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[Audi A3/S3] Poor idle, flat spots and mpgs


jamieg
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Hi can anyone help me with my A3 1.8T Quattro that has the following issues.

My car is bouncing around when idling, it's not bouncing much but the needle is moving up & down & I can feel a judder in the car, this is whilst sitting still.

When driving along normally if I'm stopping I put the clutch down and the rev's drop to 500 then quickly go back to slightly over 700 again, just over 700rpm is normal, this is also the case if I start the car when it's warm, when cold it's ok but I guess thats the auto choke.

When accelerating hard up hill or flat the power hesitates at around 4000 rpm then after around 2 seconds it kicks in again.

When I change gear I dip the clutch and the car jolts, it's not a smooth as it was, seems very jerky - especially pulling away.

I think also the turbo is much louder, this is very recent though, the other issues have been around for a little while, the whistle noise seems louder on the car, it seems to be coming loud through the air vents, that's how it sounds, it just could be from the back of the engine.

Very poor MPG's, normally I get 32mpg but getting around 26mpg's seems to be peeing fuel, not a cheep habit just now :(;) .

I've tried the following to remedy the issues

Changed MAF sensor

Changed Spark Plugs

Changed Air Filter

Cleaned Throttle Body Housing + reset ECU

Oil was low so I've topped up again as this A3 is one of the oil guzzlers

After doing the MAF and plugs this did improve the hesitation.

I would appreciate any help and cheers for taking the time to read.

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I think also the turbo is much louder, this is very recent though, the other issues have been around for a little while, the whistle noise seems louder on the car, it seems to be coming loud through the air vents, that's how it sounds, it just could be from the back of the engine.

This whistle noise you can hear are you sure it isn't coming form the dump valve? rev the engine with your ear next to the DV, if its making a kind of 'fluttering' noise (hard to describe but you'll know what I mean if you hear it!!) on pedal lift off it's gone.

I had the DV go on me and it was making the car act pretty similar to how you have described..DV's are around £20 from vagparts. I wouldn't mess around though replacing parts like you have just take it to a specialist and they will find the fault straight away.

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if its making a kind of 'fluttering' noise (hard to describe but you'll know what I mean if you hear it!!) on pedal lift off it's gone.

Yeah I know what you mean about the fluttering noise, I had that not long after I had the car, Audi either clean or replaced the DV, I've checked this but no fluttering noise at all - I do appreciate the reply mate - thanks

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I can confirm that I'm getting no lights up at all.

To check the coil pack I read somewhere you could use a fine water spray at night over them, if they arc then there is a problem with one of the coil packs.

I'm awaiting a com cable and will get vag-com onto the fault but was trying to fix it before this arrived, as fuel is peeing through.

I've checked again tonight to ensure MAF pipes and throttle body housing pipes are fitted right without any gaps/leaks.

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Hi mate,

I reckon too that you should check your coil packs.I had similar problems to you as well.Vag should log random misfire faults but not always. Also If you have the push down packs these tend to get warm and expand and pop up a bit its worth a look at them.The earlier types were bolted down.I ended up with a burnt out coil pack that shorted the fuse out.The pack was a mess.Hope you get it sorted.

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I got my vag-com today and these errors have been displayed - can any help with these, look like a possible O2 sensor.

_____________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, 18 June 2008, 20:24:51

VAG-COM Version: Release 409.1-US

Control Module Part Number: 06A 906 032 R

Component and/or Version: 1.8L R4/5VT 0004

Software Coding: 05600

Work Shop Code: WSC 06435

3 Faults Found:

16514 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: Malfunction in Circuit

P0130 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

17521 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

P1113 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

18010 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

P1602 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent ****Looks like when I disconnected the battery to run a reset on the ECU following throttle body cleaning****

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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The O2 sensor is looking like the problem according to your error codes. In fact I would say 99.9% it's your O2 sensor :)

You can get one for around £30-£40, but please don't take my word for it, if in doubt get the car to specialist who would be more than happy (most of them!) to stop you going in around in circles. Let me know your location and I could point you to one if needed.

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Clear the codes and check them a few days later.There is an reddiness test that you can do on vag. A pass and fail, this shows these sensors.

Cheers Mr Kipper but I'm not sure I can do this as I've got version 409 shareware/limited version.

If anyone knows a way to clear the codes & do a reddiness test using this version can you let us know please.

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What about if you disconnect the battery for an hour, thought the ECU got flushed then

I've had the battery out for 20 mins to flush the ECU the other day, just after I cleaned the throttle body housing.

I guess this has wiped the errors, just need to find out how to do a reddiness test with this lovely vag-com v409 :) if it's possible.

Maybe my first point of call is to replace o2 lambda then remove battery to clear faults if required.

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Clear the codes and check them a few days later.There is an reddiness test that you can do on vag. A pass and fail, this shows these sensors.

I've now managed to clear the above errors and will check again in a couple of days, I've also done a reddiness test and with engine on and idle everything passed.

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See how the car goes. When starts to go on the blink check the vag See if any faults get logged again.Some models have 2 sensors in the manifold, I sure that you can get live data from vag. Scroll throught the blocks and see what you can find.

he he he, it's always on the blink ;)

Well once started the rev's are always bouncing at idle - yesterday did some more with it, I was listening to the coil packs as seen elsewhere and heard a cracking noise on pack 2 so I've removed it and given a good clean this has remove the hesitation I was getting when booting the car through the gears from what it seems yesterday, I got back home after a 30 min drive got vag-com connected up again and 17521 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor; B1 S1: Internal Resistance too High it looks like an o2 sensor is good to go, will probably clean up all coil packs first as you never know! "worth a try"

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  • 4 weeks later...

The plot thickens.

Following on from all this, I've now replaced all four coil packs as from my knowledge my car has never had them done, I've also had the lambda done which has improved things a lot, the idle is way better but I'm still getting quite a bit of hesitation through the gears at around 2500rpm, once the turbo kicks in it's fine but getting big judders when cold. I've also ran vag-com on the engine again and the following appeared.

AG-COM Version: Release 409.1-S

Chassis Type: 8L - Audi A3/S3

Scan: 01,02,03,08,15,17,22,35,37,45,54,55,56

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Address 01: Engine

Controller: 06A 906 032 R

Component: 1.8L R4/5VT 0004

Coding: 05600

Shop #: WSC 06435

2 Faults Found:

18010 - Power Supply Terminal 30: Voltage too Low

P1602 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

16518 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S1: No Activity

P0134 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Address 03: ABS Brakes

Controller: 1J0 907 379 AG

Component: ABS/EDS 20 IE CAN V009

Coding: 13504

Shop #: WSC 06435

No fault code found.

The 18010 fault would be due to battery removal at the weekend to reset the ECU.

I've changed the following parts to correct this long running issue "before I had VAG-COM"

MAF Sensor about 6 months ago

4 Coil Packs 3 weeks ago

4 Spark Plugs 3 months ago

Cleaned throttle body housing 3 weeks ago

O2 Sensor replaced 2 days ago.

Help!!!!!!!!!!

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Yes and No. Early black sensors were not best known for provoking a code.

The green sensors were revised to fix this and hopefully be more reliable.

Checked this morning to see if I've got a green or black, I've already got a green one but I've nipped out to get a new one from Audi for the sake of £25.00 will fit it in a bit once the car has cooled off enough, will let ya know.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Following on from this and gradual improvements at each stage there were still some little issues with a slight bog down around 3k revs, found the problem to be throttle body housing bolts - released them all slightly and retightened again but only to 10nm torque and hey presto car runs pretty good again and whoosing noises gone, no more boost leaks.

Cheers for your help gents.

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