Problem with Audi A4

Thegingerbear

I drive a 05 2.0Tdi A4 and it has 120,000 miles on the clock. In recent weeks I have noticed that when accelerating in 1st/2nd/3rd gears the power seems to be intermittent and the car feels "jumpy" as in the acceleration is not smooth and consistent. Also in the last few days it seems to have no power when accelerating in 5th and 6th, I press the accelerator and the engine feels dead before finally coming to life. And today I noticed (in my rear view mirror) when accelerating a lot of black fumes coming from the exhaust, it was pretty noticeable. Any opinions/advice?

frank gooding

first instinct is the Dual Mass Fly wheel DMF

These are pricey I'm afraid.

Time for a visit to the garage.
If you are around Dublin I would reccomend the lads in MKW motors 4595266 just off the naas road kingswood exit.
Good independants that are also the Irish Bosch agents.

These guys are training mechanics in awkward diagnostics really know there stuff.

VeVeX

Get a mechanic to have a look and preferably get a diagnostic scan done. Theres a number of reasons your car could display the symptoms you describe.

tossy

frank gooding wrote: »

first instinct is the Dual Mass Fly wheel DMF

What about those symptoms point to a DMF? low on power and extra smoke when accelerating point to a boost/turbo related issue,hopefully for the OP its something as simple as a vacuum leak or a boost pipe come loose.

lau1247

when did you service it last??

Could black smoke link to a need for an oil change?

Henry Ford III

You need to retract the anchor

frank gooding

Funny inconsistent power delivery through low gears.

I offered an opinion not an expert diagnosis scuse me.

homer90

As mentioned, get 'er hooked up to see if any faults are showing, work from there,

mathepac

tossy wrote: »

... low on power and extra smoke when accelerating point to a boost/turbo related issue, ...

+1 - that'd be my first port of call too.

Thegingerbear

Thanks guys for the advice, op here. The car is serviced every 15000km on the button, it was last serviced in May and I had to get another piece of work done to it in July so it's not for want of bringing it to the garage. It's due a service in about 8 weeks but I may get it looked at in the coming week and get the problem sorted. I have never had this sort of problem before with the A4 and this is my third one.

tossy

Thegingerbear wrote: »

Thanks guys for the advice, op here. The car is serviced every 15000km on the button, it was last serviced in May and I had to get another piece of work done to it in July so it's not for want of bringing it to the garage. It's due a service in about 8 weeks but I may get it looked at in the coming week and get the problem sorted. I have never had this sort of problem before with the A4 and this is my third one.

Where in Kildare are you? i can scan it to see if any fault codes show up if you like?

Doesn't seem at all inidicative of DMF.

Thegingerbear

Tossy, sent you a pm

tossy

Thegingerbear wrote: »

Tossy, sent you a pm

Replied.

tom traubert

'Don't know if this will be relevant but here goes anyhow. I've been having similar issues recently with my A4 Avant ('02 - AWX engine). Under performing under acceleration, loads of smoke and fuel consumption noticeably up. I'm used to getting a consistent 45 mpg (ok for my usual trip types) but am down to about 38 currently.

I had it scanned today and no faults showed up leading to a diagnosis of suspect EGR valve. Hopefully I'll have it sorted for under €300.

mathepac

tom traubert wrote: »

... I had it scanned today and no faults showed up leading to a diagnosis of suspect EGR valve. Hopefully I'll have it sorted for under €300.

I hope that sorts out your problem, but IME an EGR / EGR vacuum-control unit fault will normally throw up an orange check-engine light on the dash and a fault code, and you don't seem to have either.

tom traubert

tom traubert wrote: »

'Don't know if this will be relevant but here goes anyhow. I've been having similar issues recently with my A4 Avant ('02 - AWX engine). Under performing under acceleration, loads of smoke and fuel consumption noticeably up. I'm used to getting a consistent 45 mpg (ok for my usual trip types) but am down to about 38 currently.

I had it scanned today and no faults showed up leading to a diagnosis of suspect EGR valve. Hopefully I'll have it sorted for under €300.

The O.P. seems to be gone off the radar on this one so rather than start a fresh thread I'll revive this one.

I had the new EGR valve fitted today along with new heater plugs. I picked it up and drove 15 miles to work. Thankfully smoke noticeably down on before.

Finished work a while ago and began to drive home. I now seem to have a turbo issue. It kicked in on the way to work as it has been doing up to now, even with the dodgy(?) EGR valve.

On way home however, nothing! It just appears to have taken a break, shut down, ceased to be even. The car behaved normally under acceleration in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Each change would have been done below 2,000 revs though. I hit 2,050 revs in 4th then and I got nothing more, even with the foot to the floor.

