The 170 story so far....

I'm very close to ordering an A3 Sportback 170.....this is making me think twice. Is it worth just sticking to the 140 instead?

For the 170 owners: having gone through these problems, would you have preferred in hindsight to have ordered a 140 instead?

Thanks
 
From an A3 perspective, I am not sure to be honest. The 140 Sportback I had did sound pretty harsh and rough when pushed. However, the 140 in the A4 seems just as refined to me as the 170.

I would gladly change my 170 A4 for a 140 A4 and if I were to order again, yes, I would go for a 140. The 140 is also more economical than the 170 (even thought the official fuel figures dispute this).
 
I actually just met a guy on clubpolo who works in Audi West London and I spoke to him regarding the DPF problems and he said that they get it an awful lot!

He said he's frustration is that the owners are not driving over 2-2.5k revs enough. Keep changing early thus causing the problems...
 
He said he's frustration is that the owners are not driving over 2-2.5k revs enough. Keep changing early thus causing the problems...
Click to expand...

An interesting comment. It would be interesting to know if any or most of the drivers who are getting problems use D most of the time if their have the DSG gearbox. In the D mode the box does tend to change up at quite low revs.

I've had no problems with my 170 and I very rarely use the D mode, driving most of the time in tip-tronic and changing up usually between 3000 and 4000 revs.

It may be a complete red herring but who knows - perhaps only Audi, and they don't seem to saying much at all at the moment.

I am on very friendly terms with the Assistant Service Manager at my local dealers. The next time I'm near I will call in and ask him if he is aware of any problems with the the 170s they have sold.
 
SMc said:
I'm very close to ordering an A3 Sportback 170.....this is making me think twice. Is it worth just sticking to the 140 instead?

For the 170 owners: having gone through these problems, would you have preferred in hindsight to have ordered a 140 instead?

Thanks
Click to expand...
With mine it was between the 170TDI or the 2.0T when I ordered it. Mines only been back to Audi once so far for DPF but if it keeps doing it think I'd be regreting getting the 170 over the petrol 2.0T.
 
emzino said:
I actually just met a guy on clubpolo who works in Audi West London and I spoke to him regarding the DPF problems and he said that they get it an awful lot!

He said he's frustration is that the owners are not driving over 2-2.5k revs enough. Keep changing early thus causing the problems...
Click to expand...

It's just a rubbish system - I bought the 170 A4 as the official fuel figures are somewhat better than the those for the 140. However, in practise, they are nowhere near as economical! Why should I drive hard over 2.5K? I cover a lot of driving and want economy, I therefore have to drive sensibly most of the time to achieve modest consumption.
 
I went from an A3 140 to A3 170 & would (despite the problem) highly recommend it.

I often use higher revs yet still get the problem occur.
 
SMc said:
I'm very close to ordering an A3 Sportback 170.....this is making me think twice. Is it worth just sticking to the 140 instead?

For the 170 owners: having gone through these problems, would you have preferred in hindsight to have ordered a 140 instead?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Can only speak for myself I have had no problems with my 170 having done 5500 miles now.DPF light never seen it.At first I was a little dissapointed with fuel consumption I was getting 38mpg on average but now as the engine has loosened up I am getting a very respectable 44mpg on average.I got 47mpg out of my 140 sport in similar driving conditions.Love the extra power of 170 although 140 goes well enough pays you money makes your choice.
 
Yes I have to admit I am sitting here wondering how bad the 170 issue is?

Is it just a bit noisy at times and therefore nothing to worry about or is it a continual din that takes you back to the good ld days of diesels when it sounded like there was a tractor around
 
To be 100% honest,if I hadn't suffered problems with my 140 I would probably happily go for a 170.
I was considering it in a Passat,but the problems mentioned on here have put me clean off.
The problems I've had with my 140 mean I would be a bag of nerves in a 170.
I'm not going to play 'Audi roulette' again.
By that I mean,some are great,some are pains in the ***.
You never know which one you'll get.
That can,of course,happen with any car.
You sort of half-expect it with a Ford,you expect more uniform behaviour with an Audi.
 
bowfer said:
To be 100% honest,if I hadn't suffered problems with my 140 I would probably happily go for a 170.
I was considering it in a Passat,but the problems mentioned on here have put me clean off.
The problems I've had with my 140 mean I would be a bag of nerves in a 170.
I'm not going to play 'Audi roulette' again.
By that I mean,some are great,some are pains in the ***.
You never know which one you'll get.
That can,of course,happen with any car.
You sort of half-expect it with a Ford,you expect more uniform behaviour with an Audi.
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's true. The reason i want to buy a new Audi is that my current one has been so so so reliable!

