EGT missing: should I be reimbursed?

Django-

Django-

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I bought an 8L S3 about a month ago, from an Audi specialist and have just discovered that the exhaust gas temp sensor is missing, resulting in awful fuel economy. It was sold to me as 'checked over by the mechanic'. Do you guys think I should reimbursed for some of the petrol I have bought? I've been spending about £20 per hour-ish or pretty average driving.
 
Is there literally no sensor there or has it just come loose? not unknown for this to happen and the probe be floating around the back of the engine ... the probe screws into the back of the turbo hotside but the electronics is in a little black box bolted to the underside of the inlet manifold... removing the trim cover in front of the inlet mani will reveal this

Either way the garage should have picked it up and you should be able to get them to do something about it...

Have you scanned for fault codes? I'd do that (in VCDS preferably) before taking it back as this could give you a bit more leverage to bargain with

<tuffty/>
 
Literally no sensor there. Had a quick look for the probe flapping around in the bay but no luck.

Scanning for fault codes gives 'EGT short to ground'

It's going in on Friday to be sorted but my question is 'should they reimburse me?'

The guy at the garage told me, on the phone, "some people take them off anyway as they just cause trouble" ??!

Mind you, this is the same guy who told me I had a three-month total indemnity warranty and then a nine-month normal one. I subsequently called when my car started misfiring and he denied ever saying this...
 
When I say literally not there, this could be my ineptitude showing through and actually the cable is just hiding. But either way, nothing plugged into the socket at the front.
 
Well... the EGT probe will set you back best part of £200 so I would suggest taking it back and trying to get something dude...

If they try to argue with you then you can tell them that its an important part of the ECU's fuelling strategy and without it the fuelling defaults to 0.75 lambda so will fail the MOT emissions, bore wash the engine leading to premature wear and effectively destroy the CAT...

<tuffty/>
 
It seems they are happy to fix this. It's going back Friday.

But should I also ask them to reimburse me for the hideous amounts I've spent on peteol so far - given the impact on fuel economy?

At the Oxford Audi dealership atm getting coilpacks done and annoyingly some aren't original so they can't change them. Damnit.

Drooling over the RS5 cabriolet is helping, though.
 
Not sure you can ask them for reimbursement on fuel tbh mate... the fact they are sorting the issue at least is a good thing... you could go down the whole "I don't understand how you could have missed this" route and see what they offer up but they aren't really obliged to do much more than fix the fault they sent the car out with...

The EGT sensors do have a habit of going these days (old cars etc) so at least if they fit a new one thats £200 you don't have to find

<tuffty/>
 
It's not that it's dead. It's totally missing! Nothing plugged in to the socket.

Just had an Audi health check and have sever things to take to the garage now. Grr.
 
Personally I would just swallow the extra fuel cost; you're getting it fixed, take that as a win.

Compensating people for indirect costs is a slippery slope, and the suggestion is generally not well received.
 
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Django- said:
I've been spending about £20 per hour-ish or pretty average driving.
Click to expand...

sorry I'm not sure how far you drive in an hour or how much fuel costs you, what does that equate to in proper units?? What MPG does your DIS display?
 
Advice taken on board. But I've only had it a month and they promised it had been checked thoroughly prior to sale, and they pride themselves on being an S3 specialist. Isn't missing a non-existent EGT sensor quite a shocking oversight?
 
Django- said:
Advice taken on board. But I've only had it a month and they promised it had been checked thoroughly prior to sale, and they pride themselves on being an S3 specialist. Isn't missing a non-existent EGT sensor quite a shocking oversight?
Click to expand...

I would say so... while not obvious on a look around the engine bay (you can't realistically expect them to assume the EGT probe might be missing so would look for it to make sure) the noise from the exhaust when its missing is fairly obvious and a fault code (again assuming they had done a full scan as any S3 specialist should do) would have suggested a problem that needed further investigation so they have failed in that respect IMO...