I'll be back with my mechanic in the morning but in the meantime if anyone cares to comment I'd be interested to hear views.

Thegingerbear

Tom, I have the same problem as that valve you just mentioned and it will cost a few hundred euro to replace it. The most annoying part is that Audi got rid of their distribution centre in Dublin and as a result all spare parts are flown in from Germany and it appears they only do it once a month from what I can make out. I go the car checked out the first week in October and it will be next week before they can fit the part as it is still in Germany. When is your part being fitted?

Thegingerbear

I am only after seeing your last post Tom and thats got me thinking that it could be the turbo and not the valve. I brought the car to Audi in Athlone and they tested it first with the computer and couldn't find anything wrong and then took out the ERG valve to examine it and said it was broken and that they reckoned it to be the problem. As one other poster mentioned a warning light should come on but there was no warning light showing on the dash. That's the problem with garages, they can waste alot of time (and money) trying to fix the problem, maybe its time to trade up again.

tom traubert

Thegingerbear wrote: »

I am only after seeing your last post Tom and thats got me thinking that it could be the turbo and not the valve. I brought the car to Audi in Athlone and they tested it first with the computer and couldn't find anything wrong and then took out the ERG valve to examine it and said it was broken and that they reckoned it to be the problem. As one other poster mentioned a warning light should come on but there was no warning light showing on the dash. That's the problem with garages, they can waste alot of time (and money) trying to fix the problem, maybe its time to trade up again.

Hey Bear.

I don't as a rule use main dealers for anything unless my independant mechanic advises me to. In my case I had the diagnostics done in Howards (well known and well regarded family firm).

I was advised by Mick H to get prices from two independant importers of parts. The valve I got is the same brand as the original one fitted (Pierburg). I bought from Otto (www.otto.ie) (off the Belgard Rd. in Dubland) and found them very good on price - €225 inc. vat. Best price I could get locally was €260 to €280 inc. vat. Otto had the part on the shelf by the way.

With regard to today went back to mechanic earlier. Turbo kicked in as it should. Puzzling! All pipes are in place etc. Will drive on for another few days and hopefully it'll prove to be just a bedding in thing.

tossy

Thegingerbear wrote: »

Audi got rid of their distribution centre in Dublin and as a result all spare parts are flown in from Germany and it appears they only do it once a month from what I can make out.

Whoever told you that is lying,in the past VAG Ireland got all their parts from Germany this means special order parts took a week at least,since the close of the distribution centre all parts are being sourced from the UK meaning a maximum waiting time of 2 days.I've ordered a few special order parts recently and i've had them within 2 days it is great.

Bringing in parts only once a month would be business suicide when you think of all the main dealer and independent garages relying on parts on a daily basis.

tom traubert

Well, my saga continues. Turbo continued to act very confused and sick since last post so got under the car today for a good look. Turns out there's a split in the high pressure flexible hose leading from the turbo to the steel pipe en route to the cooler.

Have to order hose and clips tomorrow. Does anybody have a rough idea of what they'll cost? Cheers.

_Kaiser_

Not sure about that one, but on the OP's issue...

"Jumpiness" and erratic power delivery at low speeds seems to be a common thing on the 2.0 TDI engine in the Passat's (which the OP's Audi shares). It seems worse in warmer weather apparently but there doesn't seem to be a fix - some say it's a software issue, but others say it's a quirk of the engine.

It's a pain though.. had it happen on my 06 Passat a few times where it hesitates/jerks on takeoff - very disconcerting if you're pulling out onto a road.

More over here

tom traubert

tom traubert wrote: »

Well, my saga continues. Turbo continued to act very confused and sick since last post so got under the car today for a good look. Turns out there's a split in the high pressure flexible hose leading from the turbo to the steel pipe en route to the cooler.

Have to order hose and clips tomorrow. Does anybody have a rough idea of what they'll cost? Cheers.

Holy Mary, mother of God............... €240 for hose and fittings!! Really starting to worry I'm heading for throwing good money after bad street.

Thegingerbear

Am still waiting for the valve to arrive from the factory in Germany! Apparently it's on back order, am now one month waiting for the valve to be replaced and now the emmissions light is showing on the dash..

PaulKK

tom traubert wrote: »

Holy Mary, mother of God............... €240 for hose and fittings!! Really starting to worry I'm heading for throwing good money after bad street.

Had something very similar on my old 98tdi passat before, twas 80e for a short rubber pipe, it solved the problem too.

I'd say thats the source of your problems, I was going to say it was your MAF before you mentioned the pipe though.