Audi A4 B8 TDI - common issues?

Special Circumstances

Hi,
This is a complete coincidence and nothing to do with the rubbish in the chat thread!

OK, so I drove a friends new-to-him Audi at the weekend and scanned it with my Chinese DS150 diagnostics yokey. There are a few things that troubled me about it, does anyone have experience of the following:

Worrying:
1) Funny noise when clutch is pressed and released. A rumbley whirring noise? A kind of a light rattle as something rotated? Hard to describe. Sounds like money departing someones wallet soon to me!
2) Notchy steering - noticeable clunks going lock to lock either direction at slow speeds. Fluid was just below the mesh filter in the reservoir. Topped it up a tiny bit, did some carpark figure of 8s to try work out any air that might be there but that didn't help really.
(also, aux belt or something in that loop is squealing at idle and slow speeds until well warmed up)

Haven't a notion what these mean:
3) "instrument control unit - 00003 - faulty or no basic setting/adaption"
4) "Gateway - 03041 - energy saving mode active, permanent" - seems to be related to low batter power??? Got "battery weak, about to shut down if you don't schnell the fock up" during the course of the diagnostic scan. Battery voltage indicated as 11.98V, alternator output measured with multimeter at 14.6V at idle. (One horse of a battery, $$$ I presume?)

Less troubling / fairly shtandard electrical VAGlins.
5) 02615,02616, Fuel filler cap lock/unlock short cct to gnd or open - permanent.
6) 02115 - locking unit central locking, faulty signal, permanent.


So any ideas, anything particularly worrying, "get it seen to NOW" in what I've described. He was fed a bit of a suspect story already about the steering or so it seemed to me hearing it second hand, hence asking for internet diagnoses as a backup to mechanic. Something could have been lost in translation but it seemed to be described as "feature" rather a "bug".

q85dw7osi4lebg

2) Notchy steering - noticeable clunks going lock to lock either direction at slow speeds.

This sounds like front suspension bushings to me. Had the same problem in a TT.

JoeA3

Is your friend CIP4?

bazz26

No.1 could possibly be the dual mass flywheel which is a common enough problem on modern diesels but hard to know from just a description.

Special Circumstances

JoeA3 wrote: »

Is your friend CIP4?

This is a coincidence, and an unfortunate one at that, and nothing to do with the weekly CIP4 baiting. I genuinely know somebody with an A4 who is definitely not CIP4, and I'd like to see him avoid major misfortune with his latest VAG.

166man

Given there are so many available out there, unless its significantly cheaper than others I'd avoid.

Del2005

166man wrote: »

Given there are so many available out there, unless its significantly cheaper than others I'd avoid.

This is the usual post, from well after purchase, with what appears to have been zero checks done by the purchaser before handing over their money.

CIP4

It's sounds like the battery is on the way out with that voltage mine was reading higher than that and still fcuked as it was nearly flattening itself trying to start which is probably causing problem 4. I have never seen problem 3 but it could be possible that that's being caused by the battery ? Did you clear the faults to see if they come back. If you look up battery meter enabling MMI A4 there is a simple way to enable the MMI to display the battery level not sure if your diagnostics will be able to do it or not.

The battery is in the boot in them it's 95Ah so it's a fair horse of a battery alright. If you are replacing it try Audi as the genuine Quantum ones are not massive money. Plus if you are unlucky when you swap the battery the car will look for the BEM code which from what I gather only comes on genuine batteries but apparently it's unlikely to look for the code.

CapriDan

Reading the battery voltage won't give the full story, you need to load test it. You'll find with the cold mornings too that it will pull more current to crank the engine. The diesel starters draw huge current given that it's compression ignition. If it drops below 9.5v or so when you turn it over then the battery is on the way out. The 6th fault is a microswitch in a door lock anyways. If you plug in with VCDS it'll tell you exactly which one.

9935452

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Hi,
This is a complete coincidence and nothing to do with the rubbish in the chat thread!

OK, so I drove a friends new-to-him Audi at the weekend and scanned it with my Chinese DS150 diagnostics yokey. There are a few things that troubled me about it, does anyone have experience of the following:

Worrying:
1) Funny noise when clutch is pressed and released. A rumbley whirring noise? A kind of a light rattle as something rotated? Hard to describe. Sounds like money departing someones wallet soon to me!
2) Notchy steering - noticeable clunks going lock to lock either direction at slow speeds. Fluid was just below the mesh filter in the reservoir. Topped it up a tiny bit, did some carpark figure of 8s to try work out any air that might be there but that didn't help really.
(also, aux belt or something in that loop is squealing at idle and slow speeds until well warmed up)

Haven't a notion what these mean:
3) "instrument control unit - 00003 - faulty or no basic setting/adaption"
4) "Gateway - 03041 - energy saving mode active, permanent" - seems to be related to low batter power??? Got "battery weak, about to shut down if you don't schnell the fock up" during the course of the diagnostic scan. Battery voltage indicated as 11.98V, alternator output measured with multimeter at 14.6V at idle. (One horse of a battery, $$$ I presume?)

Less troubling / fairly shtandard electrical VAGlins.
5) 02615,02616, Fuel filler cap lock/unlock short cct to gnd or open - permanent.
6) 02115 - locking unit central locking, faulty signal, permanent.


So any ideas, anything particularly worrying, "get it seen to NOW" in what I've described. He was fed a bit of a suspect story already about the steering or so it seemed to me hearing it second hand, hence asking for internet diagnoses as a backup to mechanic. Something could have been lost in translation but it seemed to be described as "feature" rather a "bug".

