Cars got even worse!!! (with videos)

[Mi11ar]

Hi guys

Been posting a few times about problems with my Car and I've been given loads of advice by people and I've tried it all and still my Car isn't sorted, problem is the Cars running like a bag of ****, I replaced the engine because my last one seized, along with that I had a de-cat, Honda S2000 air filter and a universal FMIC fitted, since then the Cars just ran terrible, at first it was ok and then it progressed on only happening after an hour or 2 of driving, we plugged it into diagnostics and nothing is coming up everything's running perfectly fine or atleast the system thinks it is... So we replaced the spark plugs and that actually solved the problem for a couple of weeks then it came back and eventually the problems just got progressively worse.

We've swapped parts over from the old engine to try an fault find basically all the sensors have been swapped about apart from the MAF as that's showing up fine on the system.

I recently bought new sparks in a hope it was just them again and nothing changed as expected.

Anyway made these videos and took some pics to try and help.

99 Plate Audi A3 problems - YouTube

99 plate Audi A3 exhaust problems - YouTube

New sparks





Removed old spark



New spark after being in engine 3 minutes



All the sparks were all covered in black ****ty dust, and the 4th plug wouldn't screw in properly when I was tightening it it felt like it was cross threading or something was in the way, I attempted it 4 or 5 times but each time went in strange, the plug was straight and tightened up as normal it was just the process of screwing it in that felt odd.

Anyway I'm at a complete loss the mechanic I always use says it needs a remap and the ECU needs taking out for it, he's pretty dead cert on it being that actually.

What are your thoughts?

 

[s5joe]

What year and engine code

 

[Mi11ar]

1999 and AGU I think

 

[Mi11ar]

I tried running the Car on 2 cylinders and it worked so I went through them always leaving at-least 2 plugged in and I've narrowed it down to the 2nd cylinder as only when that lead and any of the other 3 are plugged in does the the Car not run.

Not only that all 3 other plugs are filthy apart from cylinder 2s plug...

 

[cammage08]

Have a swapped coil packs over?

 

[Mi11ar]

Not sure what you mean, have I bought a new coil pack? or have I got the leads mixed up?

 

[cammage08]

Sorry yeh, have you tried replacing the coil packs?

 

[s3dave]

Tried the ignition amplifier on the airbox? deff only running on 3

 

[Spatula]

^^^ what did you do with your ignition amplifier when you removed your old air filter box and replaced with a cone?

 

[Oranoco]

Tried the ignition amplifier on the airbox? deff only running on 3

This would be where I would be looking

 

[Mi11ar]

Yes it could be that actually! I tied it to some trunken near were the old air box was, but the mechanic that changed my engine has left it hanging in the engine compartment it could have been knocked or had moisture on it causing it to fail.

This will be why he thought it needed a map because that will have helped control the air/fuel mix, I'll get onto finding myself one asap Euro Parts sell them? and how difficult are they to replace?

 

[s5joe]

Yer Euro sell them all they do is plug in like a coil pack

 

[Mi11ar]

Can someone send me the link for them on Euro Parts or somewhere similar that does next day or weekend delivery? I can't seem to find them :s

 

[drewman]

I had a problem with the wiring from ignition amp (i think) to coil pack, cable had almost broken making a poor connection and intermittent stutter.

Might be worth a check

 

[s5joe]

Here you go BERU Volkswagen | Euro Car Parts UK’s No.1 Car Parts Retailer

 

[Mi11ar]

Thanks allot guys I've ordered it and will arrive Saturday I think I'll keep you all posted!!

 

[Spatula]

Good luck buddy! Hope that's fixed your problem!!

 

[Mi11ar]

Thanks buddy!!

 

[JD09]

Ignition amplifier? Never heard of this. Is this present on 2002 vehicles?

 

[Spatula]

It's the little sensor thing attached to the side of the box air filter, has a cable coming out of either side and when unbolted has a metal heatsink strip thing across the back. More than likely present on the 2002 vehicles..