Any decent VAG specialist starts with a full scan in VCDS...

<tuffty/>
 
I don't understand why you couldn't hear this as an exhaust blow, is the engine that loud that you couldn't hear it. Even at idle I would have thought it would be obvious to somebody who knew something about cars.

karl
 
I guess I don't know that much about cars!
 
Alex C said:
sorry I'm not sure how far you drive in an hour or how much fuel costs you, what does that equate to in proper units?? What MPG does your DIS display?
Click to expand...

Average 20mpg
 
Audi health check has thrown up:

- engine oil leak around bulk head
- two perished CV gaitors
- central exhaust silencer about to split


Am I being unfair in being a bit unimpressed with the garage I bought her from?
 
Django- said:
Audi health check has thrown up:

- engine oil leak around bulk head
- two perished CV gaitors
- central exhaust silencer about to split


Am I being unfair in being a bit unimpressed with the garage I bought her from?
Click to expand...

Oil leak is most likely the cam cover gasket... common issue

CV gaiters if in an MOT failure condition should have been sorted

Exhaust silencer about to split is not actually split sooooo you could forgive them that...

Bare in mind that Audi health checks are notorious for highlighting just about anything that looks remotely problem like...

<tuffty/>
 
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Thanks guys.

Yeah agreed on dealership behaviours but luckily I have a good friend working there so wasn't worried about being shafted.

One CV is bad. The other is split and leaking grease!

Power loss is getting worse by the day :(
 
Also, is it normal for mpg to drop to 6 when booting it? That just seems so low.
 
That's normal? Sweet Jesus. My poor wallet.
 
When all is fixed, I will be more than happy to pay for the horses. She is a beauty.

6mpg though. That's so bad it's funny.
 
Django- said:
When all is fixed, I will be more than happy to pay for the horses. She is a beauty.

6mpg though. That's so bad it's funny.
Click to expand...
I'm sure the egt probe is going to have a negative effect on your fuel consumption atm but when you get it sorted your long term average mpg should go up considerably. I bet if you check your average mpg now it will be much higher than 6mpg
 
Yeah 6mpg is only when I boot it. Conservative driving yields about 30.
 
How could you not know the EGT probe isn't screwed in? Mine unscrewed itself a few months ago and fell out and it was seriously very loud, there was also no power whatsoever either.

Unless they've removed it and bunged up the hole into the turbo?
 
Last edited:
The EGT is there with the control box under the inlet manifold. Just simply not plugged in.
 
Django- said:
It's not that it's dead. It's totally missing! Nothing plugged in to the socket.

Just had an Audi health check and have sever things to take to the garage now. Grr.
Click to expand...

Samuealle said:
The EGT is there with the control box under the inlet manifold. Just simply not plugged in.
Click to expand...

??

<tuffty/>
 
I always wondered what that black box on the bottom of the inlet manifold was. I originally thought it was the map sensor until I installed my FMIC and found the real map sensor. Now I can rest easy knowing what it is haha. What a strange place to keep it though.
 
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This thread makes no sense
 
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<tuffty/> said:
??

<tuffty/>
Click to expand...
Yeah, to clarify...

The probe+cabling was apparently there, just not plugged in and hanging down. I was under impression that it wasn't there at all but Sam has the right idea.

I've been back to the garage today and they managed to get the inlet cover off and plug it back in. The plastic was all shagged and the bolts rounded off, which is why Sam couldn't get to the cabling I'm assuming.

They're also replacing the rocker cover gasket, plugs, and coil packs, since oil was getting into the plug/coil area. Dripping coil packs on removal! Hopefully this completely explains the misfiring I've been experiencing. All under warranty and hopefully done by Monday afternoon.
 
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Cool... at least its heading in the right direction :)

<tuffty/>
 
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Jojo...WOT?

Tufty, yep hopefully! But I'll only be truly happy when she's been mapped too

My brother is quite enjoying his Fiesta being only a bit slower than me atm. I need my pride back!
 
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