45 TFSI Engine info needed please

[JimmyM]

Hi all,

I'm hoping somebody can help me with some engine info to aid in a battle with my insurers......

Its about my 1.5yo A6 C8 45 TFSI (245). Note: the car is remapped to 305BHP and has been since about 1500 miles. It is remapped by a very reputable place. Also its important to note that from day 1 I informed the insurance company of the remap, don't want you guys thinking I've been driving around with no insurance.

About 6 months ago I drove her into floodwater by accident. We stalled and got all the engine lights on etc, got out and push the car out then turned it off and on again it started and seemed to be ok. Next day I heard some noises and the car was running rough and then popped up an error message. I took it to the Audi main dealer. Audi replaced a drive shaft cover that was rubbing and changed a sensor in the engine and gave it back to me and it felt good as new.

Fast forward 6 months and about 2500 miles of trouble free driving, and the engine spits out a piston. I take it into Audi who say there must have been some damage to the piston caused by water which weakened it and caused it blow later. The insurance sent their independent engine specialist to review what Audi told them (which was it was caused by water damage). There engine specialist said he 'couldn't be sure'. The insurers have now asked Audi to strip the engine further and report what they find.

I'm concerned that my insurers will try to say the remap caused the failure and land me with a huge bill. I mentioned this to Audi who said the remap would not cause this unless I was 'running crazy HP'. I told him it was remapped to 305 and asked if that was within tolerance for the engine. He said that Audi would never release that kind of info but also said that the S3 was using a very similar engine and was 310 standard.

I'm hoping somebody on here can tell me for sure if the pistons used in my car are the same as the ones used in the 310 BHP S3. I'm hoping that I can use this argument to refute any claims that the remap caused the issue.

Any other relevant info that might support my case would be very much appreciated also.

Thanks in advance

Note: I know I'm an *** for driving into the water......lessons were learnt that evening.

 

[B5NUT]

This could get expensive for you if you are asking Audi to pick up the bill, if the car is connected to ODIS and scanned it's more than likely the map will be detected and the TD1 flag placed against the car for which you could kiss good by to the warranty on the engine, gearbox and drive train (rest should still be covered) have a quick google on Audi/VW TD1 and you will be able to read so of the issues owners have had with remapped cars and warranty.

 

[JimmyM]

This could get expensive for you if you are asking Audi to pick up the bill, if the car is connected to ODIS and scanned it's more than likely the map will be detected and the TD1 flag placed against the car for which you could kiss good by to the warranty on the engine, gearbox and drive train (rest should still be covered) have a quick google on Audi/VW TD1 and you will be able to read so of the issues owners have had with remapped cars and warranty.

Hi mate,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

No its not about Audi picking up the bill. Its about arguing with my insurers that the remap didn't cause the issue. Audi say it didn't but won't give me engine specs or BHP tolerances etc. so I'm trying to get evidence of my own (for example that the S3 310bhp uses the same pistons without issue).

Cheers

 

[pp2414]

Hi all,

I'm hoping somebody can help me with some engine info to aid in a battle with my insurers......

Its about my 1.5yo A6 C8 45 TFSI (245). Note: the car is remapped to 305BHP and has been since about 1500 miles. It is remapped by a very reputable place. Also its important to note that from day 1 I informed the insurance company of the remap, don't want you guys thinking I've been driving around with no insurance.

About 6 months ago I drove her into floodwater by accident. We stalled and got all the engine lights on etc, got out and push the car out then turned it off and on again it started and seemed to be ok. Next day I heard some noises and the car was running rough and then popped up an error message. I took it to the Audi main dealer. Audi replaced a drive shaft cover that was rubbing and changed a sensor in the engine and gave it back to me and it felt good as new.

Fast forward 6 months and about 2500 miles of trouble free driving, and the engine spits out a piston. I take it into Audi who say there must have been some damage to the piston caused by water which weakened it and caused it blow later. The insurance sent their independent engine specialist to review what Audi told them (which was it was caused by water damage). There engine specialist said he 'couldn't be sure'. The insurers have now asked Audi to strip the engine further and report what they find.

I'm concerned that my insurers will try to say the remap caused the failure and land me with a huge bill. I mentioned this to Audi who said the remap would not cause this unless I was 'running crazy HP'. I told him it was remapped to 305 and asked if that was within tolerance for the engine. He said that Audi would never release that kind of info but also said that the S3 was using a very similar engine and was 310 standard.

I'm hoping somebody on here can tell me for sure if the pistons used in my car are the same as the ones used in the 310 BHP S3. I'm hoping that I can use this argument to refute any claims that the remap caused the issue.

Any other relevant info that might support my case would be very much appreciated also.

Thanks in advance

Note: I know I'm an *** for driving into the water......lessons were learnt that evening.

Unfortunate sequence of events. Sorry to hear that.

Finding someone who will officially go against either Audi or the insurer who both have much bigger technical and legal resources available would be a real challenge.

There is always a risk of manufacturer using the remap to blame for some engine or drivetrain trouble with voiding warranty being the first protocol.