What mileage is up on the car?
#1 is most likely the dual mass flywheel/clutch . 1250 to fix minimum
#2 The steering on them are a lot heavier than normal, electrically driven i think , open to correction,
# 4 Regarding battery weak crap. I get that too on mine but i believe the battery was changed at some stage. When you change the battery you should get it done at a main dealer and get a genuine one with a code which the dealer will fit for you and code it to tell the car you have a new battery. The car monitors the battery and knows all its vitals. Chamge the battery and the car still thinks that it has the old battery installed and will continuously think its low on juice even though its new.
#5 . mine has the same alarm. The filler cap never locks when the central locking is pressed

dr.fuzzenstein

Did you tell him what you usually say about anything VAG or diesel?

Special Circumstances

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Did you tell him what you usually say about anything VAG or diesel?

Haha I don't tell people I know what to buy or not buy. And I save my rants for online and green party canvassers. Even if they can afford it with da chape tax, i take no joy from someone I know getting caught out by bad engineering.

Speaking of.... Is the 105kw (143bhp? ) engine equipped with an oil pump driving system designed by actual engineers or does it have one of the chocolate ones? CAGA engine.

I do appreciate all the replies guys, as dr fuzz knows I might just self combust if I had to join a VAG forum to ask these questions!!

dr.fuzzenstein

What year is it?

Special Circumstances

166man wrote: »

Given there are so many available out there, unless its significantly cheaper than others I'd avoid.

Del2005 wrote: »

This is the usual post, from well after purchase, with what appears to have been zero checks done by the purchaser before handing over their money.

It was checked... kinda... I'm not sure the mechanic was an independent third party, especially after hearing the second hand version of his explanation for the clunky steering!
Anyway, this is a few months down the line - DMF sh1t happens yo.


Herr Doktor - the build date is 02/2008.

adocholiday

Jaysis I'm 2 days off signing for a 2010 b8 and this has me seriously second guessing!

Special Circumstances

adocholiday wrote: »

Jaysis I'm 2 days off signing for a 2010 b8 and this has me seriously second guessing!

DMF sh1t happens. On a 08 this guy was always likely to face one, at least he'll get the full life of a fresh one now ( if that's what it is) rather than it started to grumble a month before he tries to sell it!

Steering... something is wrong with this particular car, it happens. Nobody seems to indicating that it is common on these or that the clunking is normal.

Funny diagnostics errors - probably weak battery.. could well be the original one, factory batteries always seem to last longer but none of them last forever.

Door/boot/fuelcap electrical gremlins.... well, it's a VAG - I think these come standard!

In short, it's a modern diesel with lots of electrics - some have more problems than others but none are bulletproof. You could do worse in 2010 ... BMW N47 engine lol.

9935452

Special Circumstances wrote: »

It was checked... kinda... I'm not sure the mechanic was an independent third party, especially after hearing the second hand version of his explanation for the clunky steering!
Anyway, this is a few months down the line - DMF sh1t happens yo.


Herr Doktor - the build date is 02/2008.

If she is B8 she has the CR engine and no oil pump issues .

Special Circumstances

Special Circumstances wrote: »

..............
2) Notchy steering - noticeable clunks going lock to lock either direction at slow speeds. Fluid was just below the mesh filter in the reservoir. Topped it up a tiny bit, did some carpark figure of 8s to try work out any air that might be there but that didn't help really...........................

A friend needed a steering rack done on his 2008 A4, Audi looked after him to be fair to an extent.

Another friend in the motor trade claimed the electric steering issues are common in the A4 of that era.

Special Circumstances wrote: »

............
Steering... something is wrong with this particular car, it happens. Nobody seems to indicating that it is common on these or that the clunking is normal.

..............

As said #1 is most likely DMF and as we all know (before the latest report on here) they are not unlikely to fail on an 8 year old car.

Special Circumstances

I'm a little worried... are they electric steering or electro hydraulic.

If they are electric what did I put power steering fluid into.... eeeeek

Special Circumstances

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I'm a little worried... are they electric steering or electro hydraulic.

If they are electric what did I put power steering fluid into.... eeeeek

Dunno the ins and outs of that but there's defo a power steering reservoir at the passenger side just behind the headlight

Special Circumstances

Augeo wrote: »

Dunno the ins and outs of that but there's defo a power steering reservoir at the passenger side just behind the headlight

Electro hydraulic so like the R50 mini. Phew. Had to Google it myself and it still wasn't all that clear.

Truckermal

Nobody mentioned boredom as in a dull drab interior with a awful driving position..

Special Circumstances

Truckermal wrote: »

Nobody mentioned boredom as in a dull drab interior with a awful driving position..

Well now coming from an old subaru I must admit it felt pretty swanky in there, leather seats auto this auto that, buttons everywhere, fancy screen in the dash. Majorly confused with all that spec that it only had wanky halogen lights though!

Pedal offset was also a major let down considering how much I liked everything else. What were they thinking????

Truckermal

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Well now coming from an old subaru I must admit it felt pretty swanky in there, leather seats auto this auto that, buttons everywhere, fancy screen in the dash. Majorly confused with all that spec that it only had wanky halogen lights though!

Pedal offset was also a major let down considering how much I liked everything else. What were they thinking????

Would not consider a Passat CC? They are way superior imo and I sometimes drive a 151 A4..