...



have you been able to sort this as i had factory reset and update car fine until now the problem has started to rear its ugly head again. Has anyone been able to get this issue fully sorted. pls help.
 
Digging this up again as I've had the same issue with my 3.2 (manual)

Was going to clean up my MAF and will think about getting the fuel pump relay and popping to Audi to get the ECU done. Just wanted to cross reference another couple of options;

* Has anyone with a problem had the coil pack recall done?

* Has anyone with a problem had the ECU software update done? (Not just a factory reset but the update that's intended to clear the 2k hesitation issue)

I'm hoping everyone says no, might provide a light at the end of the tunnel...
 
mookster said:
Digging this up again as I've had the same issue with my 3.2 (manual)

Was going to clean up my MAF and will think about getting the fuel pump relay and popping to Audi to get the ECU done. Just wanted to cross reference another couple of options;

* Has anyone with a problem had the coil pack recall done?

* Has anyone with a problem had the ECU software update done? (Not just a factory reset but the update that's intended to clear the 2k hesitation issue)

I'm hoping everyone says no, might provide a light at the end of the tunnel...
Click to expand...


I had the software update done on Tuesday I had a rough idle the car now runs a lot smoother I think audi have many updates for various issues however since having the update done my secondary water pump does not run after I shut the car off . Have you cleaned your throttle body ? Or carried out alignment with vcds
 
audi upgrades
Just in the process of cleaning up the throttle body and MAF sensor at the moment - when I get a chance amongst my 12 hour nightshifts over the weekend. Had the VCDS on to check and clear codes (I've another thread running for that as I hadn't spotted this one then) but not done alignment as yet.
 
Okay, got the car booked in to Portsmouth Audi in a couple of weeks to get the software update and I'm also due the coil pack replacement. Will see if this prevents it from coming back.
 
Bit of thread Necromancy here - but I have just come accross this thread after I experienced the same issue last Thursday. 53 plate (04 build) 3.2 DSG. Its currently with my local indy garage; who cleared the faults after recovering it back to them this morning, car then started fine. They are going to do some further investigation; they were aware of the Throttle Body as a potential issue.

The question that has been asked a million and one times so fgar - has anyone got a definitive answer for why we experience this "freak" problem?

Thanks in advance
 
Raztalin said:
Bit of thread Necromancy here - but I have just come accross this thread after I experienced the same issue last Thursday. 53 plate (04 build) 3.2 DSG. Its currently with my local indy garage; who cleared the faults after recovering it back to them this morning, car then started fine. They are going to do some further investigation; they were aware of the Throttle Body as a potential issue.

The question that has been asked a million and one times so fgar - has anyone got a definitive answer for why we experience this "freak" problem?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Bumping this for a first post. You've guessed it, same problem here with a A3 3.2 DSG MY04. We can also rule out the freaky fault having something to do with the continent as this example lives in Finland :)

Any resolving resolutions would be helpfull.
 
I'm assuming there's still a ton of 3.2 A3's stalling and hunting in the UK, since nobody has commented on the fixes.. :thumbsup:
 
Just a quick update for those still suffering. Since having the ECU upgrade for gearbox judder and poor acceleration (can't recall the reference code at present) over a year ago I've not had the problem. I had the coil packs replaced under recall at the same time. I'm hoping that's done the trick for good, 13 months clear so far :)
 
mookster said:
Just a quick update for those still suffering. Since having the ECU upgrade for gearbox judder and poor acceleration (can't recall the reference code at present) over a year ago I've not had the problem. I had the coil packs replaced under recall at the same time. I'm hoping that's done the trick for good, 13 months clear so far :)
Click to expand...

That's reassuring to hear. I've gone ahead and started the agonising process of persuading a local Audi stealer to update my ECU. First answer was "no updates for your car sir", second was after I provided the TPI number 2010289/3 "that's for a manual". duh. Now they are checking if they are allowed to update my DSG version with it or not.

I'll keep you guys updated. BTW throttle body cleaning and adapting did help for two weeks, now its back..
 