I bought my current A3 1.8TS 4 years ago and in all that time it has been superb, even though it is now 7 years old. The original suspension has recently given up but apart from that and some brake discs, (as you would expect), all I've had to deal with is a faulty brake sensor which cost £5 from Euro parts and 20mins to fit!

The excellent build quality and reliability is why I am willing to spend around £25,000 on a new one.....so here's hoping it doesn't disappoint!
 
SMc said:
Yeah, that's true. The reason i want to buy a new Audi is that my current one has been so so so reliable!
Click to expand...

Also one of the reasons I went for my current A3.
My A4 before it was very reliable indeed.
Shame the A3 couldn't carry that on,but there you go.
Just one of those things.
 
Maybe it's the factories that are building these that are not consistent. I mean I always thought anything basically built in germany (automobile wise) is one of the best!

E.g. I believe the current MK5 Golf GTI is built in Wolfsburg right, yet i've heard nothing but poor interior in those. Shocking really!
 
Unfortunately I think no matter what car new car you buy you always run the risk of it being a "Friday Afternoon" car if you know what I mean.
 
emzino said:
E.g. I believe the current MK5 Golf GTI is built in Wolfsburg right, yet i've heard nothing but poor interior in those. Shocking really!
Click to expand...

Interesting article in Autocar this week.
The current Golf is ridiculously difficult and expensive to build,so they are rushing through a new one.
It will be out next year.
 
audi upgrades
There was a similar article in Auto Express some time ago when they first showed pictures / sketches of the new Golf VI. It also said that the Golf V was not due for replacement for several years, but was expensive to build so VW had decided to bring forward the replacement.
 
Didn't they say that about the last one, giving way to the current one? The current one has noticably less of a quality feel than the last.
 
Just collected the car after it having a new DPF and pressure sensors fitted - they say that this sorted out the problem on another car recently. I will keep you updated.....

Interestingly, the idle speed is slightly lower now - about 850, whereas is was nearer 900 before the replacement. Could just be a coincidence?
 
Hello.

Thought it was about time I posted on this topic. Been a while since I was in here!

I bought an '07 A3 3dr TDI 170 S-Line S-Stonic in March from Stratford Audi.

I use it for a 100 mile round trip each day from Guildford to Southampton. Although I think the car has been slightly noisy on a couple of occasions, I dont think I have had the issues detailed here. I certainly not had any error lights, or hesitation etc.

I dont use the paddles most of the time. I have covered 8,000 miles, of motorway, A and B road. I am averaging 44mpg overall, and have managed a journey record of 62.3 (50 miles - very dull), and a low of 20 something.

I find the 4 cyl diesel a bit rough, and wish AUdi would put a 6 cyl diesel in there. I drove a 2.7TDI A6 in France the other week and it was a really nice power-train.

As mentioned at the beginning of the thread, I made a schoolboy error not getting lumbar (cant quite get the seat confortable), but otherwise, am very happy with the car. I saved about £1,800 by selling the concert 3 and buying RNS-E and putting it in myself.

I have had one issue of creaking which I thought was steering but was diagnosed as a suspension bush, changed by Guildford Audi without issue.

I mentioned the tractor noise when int here and they thoguht it was the engine cysling to clean deposits, which can be caused by loads of town driving and poor fuel..

Keep me posted on the transit van outcome.
 
JED said:
Just collected the car after it having a new DPF and pressure sensors fitted - they say that this sorted out the problem on another car recently. I will keep you updated.....
Click to expand...
Already had the DPF sensor replaced on mine to no avail, what's this "pressure" sensor you speak of?

Please do keep us updated.
 
Don't know - it's something I guess which detects the amount of soot present in the DPF? He told me that there was a pressure in and pressure out sensor I think?

They also had a few issues "resetting the soot values" ? It seems OK at the moment but will definitely keep you informed.

JED
 
The resetting of values sounds interesting. Basically, the tech guy from Audi has basically determined that the noise/stuttering pretty much definitely coincides with the forced regeneration cycle, which leaves the question of why it's happening so damned often. Perhaps if the values are set wrong then it's regenerating far more often than is actually necessary. I could live with the problem if it only happened every 1000km or so, as described on the Audi website.
 