 

[JD09]

It's the little sensor thing attached to the side of the box air filter, has a cable coming out of either side and when unbolted has a metal heatsink strip thing across the back. More than likely present on the 2002 vehicles..

Interesting. I have nothing attached to my airbox as it's been sat in my shed for two years since fitting a larger TIP... worrying! Lol.

 

[Gops]

Not on ours JD! We don't have it. Out coilpacks are different and don't have an ICU

 

[JD09]

Not on ours JD! We don't have it. Out coilpacks are different and don't have an ICU

Cheers Gops!!

 

[s5joe]

It's only on agu engine codes a normal garage won't know it's there and say it's a ecu fault I got a golf turbo with loads of mods on it a few years ago by a garage saying it requires a ecu and it was this cost me £100 job done

 

[Mi11ar]

Yea that's exactly what my garage was saying they were asking for £200 for a custom map which wouldn't have solved the issue.... lol

 

[s5joe]

No not one bit waste of £200

 

[Mi11ar]

Might sound like a stupid question but - the part doesn't arrive until Monday but I'm in work Monday and will need my car to travel there, will driving the Car in this state risk damaging it more.

I think I know the answer to this already I'm just hoping for a miracle.

 

[s5joe]

yep very much so did you shop about for it as i got one the same day

 

[Mi11ar]

yep very much so did you shop about for it as i got one the same day

used the link you gave me and paid extra for next day delivery on Thursday... only for it to arrive Monday lol

 

[s5joe]

fair enough i got mine from culmac

 

[Mi11ar]

I've emailed them anyway if push comes to shove I'll get the poverty bus to work 8 miles away haha

 

[RobinJI]

Hopefully the ignition amp will sort it, but if it doesn't:

Have the injectors been checked? If one's clogged/jammed then the other 3 will be chucking extra fuel in to keep the lambda sensor happy. It'd explain why 3 plugs are sooting up and one's staying clean. You could try moving the injector and coil-pack from the cylinder you know isn't firing to 2 different cylinders, and see if the miss-fire moves with either component. (Simple, free and rules out 2 more possibilities.)

It could also be worth checking it hasn't got a 4 bar fuel reg or bigger injectors in there too, as either could cause over-fueling and would be easily missed when fitting a replacement engine.

Good luck with it.

 

[Mi11ar]

Thanks I'll try this out if the amp fails me

 

[Mi11ar]

ok fitted the ignition amp and nothings changed, do I need to disconnect the battery or do anything after fitting it or should it just plug and play?

if it's not that is there any other quick checks/fixes I could try?

 

[s5joe]

Its just a plug and play. Your wire harness has not been damaged when you done your engine change

 

[Mi11ar]

The wiring loom that came with the engine was wrong apparently and the one on my old engine didn't fit so he had to make his own using the 2 it is possible that he's got this wrong but if that's the case it doesn't help me as there's not much I can do about that now.

I needed to get to work today in the Car but took a day off thinking this part would solve my issues I need to get to work tomorrow and it's still not fixed.... is it possible the Car may have not yet picked up the change or? I'm at a complete loss, the leads have been changed, the crank shaft sensor (or w/e it's called) has been changed, spark plugs changed twice (that fixed it once before)

Only thing I can think of is a faulty lambda as he tried to remove the sensor from the de-cat pipe but it wouldn't budge as it seems to have now seized into place and he can't remove it without risking damaging the sensor.

Thoughts?

 

[cammage08]

Did u say youd replaced coil packs with new ones?

 

[aviel131]

tryed the coil packs?

 

[Mi11ar]

I used the ones from the old engine a while ago and that never solved the problem, although a few moments after doing that I changed the spark plugs which did temporally solve the issue.

How do I test the coil packs again?

 

[aviel131]

maybe the gap of the spark plug is incorrect
or your problem is cylinder compression.