Maukka said:
I'm assuming there's still a ton of 3.2 A3's stalling and hunting in the UK, since nobody has commented on the fixes.. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I've owned my 3.2 Manual A3 since 2005 and have had this problem intermittantly and have checked on forums like this for years, but no one (even Audi) seems to have found a resolution. Hence why I never have taken my car in to specifically to have this issue looked at.
Have had the same issue of when ESP light comes on my car will not idle when it comes to a stop and cuts out.
My way of managing it though is give it a good high speed blast on a motorway or Dual carriageway and once you've come to a stop again the engine will idle even though the light stays on, it should idle okay for rest of journey, then light will most likely disappear when you start the car for your next journey and should be back to normal.
Happened to my wife for the first time today on the school run and she panicked and got to the Nursery to drop our little one off, then I came over in the people carrier and got the A3 off her knowing my my 25 mile commute was mainly the M40 and a404 from Uxbridge and by the time I got off at Junction 4 of the M40, I was idling no problem even though light was on and was fine for the rest of the journey to work.When I started car to go home this evening, no more ESP light or idling issues for a while (til it happens again).
From my experience the issue tends to happen to happen if I'm in Traffic.I'm wondering if the Motorway blast clears something out.
Well that is my two pence worth on the issue.Hope it may help people to mange it better even though you'd think Audi should have had a fix for this by now considering this issue has been plaguing us 3.2ers for years
 
Another old thread revival, but just wanting to confirm that everything is still good with my motor, so that's two and a half years since the upgrade and no recurrence :)
 
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Well we have had a 2005 A3 3.2 Quattro DSG for many years, but this is the first time we have experience this problem, engine dies on idle which with the DSG make it fun to get it restarted in gear and moving in stop start traffic.

3 Faults Found:
16486 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70)
P0102 - 002 - Signal too Low - Intermittent
18612 - Bank 2; System Too Rich off Idle
P2180 - 002 - - Intermittent
18610 - Bank 1; System Too Rich off Idle
P2178 - 002 - - Intermittent

It was recently serviced but since then had an erratic idle issue a couple of weeks back that cleared up with a fault reset... This was clearly only the beginning.

So in light of this thread saying that replacing parts appears to make no difference, I have tried to make sense of what a factory reset might do to solve the problem...

Today I removed the air box to look at the MAF sensor and check for leaks, all looked fine but this also gave me a chance to see if anything was obstructing the throttle body which would effect idle speed. It would appear that a tiny build up of dirt (black soot) around the butterfly valve causes the engine to think that the valve is closed when it's actually slightly open.... Even if you replace these parts with new ones the car still thinks slightly open is the closed position, which in turn messes up you fuel air mix and idle speed. With the throttle body still on the car but the air box pipework out of the way I gave the butterfly value and opening a good clean with cleaner, toothbrush and clean cloths until there was no soot anywhere. Then with engine off but ignition on did an Engine, Basic settings 060 throttle body reset (several times as it's interesting to watch it do its stuff) before putting it back together and clearing any codes from having taken it to bits.

Lots of town and country driving today and all is fine, with no more fault codes when I got home either....

Time will tell if this is the fix but hope this is of use to other drivers especially as these cars start to gain higher miles.

If you don't hear from me then it's continued to work!
 
Hi Guys.
seems i have stumbled across a list of people who have been fighting the same issue i am currently facing.
it seems the problem gets worse with age as my car (A3 3.2 DSG 2005) has gone from cutting out once a month to once a week and now daily.
has anyone else tried the the software upgrade like Mookster ?
it has become so bad that i am one engine light away from setting the car on fire .:scared2:

Kind regards
Ricky Harrison:sign imnew:
 
Ricky Harrison said:
Hi Guys.
seems i have stumbled across a list of people who have been fighting the same issue i am currently facing.
it seems the problem gets worse with age as my car (A3 3.2 DSG 2005) has gone from cutting out once a month to once a week and now daily.
has anyone else tried the the software upgrade like Mookster ?
it has become so bad that i am one engine light away from setting the car on fire .:scared2:

Kind regards
Ricky Harrison:sign imnew:
Click to expand...

Hi Ricky,

Have you run the VCDS Software to see what fault codes you are getting? When does it cut out, at idle? Since posting in November my car has not missed a beat and is back running just as it should, so gently cleaning out the throttle body and doing a relearn of the butterfly valve close position worked for my 2004 102,000m 3.2 DSG.
 
