audi S3 starting problem (when warmed up)

[russelj80]

hi guys,

New here and wondering if any of you have any experience with this problem.

my car was running fine a couple of weeks ago. it had been 6K miles since its last service so i thought i would give an oil change to try and keep things fresh. I also decided to put 4 new spark plugs in it as well as i dont know when they were last done. everything went smoothly, i got the car home and that was that. However, when i jumped back into my car to start it, it turned over for ages before it eventually fired up.
Been having this problem now ever since that day!!

its starts fine first thing when the engine is cold but when it heats up to running temp. its a nightmare to start again if i turn it off. When it does start there is also black smoke coming from the exhaust and it tends to splutter a bit as well!!

any help much appreciated guys!

Thanks

 

[FactionOne]

Hi,

Welcome to ASN...

I'm going to move your post to an area relevant to Audi A3/S3; could you let us know the car's year of manufacture (/registration) so that we can determine whether it lives in 8L (Mk 1) or 8P (Mk 2)...

As regards your question, I guess anyone would suggest it's a bit of a coincidence that all your problems started at the point the plugs were changed. What plugs did you fit? Have you checked contact to the plugs, what was/is the gap like on the plugs? Bit of a ballache to pull them out and check, but are any of them sooty now?...

I'm sure you'll get more detailed answers/suggestions when we can get your post moved to the right place...

Cheers,

Rob.

 

[russelj80]

thank you

yeah no problem. im kinda just finding my way about just now.

The car is on a V plate and its year of manufacture is 1999. So it must be a mk 1 .. 8L model. ?

yeah i suppose its a coincedence it happened that day. ive not checked the gap or anything and i havent taken them out to look for any soot. i imagine there probably will be some soot now with all the black reek thats came out the exhaust. I replaced the PQFR ones that were in it with Denso iridium ones! they have a smaller tip than the previous set and are supposed to be excellent plugs. im just wondering if there not quite upto the job for an S3 now?

yeah thanks for that i'll find my way about soon enough! lol

Russell

 

[finesse]

best thing to do is get the car scanned for fault codes,

It sounds like a failing crank sensor.

 

[russelj80]

ive got a faulty abs sensor light on the dash board just now but other than that there is no other warning lights showing!

 

[finesse]

for the abs light, first check and clean the fuses/connections on top of the battery

 

[russelj80]

checked all the fuses/connections there. . . and all nice n shiney!

 

[s3_stig]

I had this problem my cause was the crank sensor changed it and all is fine now

 

[russelj80]

thanks for the info mate. is it expensive/difficult to replace??

 

[russelj80]

well, turns out the problem was due to a faulty coolant temperature sensor! There is 2 on the car though and it was the 4 pin sensor and not the 2 pin sensor. i changed them both.

Now i have a problem with my temperture guage on the dash board .. it never moves from 60C even when the engine is roasting. .. im thinking the thermostat is now fecked!!

 

[1animal1]

you'll have fun changing that

 

[LordNelson]

Haha...my problems came the other way round....changed the thermostat first....which was a pain in the *** but manageable without removing too much stuff (due to me having small hands - no jokes plz...haha).
I did it without having to drain the system too.....but u have to be quick when actually changing the thermostat otherwise you will drain the system anyway.

my CTS went a bit ago and finally got round to sorting it the other day....result!!

 

[russelj80]

right so where is the thermostat on these S3 bad boys then?? my mate is a mechanic and he will probly be doing for me! ... he says it might be down the back of the engine and it could be a right nightmare to get to! ... is he gonna be right??

if it needs doing then it needs doing i suppose!!

 

[LordNelson]

Check out this link mate...this is what i used. although i didnt have to remove the dipstick tube....was just careful enough not to put too much pressure on it.

Thermostat replacement procedure..>> - AudiWorld Forums

Im a relative nove with enough balls to attempt stuff.....took me about 30-45 mins once i got the correct combination of socket extention bars. its very tight in there, ive no idea how this guy managed to take the pics that he did.

note...this post was for a TT so what you see under the S3 may be slightly different. the principle is the same though. afterall, even i managed to follow it.

good luck :thumbsup:

 

[russelj80]

thanks for all that info mate. the link there is very handy indeed

well my mate managed to change the thermostat only a couple of days ago, but he doesnt have lovely wee hands and he's destroyed my dipstick tube!! lol sadly i still have the problem of there being no temperature reading on the dashboard though so the problem wasnt even the thermostat anyway. The vagcom says its the G62 coolant temp sensor now. Does anyone know where on the car this is??

surely this sensor has to be the cure!!

 

[russelj80]

Update - The sensor was the problem you get two different types of the same sensor though!! Depending on the year of the car.

 

[Agric04]

I had the exact same problem I on my old A3 1.8T Sport and it was the crank sensor.