wacky.banana

Help appreciated on this one.

A friend ownes an Audi A3 1.8 turbo (think its a turbo quattro). Each time he floors it and gets to aorund 3K revs the car acts as if a bank of cylinders has shut down, and the turbo boost reduced/lost.

He has had the ecu changed, turbo valves changed, etc and still no solution in sight.

Anyone seen this phenomenon and knows what the solution is?

Thanks

(Spelling edit required (DOH))

[Edited by wacky.banana - 5/1/2003 10:33:47 PM]

churchwa

Sounds silly i know, but i had a similar thing in my VR6 Corrado a while back. The garage spent ages on the car only to find a piece of foam stuck behind the air filter. They removed it and it was like driving a new car. You only noticed it when reved though, there was a huge flat spot

wacky.banana

Thanks churchwa. Any more?

RS Grant

Could be something to do with the Turbo, maybe a boost pipe collapsing, I had that happen to me on my RS, dont know how prone to this Audi's are but it suggests that it will be a boost problem cause it only happens when he nails the throttle and also around 3000rpm, which is where the Turbo would be on full boost normally...

Just a thought!

Cheers,
Grant

loddrik2

Does he have a BOV, I had one on one of my S3's with similar probs.

Cupramax

Sounds like a coil pack failing to me which has been a mega problem on all 1.8t cars including VW's, SEAT's & Audi's. Is the ECU light coming on?

TaviaRS

Coil pack problems aren't really rev related, I've had 5 go so I speak from experience on this one. DV problem would only really manifest itself on lift off, if he gets a honking type noise, get it changed.

Sounds like a pipe collapsing, had it on my RS and have heard of it on TTs

Cupramax

Tavia, its not unknown for coil packs to work OK at low revs and start breaking down under load/ more revs. Would be interested to know if the car is chipped or not. If its not I doubt there'd be enough boost to cause the pipe to collapse, anyway I thought that problem only affected the 210/225hp 1.8t's.

TaviaRS

All mine caused a firing on three cylinders if you exceeded 1500 to 2000 rpm, ends up with CEL on whole time. IIRC A3 1.8T Q is 195bhp as std so it is possible that its the pipe although it'd be more likely if chipped.

Think Ian C had something similar on his chipped 4x4, but can't remember what it was but it turned out to be a fairly extensive repair, although done under warranty.

Cupramax

<picky git mode on> 1.8TQ is 180hp same as the Leon Cupra. Runs about 0.8 bar standard. <picky git mode off>

Veracocha

If it were a coilpack the car would not really be driveable at all. I have had two go on the S3 and it would hardly go anywhere!

Gren

Could be the MAF sensor (after the filter) - a common fault on VAG 1.8T engines. Alternatively soemone mentioned the pipes collapsing although this only usually happens after chipping. Jubilee clips on either end could be at fault though.

Coil pack failure would be very noticeable and is permanent not RPM dependent.

Need to take to dealer or find someone with VAG COM to run diagnostics on it if the clips/pipes are okay - MAT sensor faults are notoriously difficult to diagnose. Try Audi-Sport.net or Tyresmoke for some knowledgeable people.

Gren

TaviaRS

<picky git mode> Depends on the age </picky git mode>

TaviaRS

I know what you mean Veracocha. I had one go about 2km into a lap of the Ring Has to be one of the scariest laps I have ever done! I ended up doing 40mph for the rest of the lap, trying very hard not to strain the engine. It is bloody frightening when you are doing 40 and a bike or a Porsche appears behind you doing 130mph more than you! What made it worse was that I caught a Focus up, the most scarey overtake of my life

ianc

What are the error codes 1552 throws up?

Sounds like the problem I had - 17608 and 17705 I think.

Diagnostics states "EGR (exhaust gas recirc) valve failure" and "possible blockage \ reduced vacuum pressure"

You may also get a code about the system being too rich, and the pressure valve on top of the dump valve pipe, but they are red herrings.

I had all the above replaced and it didn't fix the problem, which was a general "lack of power" - felt dead, pickup slow.

Turned out to be..... Throttle body - new one resolved the issue.

(ARX code 1.8T, octavia 4x4, remapped)

Ian.

Cupramax

Tavia, On A3's the 1.8TQ has always been 180hp. Theres never been a 195hp version. One thing I do know is my Audi specs :P

si325i

have to agree never offically been a 195 bhper!

A3QT 180 bhp.

Sorry

RS Grant

So in Summary...........

This is an engine which develops 180bhp as standard and is running 0.8 bar which is enough to cause a boost pipe problem, so first thing to check out is that. How you do this I am not sure, you cant raelly ask a mate to sit under the bonnet as you rag it up the road on full boost!! I guess the only place that this could be looked at properly would be a rolling road??

Should this come back fine then you will have to get the car plugged into a Diagnostic Machine @ your local dealer to try to find out the problem...

How old is the car??

Is it not under any sort of Audi/Dealer/Traders Warranty, in which case just take it to the appropriate place and tell them to fix it!?

Hope this helps,

Cheers,
Grant

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Let it get placed second in Pop Idol, it will soon stop stuttering !

wacky.banana

Chaps,

Apologies. My mate tell me his is the diesel turbo, NOT the 1.8T petrol.

Do your comments on collapsing pipes and turbo valves as areas to explore remain valid?

Don't worry, I'll kick him when I see him later tonight for giving me duff info

Thanks for the input, much appreciated.

wacky.banana

Any more on this, chaps?

wacky.banana

BTTT