Audi A3 2.0 TDi Sport - Advice on Glowplug Issue Required

[meestaman123]

Hi,

I recently purchased a late 2004 2.0 TDi Sport (the BKD engine I believe) and although the car runs great I recently scanned it with VCDS and am seeing electrical errors on all 4 glowplugs:

-------
Address 01: Engine Labels: 03G-906-016-BKD.lbl
Part No SW: 03G 906 016 FF HW: 028 101 190 5
Component: R4 2,0L EDC 0000SG 6337
Revision: 12345678 Serial number: AUX7Z0D7FNB096
Coding: 0000072
Shop #: WSC 06435 000 00000
VCID: 6CDCC6EE70D1E17C


4 Faults Found
17055 - Cylinder 1 Glow Plug Circuit (Q10): Electrical Fault
P0671 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 136.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.08 V
Bin. Bits: 00000100
Temperature: 9.0°C
Bin. Bits: 00110000


17056 - Cylinder 2 Glow Plug Circuit (Q11): Electrical Fault
P0672 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 136.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.08 V
Bin. Bits: 00000100
Temperature: 9.0°C
Bin. Bits: 00110000


17057 - Cylinder 3 Glow Plug Circuit (Q12): Electrical Fault
P0673 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 136.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.08 V
Bin. Bits: 00000100
Temperature: 9.0°C
Bin. Bits: 00110000


17058 - Cylinder 4 Glow Plug Circuit (Q13): Electrical Fault
P0674 - 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
RPM: 0 /min
Torque: 136.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Load: 0.0 %
Voltage: 12.08 V
Bin. Bits: 00000100
Temperature: 9.0°C
Bin. Bits: 00110000


Readiness: 0 0 0 0 0


As I'm new to Audi/VW (I've worked and owned mainly on Peugeot/Citroen cars), I just wanted to get some advice from more knowledgeable guys on the forum. I haven't checked yet but will open it up and have a look at the glowplugs but I assume as it's an electrical error on all 4 it may be the injector/glowplug loom ?

Can't really notice any problems with starting or running but want to keep the car tip-top. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated as I'm really not up to date on VAG cars.

 

[smiler2012]

to test the glow plugs use a test light connect it to the positive side on battery and put on tip of glow plug and see if test light lights up if no then glow plugs faulty if yes then check wireing

 

[meestaman123]

Thanks for the pointers - I take it I can use a multimeter and earth it then just check voltage at each one ? Should it be 12 volt(ish) ? Just like to be very careful with the electronics/ECUs etc. on these cars.

Thanks again mate.

 

[NHN]

Lets be honest 4 plugs all at same time is highly unlikely, there's a known issue with the looms, check this 1st, its highly uncommon to have all 4 plugs go at same time.

 

[meestaman123]

I'll open things up and have a look - from reading a bit more I think you're correct,it's looking like a replacement loom is required. No noticeable effects from this yet but I don't want to wait until I start getting running issues.

Thanks for taking time to reply

 

[Graham89]

How hard is the loom to replace. Is it Audi only? And any idea on costs? I don't mind getting my hands dirty

 

[meestaman123]

How hard is the loom to replace. Is it Audi only? And any idea on costs? I don't mind getting my hands dirty

Hi Graham,

From reading a bit into this it doesn't look like a hard job - it's basically the wiring that runs to the injectors and the glow plugs under the rocker cover of the engine. Cost seems to be between £80-100 so not terribly bad. I'm going to have to investigate and see if this is what's causing these errors to flag - obviously I'm thinking if it's heater plug errors now then later on it could be injector signal issues i.e. cutting out the engine of the car which is not something I want !

I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks to everyone who posted.

 

[meestaman123]

So, stripped it all down and looks nice and tidy - nice new looking timing belt on there (car came with FSH). Got under rocker cover and connector was totally off glowplug number 3 (well 3rd from timing belt end) !

Connected this back up but scan showing the same - loom doesn't look great and given the design I'm just replacing it as a matter of course. Mostly I like to only fix things that are broken but if I come across a part which looks rather 'weak' then I'd rather replace it knowing it's 100% then. Seems like the connectors are a bit loose then on these plugs - strange ! Anyway, new loom it is and then it may lead to some new glow plugs as well - with this design I'm guessing that loose connectors could arc and burn out the plugs ???

p.s. anyone else ever had this - connectors popping off of the glowplugs ? Also, shouldn't this result in an engine MIL light on ? I've had no limp modes and no MIL light - the only way I even knew about these errors was scanning with VCDS (after buying the car it was driven 300 miles back home with no issues and has yet to have one problem) ?

Hopefully get this sorted soon - new loom ordered and shouldn't be hard to put in.

 

[chrissybhoy]

Iv had the same glow plug error for 3 years now, should get it looked at really lol hasn't caused me any issues so far