Good Audi garage

Andy454

Hi Folks,

I have an 03 audi a4 cabriolet, the engine management light keeps coming on.

It had its 85k service in February and was due a service its 95k service in october.

At 96k the engine management light came on so I took it into the local dealer.

He serviced it and said a lot of soot was on the catholic converter but said everything else was fine, engine coils were fresh (only replaced at 60k), spark plugs ok.

I took it out on the road and the indicator came on again, this time it was fuel mix too lean error.

when I brought it back they said it was a valve that needed replacement.

I paid them for this work took it on the road again and the light came back on.

When I took it back again they said the error was fuel mix to lean lamda sensor bank 1 and air mass meter.

They said the best thing to do was to replace the lamda sensor first (400euro) and see on the air mass meter (they said the air mass meter would be about 400euro for just the part!!) - sure enough, was ten minutes down the road and the light came on again .

I decided to try another audi garage (after spending 923euro in the last one they don't seem to have a clue of whats going on) They said they could do the air mass meter for 200 euro so I let them do the work.

Again driving down the motorway the light came on - still rough in idle ( when I rang the garage they said could be an engine coil / spark plug / dirty injectors causing the miss fire - may require a complete engine overhaul!

I thought regular servicing was supposed to avoid these major catastrophes!

Anyone had this problem before / know somewhere with good experience of sorting these issues out that isn't going to cost the earth?

My pocket is 1131 euros lighter and I am no closer to solving this problem!!

voxpop

intake or vacuum leak letting extra air into the system - causing the engine to run lean - probably a cracked or broken pipe somewhere. That my guess anyway.

coylemj

Andy454 wrote: »

He serviced it and said a lot of soot was on the catholic converter but said everything else was fine

The Mormon converters are much cleaner than the Catholic ones!

Neilw

I take it the engine in your audi is the 1.8t?

You need to leave it into a garage with the correct diagnostic equipment (vcds) and I would also recommend getting the breather hoses checked for leaks.
I can't for the life of me see how a maf or lambda are 400 euro each, get someone who knows these engines to look at it.

Andy454

Yes - it is the 1.8t model - (how did u guess?) I was thinking along those lines as well - thanks for your opinion - probably the original problem as well - any ideas on a good place to get it sorted?

tossy

Andy454 wrote: »

Yes - it is the 1.8t model - (how did u guess?) I was thinking along those lines as well - thanks for your opinion - probably the original problem as well - any ideas on a good place to get it sorted?

Where are you located? might help people in recommending a place.

Gophur

coylemj wrote: »

The Mormon converters are much cleaner than the Catholic ones!

Nah, the Protestant ones are better, but the Puritan ones the most expensive. Amish ones , if you're putting them on a horse!

brennarr

Pretty much same thing happened to my dads 2006 A6 2.0T. Light would never stay off more than 10 mins after replacing a sensor. Had to keep replacing each one until the light stayed off. Cost him a fortune.

Andy454

I live in leixlip - but I don't mind travelling out to find someone who is competent enought to get this thing sorted.

Neilw

Andy454 wrote: »

I live in leixlip - but I don't mind travelling out to find someone who is competent enought to get this thing sorted.

I can scan it with vcds if you like, will give a good indication to what the problem is. I can also recommend someone who knows these engines inside out who will be able to fix it.

PM me, I work in Leixlip.

mickdw

This is scandalous. €1100 spent on what I can only assume are the wrong parts.
Was this actually an Audi dealer? If so, I would be inclined to sue them. I mean a random person with zero knowledge of cars would come up with the diagnosis they have by looking at the computer. They are supposed to be able to make educated diagnosis based on the faults present. In this case, they didnt do that in any coherent manner and frankly, they appear to just be ripping you off. Also, €400 for a MAF sensor is way too much now. Sure they used to be about 300 a few years ago but they should be available for a fraction of that now.

sean1141

i got a maf for my tdi a few weeks ago for 75 sterling.. dont know if the petrol ones are any differant do

tossy

Neilw wrote: »

I can scan it with vcds if you like, will give a good indication to what the problem is. I can also recommend someone who knows these engines inside out who will be able to fix it.

PM me, I work in Leixlip.

I know the person Neil is talking about and i would second that,good competent independent mechanic.

frank gooding

The lads in MKW motors will defo sort out the car for you.

Keith is excellent when it comes to difficult diagnostic work.

014595266

The are just off the new outer ringroad from Lucan to kingswood, about 10 mins from leixlip.

CorkVAG

Hi

You mentioned that the "Coils were fresh" were they ever changed before for a missfire? if so you may have a damaged CAT as when the car is missfiring it allows un-burned fuel to enter the CAT where it ignites causing massive heat build up and thus causing damage to the CAt which will bring on the light.

Andy454

An update -

I had another mechanic look at it - he found oil in the two of the coils from a bad seal in the head gasket - he replaced the seal and dried out the coils.

The error recieved is fuel mix to lean bank one.

He changed the coil pack from bank one to bank four and the injector from bank one to bank three in an effort to track down the issue.

I noticed the car runs much smoother and however the light came on again, this time the same error returned - fuel mix to lean bank one, so it appears fuel injector is ok, coil pack is ok.

He doesn't think it has anything to do with the air intake system as the error continuously shows on bank 1.

He says he has checked all hoses and breathers and all seems ok.

I close to doing a homer simpson job and putting a bit of tape over the light!

Andy454

CorkVAG wrote: »

Hi

You mentioned that the "Coils were fresh" were they ever changed before for a missfire? if so you may have a damaged CAT as when the car is missfiring it allows un-burned fuel to enter the CAT where it ignites causing massive heat build up and thus causing damage to the CAt which will bring on the light.

The coils were changed at about 45k about 3 years ago - I was driving to galway when car lost power and became extremely rough - when I had it towed back they discovered the engine coils had failed.

The first garage did note there was alot of soot in the converter - I didn't think much of it as there is presently 96k on the clock.

Andy454

At last an end to my saga...

The mechanic noticed that when the car was running he could not physically unscrew the engine oil cap due to suction.

He found that the EG01 valve had failed and was causing the engine to suck air through the oil system.

he found one of the filters supplying oil had become clogged with just a narrow opening allowing oil through.

he replaced eg01 valve and a small diaphram - car hasn't had an engine management indication since.

He informed me that had I driven on a long drive I would have starved the engine of oil and wrecked it!

I am absolutely horrified at how Audi approved service agent and a "specialist in performance cars" both told me I could drive no problem without damaging my car!!

I feel I should give post the name of the garage that did ultimately solve my problem - he fixed my car with no bother and for a very reasonable cost!

-Chris-

Andy454 wrote: »

I feel I should give post the name of the garage that did ultimately solve my problem - he fixed my car with no bother and for a very reasonable cost!

Work away!