spluttering and misfiring on cold start-up cured

[voorhees]

well at the moment it is so I hope I haven't spoke too soon.
to recap what works been done
Audi spent eight days with it and changed the coolant tempature sensor,did compression test,fuel pressure test when cold and warm,checked without maf,took readings from throttle body and came to the conclusion that the Revo remap was the problem and a replacement ECU was needed but said go and see the Revo dealer for possible software repair...oh and all the time and work done on the car was covered by my extended warranty (£730!!)

Vince at Stealth Racing had the car for little over an hour overall and changed the coilpacks first which had no effect then did the plugs and re-adapted/cleaned the throttle body which has cured it his charge was £150 for parts and labour now put that against the price of a new ecu (600) and fitting by Audi which wouldn't have fixed it makes you realise what the so called 'master' technician actually is a master of what?

 

[Aky]

Hope it cures it mate. I'm tempted to get my throttle body cleaned and re-adapted. Good luck

 

[FactionOne]

voorhees - good to hear you got it sorted and while dodging the expense from Audi. I know of a similar story... My better half's A3 was having some 'sputtering and stuttering' issues and loads of work was done, new ECU being part of it. The problem remained. I've since had it on VAG-COM (a lot) and with a bit of driving, logging, operating the throttle-body by hand and staring at excel sheets full of values, it became more obvious the throttle body is a bit sticky when just coming on/off the pedal. I gave it a quick clean while in situ and re-aligned it which temporarily improved things but it still needs to come off and be cleaned thoroughly. I think that might be a job for the forthcoming lazy week I have between old-job and new!

Aky - As far as I can see it's a bit of a fiddly job to remove and reinstall yourself, but certainly pretty far from impossible. If you feel confident you can get it off and on a quick squirt of brake-cleaner (or similar) and some elbow-grease will do the trick. As for re-aligning it, anyone with VAG-COM can do it (From memory it's as simple as hitting basic-settings for a particular value and leaving it to do its thing for about 30 seconds).

Regards,

Rob.

 

[Clach]

Like mate, interested in this post...did the engine management light come on at all with yours during this whole event? Mine did not, and seems to be the key difference from the most common problem (Coilpacks). As a consequence, I can see Audi going for the ECU solution with me!!!?

 

[AndyMac]

In my experience Audi are hopeless when it comes to this type of issue. They don't seem to know anything about common problems and their answer to everything is to just replace major parts until the problem goes away. Great if your warranty covers it, not so good if it's your money they're spending.

 

[Clach]

and they are an arrogant bunch and all.. sadly, I lack options at this moment with one reputable garage already admitting defeat, and pointing to a possible computer problem..

Sorry for hijacking the post with my own concerns!

 

[marms]

Gone are the days when main dealer have 'master technicians' they are simply fitters these days. If what they fit doesn't correct the problem then simple.... change something else. It's not restricted to the Audi franchise however, more like a motor trade wide thing these days.

Diagnose a problem! thats a laugh, If the computer says there is nothing wrong then there is nothing wrong. Doesn't matter than the car is running on three cylinders and sounding like a big bag of rusty old spanners, the 'computer says no' (fault).

I do think that it is down to your local dealer though. Some are much better than others. I am quite impressed with my local Audi dealer. They have been more than helpful with all my retrofitting and I have had a fair bit of 'free' advice from both their service manager and master technician. My dealer is also 'chip friendly' so thats a bonus as well.

The dealer in question - Lincoln Audi.

It has long been know that the specialists are where the knowledge is and vorhees has proved that once again. Well done Stealth Racing, lets hope the fix is permanent.

 

[Felon]

Voorhees
I am delighted that you car has been fixed and fingers crossed that the problem doesn't come back. On this occasion though I am going to stick up for my local dealer who diagnosed and fixed exactly the same problem for me as detailed in the original Spluttering and Dieing thread back in mid December (sorry - haven't worked out how to insert a thread link yet). My comment to this thread on the 17th Decemer was this:

START
Just heard back from the dealer.

Firstly they were able to replicate the cold starting problem I was having - always a good thing...

They mentioned 2 issues specifically:

- the throttle body needs readapting so it is letting the correct amount of air through. On mine it has lost it's original settings and needs a good clean.

- the thermostat needs replacing

They're going to hang on to it overnight so they can check it again in the morning.

Finger's crossed - but they seem confident...
END

Since this work was done I have had no problems.

