First Post From Newish Owner. Puzzled And Stumped. Need Help Please.

Phunt73

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Hello. Long time browser first time poster. Ok this may be quite a large post because i have been trying a lot of things in the past two months since i purchased my car but i'll try to be as brief as possible.
Brief history of the car .... its a 2001 Y reg A4 B6 1.8T with 126k. I bought it from a freind at work who has owned the car for 2 years. He said he had the head changed last year because it had a crack in it, the new head does not have an engine code where it is supposed to be so im not entirley sure of my engine model. The whole time he owned the car he had an engine light but the car always ran fine so he never looked into it. Im too ocd to have an engine light all the time so i immediatly started to investigate as soon as i purchased the car. I obtained VCDS and an ODBII bluetooth scanner. The car has 2 error codes. An ECU checksum error code that is continuosly pending (yellow) in torque app and never throws an engine light and a P0171 lean bank 1 code that is the bain of my life because i just cant get rid of it and it keeps coming back no matter what i do. I did a lot of searching into what causes the error and have tried to find the reason for it but have not been succesful. Please help...... here is what i have tried so far..

Changed pollen filter and installed K&N 57i CAI no change
Cleaned MAF sensor no change
The dipstick was broken and kept jumping out of its holder so i renewed it. No change
The fuel pump was groaning upon every start so i changed the fuel filter. It looked like the original filter and the fuel that came out of it was black so needed a change, the pump stopped groaning immediatly but P0171 returned
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Next on my list was Vacuum leak , i inspected the hoses and found a 1" slice in the L shaped pipe that goes into the manifold so i ordered some silicone piping and replaced most of the vacuum hoses and check valves (except the one with the 3 outlets but it seemed to work fine under mouth test). I also replaced the pancake valve on the TIP. I cant see anymore obvious leaks and i can't hear any either........No change P0171 returned
Next i decided to do the " Squirt carb cleaner all over and listen for tickover change test" and found that it was getting in when i squirted it at the base of the injectors so i ordered an injector refurb kit from mr injector on ebay and changed the filters and top and bottom 'o'rings. No change.......P0171 returned

That just about brings me to current day.... im stuck. I don't know how accurate the Torque app is but it shows my vacuum as 24-25 Hg at tickover and my Boost at 12ish Psi during boost which i beleive is about normal for stock A4 so that makes me think it can't be a vacuum issue.

When i reset the error in VCDS the tickover goes a bit lumpy and then 033 measuring block "short term fuel trim"? goes up to 26% and tickover smooths out. I havnt hung around long enough to see what the 032 long term fuel trim goes to but i can if it helps anyone diagnose better for me.

Thats about it guys... Any recomendations as to what i can try next???

Cheers
Blush.gif
 
Straight from the Rosstech wiki page

16555/P0171/000369 - Fuel Trim; Bank 1: System Too Lean
Possible Causes
  • Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70) defective
  • Intake System Leak(s)
Possible Solutions
  • Check Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70)
  • Check Fuel Pressure Regulation
  • Check Fuel Pump
  • Check Injectors
  • Check Intake System for Leaks
  • Check Exhaust System for Leaks
  • Check Secondary Air System for Leaks
  • Check Vacuum Pipes for Leaks
Special Notes
A few things to have a look at here
 
The MAF may not like the K&N due to the classic oiled filter coating the MAF element.

Is the cambelt timing all correct and checked since the head was replaced? Had a similar problem with wifes FSI mk5 golf...........had the head stripped and cleaned due to the classic direct injection issue coking up the valves before being rebuilt and put back together but still had the issue..........it ended up being caused by a stretched chain and it was putting the timing out but still running

New chain, tensioners etc and all was fine..........chain had stretched 15 to 20mm when compared with the new one.
 
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The error was there long before the K&N. Are you saying the cam belt issue gave the p0171 error?
 
It was with the golf as there was not enough fuel due to the chain stretch and the ECU could not make big enough adjustments to compensate causing the warning light and the engine down on power........cant say it is with yours, but the cambelt is worth a look at
 
Ok after a little more investigation and reading the fuel trim info i got my long term fuel trims and they were 7.1% on the idle and only 0.8% on the 2nd block one which according to the video means it's more likely a vacuum leak than a component failure. I can't for the life of me find or hear any vacuum leak. I've double checked all the vacuum lines and they seem ok. i haven't extensivley checked the crankcase vent system but it looks ok at a glance and i haven't checked the intercooler system yet because i believe it involves taking the front bumper off.
What is puzzling me however is my intake manifold. I can still get the tickover to change if i squirt carb cleaner at the base of the injectors even though ive changed the 'o'rings, and the seats looked in good condition when i took the injectors out but 'ive noticed i have an extra vacuum nipple on my intake that i dont see on anyone elses.( see pic). Maybe someone has changed the manifold at some point and its not from a 1.8 so maybe the seats are too big for the inectors???
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