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Reactions: Ricky Harrison
Hi Mark.
thanks for the reply.
we have indeed run the software and we are getting a lot of faults popping up.
the car will run fine for days on end then at random it will stall as the revs drop below 800rpm.
the esp light will then stay on solid and the car will run extremely rough and continue to stall for about the next 4-5 times the car slows down and revs drop. after the 5th time the esp light will say on and the car will run for about a day with out cutting out but gear changes are rough and steering tightens up.
the faults we have at the moment are Engine fault P0102 and Traction fault 01314.
in the past we have also picked up fault codes for the ABS Pump.
we have replaced the following on previous fault test:
Brake light switch.
Engine Control Unit.
Throttle o-ring.
Airflow meter.
Voltage regulator.
cleaned and reset throttle body about 5 Times.
cleaned engine unit pins and abs unit pins.
airflow meter multiplug to control unit multiplug has continuity +0-5v
cleaned ground terminals.

today we are going to check injector o-rings and injector Ms.

Kind regards
Ricky Harrison
 
Mark Oglesby said:
Hi Ricky,

Have you run the VCDS Software to see what fault codes you are getting? When does it cut out, at idle? Since posting in November my car has not missed a beat and is back running just as it should, so gently cleaning out the throttle body and doing a relearn of the butterfly valve close position worked for my 2004 102,000m 3.2 DSG.
Click to expand...
Hi Mark.
thanks for the reply.
we have indeed run the software and we are getting a lot of faults popping up.
the car will run fine for days on end then at random it will stall as the revs drop below 800rpm.
the esp light will then stay on solid and the car will run extremely rough and continue to stall for about the next 4-5 times the car slows down and revs drop. after the 5th time the esp light will say on and the car will run for about a day with out cutting out but gear changes are rough and steering tightens up.
the faults we have at the moment are Engine fault P0102 and Traction fault 01314.
in the past we have also picked up fault codes for the ABS Pump.
we have replaced the following on previous fault test:
Brake light switch.
Engine Control Unit.
Throttle o-ring.
Airflow meter.
Voltage regulator.
cleaned and reset throttle body about 5 Times.
cleaned engine unit pins and abs unit pins.
airflow meter multiplug to control unit multiplug has continuity +0-5v
cleaned ground terminals.

today we are going to check injector o-rings and injector Ms.

Kind regards
Ricky Harrison
 
Ricky Harrison said:
Hi Mark.
thanks for the reply.
we have indeed run the software and we are getting a lot of faults popping up.
the car will run fine for days on end then at random it will stall as the revs drop below 800rpm.
the esp light will then stay on solid and the car will run extremely rough and continue to stall for about the next 4-5 times the car slows down and revs drop. after the 5th time the esp light will say on and the car will run for about a day with out cutting out but gear changes are rough and steering tightens up.
the faults we have at the moment are Engine fault P0102 and Traction fault 01314.
in the past we have also picked up fault codes for the ABS Pump.
we have replaced the following on previous fault test:
Brake light switch.
Engine Control Unit.
Throttle o-ring.
Airflow meter.
Voltage regulator.
cleaned and reset throttle body about 5 Times.
cleaned engine unit pins and abs unit pins.
airflow meter multiplug to control unit multiplug has continuity +0-5v
cleaned ground terminals.

today we are going to check injector o-rings and injector Ms.

Kind regards
Ricky Harrison
Click to expand...


Hi Ricky,

Similar symptoms and faults...

My you have replaced some stuff.

Leaks in the hoses from the air filter that might be putting the Airflow meter out sink...?

You may need a new throttle body, to look at mine you would not believe there was anything stopping it from closing properly, but I went at it with a toothbrush and alcohol cleaner until it was spotless inside and out and the edges of the butterfly valve were sharp and spot free #cutknuckles I then ran the reset and watched the computer make the butterfly valve do its dance setting its open and closed values.

My problem was intermittent at first but very soon it became an issue, I cleaned all the pipework and the Airflow meter just to make sure.

You may have a DSG issue and you could go through the wiki or getting the gearbox to relearn its bite points, I also did this but that was not the issue for me and that might be a harder thing to do with an engine that is not running right.

One test would be to put the car in neutral and see if the car will idle...

The stuff you have replaced does not make sense for a problem where most of the time the engine runs fine.

Hope this helps.

M
 
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