Btw 245bhp in relatively small 2.0 petrol engine is already a lot was the remap worth it and results felt in everyday driving?

Best of luck to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JimmyM]

Unfortunate sequence of events. Sorry to hear that.

Finding someone who will officially go against either Audi or the insurer who both have much bigger technical and legal resources available would be a real challenge.

There is always a risk of manufacturer using the remap to blame for some engine or drivetrain trouble with voiding warranty being the first protocol.

Btw 245bhp in relatively small 2.0 petrol engine is already a lot was the remap worth it and results felt in everyday driving?

Best of luck to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Buddy,

Thanks for the reply.

I don't think I'm doing a very good job of explaining what I'm looking for here.

I'm not looking for anyone to go against Audi (who have confirmed that the remap is very unlikely to have caused the issue but will not release any technical info about the engine specs/tolerances, but have suggested that the 310bhp S3 uses the same or a very similar engine), or the insurance company, who haven't said anything yet. To be clear, Audi are on my side here and are being very helpful and supportive, but they will not (understandably) release technical info about the engine design.

But I'm hoping that somebody knowledgeable may be able to confirm if the engine (specifically the pistons) in the 310 bhp S3 are the same as the ones in my C8 45 TFSI.

FYI, if I don't have to foot the bill for this engine then yes, the remap was totally worth it. It felt like a different car.

Cheers

 

[B5NUT]

Hi mate,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

No its not about Audi picking up the bill. Its about arguing with my insurers that the remap didn't cause the issue. Audi say it didn't but won't give me engine specs or BHP tolerances etc. so I'm trying to get evidence of my own (for example that the S3 310bhp uses the same pistons without issue).

Cheers

Audi won't release any engine specifications like that. Your in a tough situation, trying to determine why an engine let go could be difficult. Also when you say "spit out a piston" are you talking about a rod through the block? I've seen pistons been scored and damaged by valves but never seen one outside the engine before. Few years ago on the 8P A3 platform there was an A3 engine that had a known rod failure issue and liked to smash it way through the block.

 

[Frizzley]

similar thread here - might be worth a read if you’ve not seen previously and are looking to try build a pattern

My Audi S3 engine exploded while driving it

Hey guy’s do you have any info of more cases like this my Audi was 100 % stock

www.audi-sport.net

 

[B5NUT]

Looking at ETKA the 2.0TFSI engine in the A6 C8 was not used in the A3 range, but was used in the A4 and A7 45 TFSI

 

[JimmyM]

Audi won't release any engine specifications like that. Your in a tough situation, trying to determine why an engine let go could be difficult. Also when you say "spit out a piston" are you talking about a rod through the block? I've seen pistons been scored and damaged by valves but never seen one outside the engine before. Few years ago on the 8P A3 platform there was an A3 engine that had a known rod failure issue and liked to smash it way through the block.

Yeh sorry, I meant rod. I'm no engine guru in case you hadn't guessed )

I'll just have to hope that the insurance take Audi's word for the fact that is wasn't the remap that caused it.

 

[JimmyM]

similar thread here - might be worth a read if you’ve not seen previously and are looking to try build a pattern

My Audi S3 engine exploded while driving it

Hey guy’s do you have any info of more cases like this my Audi was 100 % stock

www.audi-sport.net

Thank you sir, I had not seen that.

 

[JimmyM]

Looking at ETKA the 2.0TFSI engine in the A6 C8 was not used in the A3 range, but was used in the A4 and A7 45 TFSI

Thanks for the info B5NUT! Much appreciated.

 

[abmat]

So if I read this right are you trying to claim on your insurance for an engine you had remapped and to back up your claim asking Audi to confirm that the remap wouldn’t have caused the issue?

just my 2p but what I suspect happened is you slightly bent a rod, but the engine didn’t fully hydro lock.

I fear you may have a battle on your hands and the remap will not help your cause.
If it wasn’t mapped you could possibly lay the blame at Audi for not conducting a thorough enough inspection post swim where they might have identified an issue, then claimed through them. They will deny the claim because of the map.
I suspect the insurers will try and lay the blame on a manufacturing defect, but your warranty claim is void because of the map.

 

[JimmyM]

So if I read this right are you trying to claim on your insurance for an engine you had remapped and to back up your claim asking Audi to confirm that the remap wouldn’t have caused the issue?

just my 2p but what I suspect happened is you slightly bent a rod, but the engine didn’t fully hydro lock.

I fear you may have a battle on your hands and the remap will not help your cause.
If it wasn’t mapped you could possibly lay the blame at Audi for not conducting a thorough enough inspection post swim where they might have identified an issue, then claimed through them. They will deny the claim because of the map.
I suspect the insurers will try and lay the blame on a manufacturing defect, but your warranty claim is void because of the map.

Thanks for your thoughts abmat.

Your analysis seems sound (unfortunately for me). I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[JimmyM]

Hi all,

Just to close the loop on this, I got lucky, the insurance paid for it. PHEW!!!!! Audi tell me that the repair came to £14k!!!!

Thanks all for your input.

 

[abmat]

Chuffed for you. Well done.

 

[DaveW]

Result!