Yes hopefully sorting these values out might have helped - will keep you posted....
 
The tractor noise definately seems to coincide with the regeneration cycle - but why is it so random? And also, more importantly, why is it so rough?

So the thing has to regenerate - great but surely it shouldn't affect performace, driveability and the pleasure of owning an Audi?

To top it off - some doughnut crashed into my rear end the other day thus bending the nearside exhaust into my now broken bumper - this means that when in tractor mode the bumper actually starts to melt!
 
Update after the new DPF and sensor fitted.

Tractor noise and increased idling speed last night - after just 84 miles from a new DPF and sensor. The idle speed increased to about 1000rpm on my way home so I pulled up on to my drive and after about 5 minutes the idle dropped again to 850. However, this morning, for about 5 miles, I had the same symptons again.

Regeneration already - after just 80 miles!!!!!
 
I think we've been down this dead end before, having tried multiple fill ups with the enhanced diesels (different makes) and I have two 30 minute commutes on fast roads & motorway each day, I also drive quite hard, I'm getting regeneration around 5-800 mile range.

Maybe what we need is a chart to be filled in by anyone with the problem

Date
Warning light
Lower tickover
Higher tickover
Associated smoke
Limp mode

Can anyone create a chart to fill in ? this may help all concerned
 
Seems to me the only way to get Audi's attention on this is for every person to book their car in every time it happens - they will soon get fed up with the cost of it.
 
JED, to clarify did they replace the actual DPF itself or just the sensors?

I've got a VAG-COM coming soon and my intention is to try and catch the problem happening and log as much sensor data as I can to compare with the same readings when it's not happening and see if anything jumps out.
 
Yep, as far as I know, they replaced the filter itself and the sensors.
 
Can you possibly check for sure? I'm currently trying to get my dealer to replace the entire filter but if you've had yours done and the problem happened straight away then there's no point.

It would also mean that the filter is definitely regenerating before it's necessary as there's no way on earth it could get that clogged after 84 miles! So rather important to know for sure if they replaced the filter :)
 
Hi Vertigo

They definitely told me that the DPF filter had been replaced. I am awaiting the light to come on again and then I will be back down to them!

Cheers.
 
I have got a Golf GT 170 TDI and it is showing the same symptoms.I managed to get the warranty manager to hear this noise.Apparently Audi are having alot of problems with the DPF and going into regeneration.There is an ECU upgrade that will be coming out shortly so hopefully this will sort the problem out.I`ll keep you updated when I find anything more about it...
 
Fantastic news! Please let us know when you hear any more info.

Cheers.
 
Deffo keep us posted efc, although knowing our luck VW will release a fix for it and us Audi owners will be kept waiting :)
 
audi upgrades
I was told it was an ECU upgrade for the AUDI and VW should follow because for some reason it seems to be the Audi 170 TDI dpf that is having the problems.Fingers crossed something will get sorted,but at least my warranty manager has heard the noise/ problem so I can keep the pressure on !!!
 
efc said:
I was told it was an ECU upgrade for the AUDI and VW should follow because for some reason it seems to be the Audi 170 TDI dpf that is having the problems.Fingers crossed something will get sorted,but at least my warranty manager has heard the noise/ problem so I can keep the pressure on !!!
Click to expand...

Well done for actually demonstrating the problem. It is impossible to deny the problem when it's happening (even the missus can hear it and she couldn't give a shyte) but it is almost impossible to reproduce for a dealer.

Lets hope that the s/w upgrade will do the trick. The 170 is a very good engine when functioning properly and as I approach 6000 miles the performance is simply stunning for a 4 pot DERV. I am certain it is putting out more than 170bhp. It would be a real shame for people to turn their backs on this unit because of these problems. If they could just sort out the crap ride on the A4 s-line we'd be laughing!!
 
This is really great news - I too hope that the s/w upgrade comes soon as the 170 engine itself is great, when it's running quietly.
 
I also have an 170 A3 TDI, from DEC/06 with 24000 km, with the same problems. The ECU software has been updated twice and last week my dealer changed 2 sensors ( I bealive there´s 3) from the DPF. Since the second ECU update I always fill with BP Ultimate, and the tractor noise doesn´t appear so often. Which software version do you have? Mine is V11.81.00 12/06/2007. And which is your rev speed? ( mine is 750 rpm since first update, higher before).
 
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