Deteriorating fast now..

[paddy]

My A3 3.2 is going down hill fast now. On start up it will, 1 in 5 mornings tick over on 3 or 4 cylinders, revs will bounce between 0 and 500 rpm. the only way to stop this is to switch off and re start. Now its started doing it between 0 and 3 miles down the road. You just have to pull over, switch off and re start.
It is showing no fault codes.
Audi say no fault codes, no problem ( a polite way of saying P** off) and i cant afford to pay them £150 an hour to search for a fault they don't believe exists anyway. I take it in, they give it back with a note saying " no fault found"

Once warm it will run all day and not miss a beat.

any thoughts ??

 

[PNH80]

Just goes to show that the art of being a car mechanic is slowly dying. They're just computer operators nowadays. No common sense.

Any mechanic who knew a thing or two about cars and specifically VAG engines would know what the problem was without VAGCOM to tell him.

Poor show.

 

[Staz]

Yep VAG specialist is a good idea I agree.

You could always make arangements to leave your car in their carpark overnight and then meet a tech in the morning when you start up.

Do you have VCDS Paddy?

 

[paddy]

Yes i have run a fault code check and run several blocks tests but it dosnt even register a misfire when on 3 cylinders and struggling at 250rpm.

this is Audi's response.....you see its supposed to pop and bang at a steady 2k revs...no fault code...no fault.
Trouble is Audi employ technicians not mechanics. they can down load a fault code but thats about it.

 

[Staz]

I can't believe that it doesn't log a fault for a misfire! Mine misfired once a while back and the log showed me which cylinder it was on, at what point on the odo it happened and even the speed I was doing! I didn't even know it had happened.

 

[paddy]

It did show a fault code once a couple of weeks ago but stupidly i cleared it and since then it has got much worse and hasnt logged another code

8 Faults Found:
18025 - Glow Plug Pre-Heat Indicator (K29): Open or Short to Ground
P1617 - 001 - Upper Limit Exceeded - Intermittent
16395 - Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake): ****** Setpoint not Reached (Over-Advanced)
P0011 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16486 - Mass Air Flow Sensor (G70): Signal too Low
P0102 - 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded - Intermittent
16684 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16685 - Cylinder 1: Misfire Detected
P0301 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16690 - Cylinder 6: Misfire Detected
P0306 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16686 - Cylinder 2: Misfire Detected
P0302 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
16688 - Cylinder 4: Misfire Detected
P0304 - 008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
Readiness: 0000 0000

 

[akash_sky1]

can't believe how many people seem to have problems with this engine on here, guessing the R32 is similiarly affected?

 

[pluves1]

I would suggest that if you want Audi to investigate you can't go clearing the fault codes and not tell them. They will be correct in that it isn't logging what you have suggested as you've cleared them!
As it happens on a morning or start up why dont you leave the car with them overnight to see if they can replicate the issues you're having first thing? You'll also need to be more specific when the fault is occurring. There is no mention on the check list that this is on startup.
Sorry if this doesnt sound helpful but, you either leave Audi to try and diagnose fault or do it yourself - I dont think its going to get resolved if you are 'tinkering' in between.

 

[paddy]

pluves
This has been going on for months. Audi have washed their hands of it so my "tinkering" is my only option short of scrapping the thing. belive me ..if audi could fix the thing i would not be "tinkering" myself.

the car faults most mornings at some point. I cleared one set of fault codes a few weeks ago because audi pulled the plug out of the MAF when the engine was running so the codes above were not reliable. Other than that it does not register fault codes.
Audi say that with no codes then an engine strip or basically testing all circuits from fuel system to ignition ( which might not actually reveal the problem) is their only option. this could run into thousands£ and not actually solve the problem.

 

[pluves1]

As it faults 'most' mornings I'd leave it with Audi or an Audi specialist so that they can try and replicate the issue.

 

[edition]

At least if it's looking like it's getting worse you should find out whats up sooner or later.....

Akash, I don;t think this is a problem alot of people are having with the 3.2!!! I mean if they were all running like that I think there would be more uproar!

Hopefully you get a simple fix Paddy.... Quite likely that it could be something simple! It's jsut finding it.

 

[paddy]

You are right Jonathan. Up till now the problem has been to random to leave it with Audi but its getting worse now....I just wish it would leave a valid fault code.

 

[edition]

Yeah bit of a ****** it's not show faults!

It does look like you are going to find a fix though now it's getting worse...

One would think it's an electrical issue due to the fact the restart sorts it out.

 

[Khufu]

It's the glow plug error I dont get! Something hasn't been coded to tell the car it's a diesel & hence why its reporting a fault with the glow plugs?

 

[auroan]

<rant>
Sorry am I missing something. You say that Audi have washed their hands of it ? No they haven't.... they have just said they need a closer look and that would take some time.... so that time has to be paid for. You can't expect everything for free !!! You got a vehicle scanned for free which should have been about £45 - £50 ish quid from a main dealer. </rant>

On topic though
I would say it's probably coilpacks ......

 

[edition]

Let's not let this slide into slagging or sticking up for Audi....

Yes coilpacks are a simple one to have ago at and don't always show up on the scans... might be worth ago at buying 6....

 

[auroan]

Let's not let this slide into slagging or sticking up for Audi....

No offence mate, but the beauty of the internet is everyone is allowed an opinion. And for all the responses so far, it took 15 posts to give the guy and idea at what to look at.

 

[edition]

No offence but he wasn't asking peoples opinion on Audi......

And if you had read previous threads he has had LOTS & LOTS of info. on what it could be....

 

[voorhees]

Auroan,are you an angry man ? less of the baiting please.