All the work was carried out under warranty and they had the car for an afternoon, overnight and then the following morning.

So whilst I agree some dealers are shocking I have no complaints about Audi Southampton in Chandler's Ford. My last 3 Audis have come from them and so far they've been excellent.

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=461126

 

[jesters3]

Got the old spluttering issue at the mo which coincides with a 17705 boost leak some where anyway I cleaned the throttle body at the weekend to help it out. Very straightforward to do:

courtesy of CLS3

TB Cleaning...for A3 1.8T and similar not S3 due to the throttle body being on the left of the inlet manifold and not on the right as in 210/225 S3/TT but same process applies to all http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/thread/222737.aspx


Also see this... http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=39658&highlight=throttle+body+gas ket a lot of good stuff on there but to sumurise, it might be worth getting a new throttle body gasket part number 028129748 and £1.82 inc VAT from Audi (bought mine today!) and the throttle body bolts are done to 8Nm of torque.

I think people say to disconnect the battery to reset the throttle body if it is drive by wire, is yours cable or drive by wire? and i'm sure someone said that they suprisingly didn't have to put in their headunit code.

If yours is cable operated might be worth not disconnecting the battery so that you def don't need the headunit code.

 

[Clach]

It is cable....! However, I cannot see Audi going for that simple explanation, and to be fair the 'juddering' just started as I was sitting at some traffic lights....and as I said, the symptoms are exactly those on a faulty coilpack, bar the EML light not coming on - but will do this as the weather gates warmer... Thanks

 

[madvw]

nice one vorhees - I'm really suprised you got them to foot the bill for diagnostics and they knew it had a revo remap. Somehow you 've managed to be covered for 2 situations which are explicitly exluded from the terms of the Audi extended warranty!!

 

[HTC]

If your car has a cable throttle, then I'm guessing its an AGU engine code. If this is the case the coil pack probably will not be at fault as the transistor amp stage (which is the part that fails) is not located within the coil packs for early cars. The amp stage is located on the side of the airbox and has been know to fail on some people, me included.

Also just to add, after cleaning the throttle body of a cable opperated engine, all you need to do it turn the ignition on and wait for the unit to stop buzzing. No need to connect to VAGCOM like later DBW cars.

 

[voorhees]

Great if your warranty covers it, not so good if it's your money they're spending.

I didn't have to spend my money but it still is very annoying and I am writing a letter to the manager to let him know my feelings.

 

[voorhees]

nice one voorhees - I'm really suprised you got them to foot the bill for diagnostics and they knew it had a revo remap. Somehow you 've managed to be covered for 2 situations which are explicitly excluded from the terms of the Audi extended warranty!!

Revo are authorised dealers in remaps for VAG cars and that stealers said Revo had been in the place a few weeks previous so I think thats why they were okay with it going on warranty

 

[Clach]

If your car has a cable throttle, then I'm guessing its an AGU engine code. If this is the case the coil pack probably will not be at fault as the transistor amp stage (which is the part that fails) is not located within the coil packs for early cars. The amp stage is located on the side of the airbox and has been know to fail on some people, me included.

cheers mate, l will be ramming this down Audi's throat when or if they decide to call me back...would this explain no ECL on the dash? There were faults detected but no light!!!!

Thanks for your thoughts...:icon_thumright:

 

[madvw]

as far as i know, the only semi-approved tuners for VAG are oettinger or ABT. Even then though, i've not seen a factory oettinger for a long time.

Other dealerships approve different remaps, as for instance i've heard of MTM, and now Revo too.

 

[Felon]

Just a quick update for those that are interested or still suffering from this... My cold start problems reappeared - despite the work that was done above. Exacty the same sysmptoms so booked it back into Southampton Audi who did a VAG check and concluded that it was still to do with the throttle body. Rather than clean it and 'readapt' it again, they replaced it under warranty. Since then it has been fine and on the cold mornings we have been having recently has started perfectly and without fuss each time. Fingers crossed!!

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

cheers mate, l will be ramming this down Audi's throat when or if they decide to call me back...would this explain no ECL on the dash? There were faults detected but no light!!!!

Thanks for your thoughts...:icon_thumright:

I'm sorry this has nothing to do with the thread but I thought that was great... I imagine you as Arnie now...
"Killian nothing would give me greater pleasure than to see you eat that contract... but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because im going to ram it down your throat and break off your spine!"