A4 3.0TDI Turbo Actuator Replacement

TurboJeff

TurboJeff

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I have a faulty electronic turbo actuator on my 2007 A4 Avant 3.0TDI. I have run VCDS and it shows an electronic fault with the actuator. I have performed an output test with VCDS on the actuator and there is no movement of the actuator during the test. The actuator moves freely by hand on the turbo. Car goes into limp mode straight away on start up and previous to this I have no turbo issues.

Basically what I want to do is just replace the faulty actuator which i am 100% sure is the problem. I have emailed various turbo specialists and they have all said different things from you need a complete new turbo and actuator to we can't help at all!

My questions are has anyone put just a new actuator on these cars? Does it need programming in some way, I keep reading about this on the net? Where can I get this done etc etc ... or as the wastegate stop screw is all ready set will it be ok?

The part I need is a Borg Warner 059145725E or a KKK 059145715F turbo
 
It appears a new actuator does need programming to learn the limits and this is a once only operation . If it's done wrong the actuator is a bin job.
I have attached the procedure documented in ElsaWin . I would of thought that a good second hand item would be the way to go, failing that you can get complete second hand turbos off Fleabay for around £250

This place may be able to repair your existing one
http://www.turborebuild.co.uk/electronic-actuator.html
 

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  • BV50 actuator replacement.pdf
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I've replaced at least 3 KKK actuators with success. If you buy a actuactor whereby the positions have been set then you need VCDS to see if the movement is within range.
There are 3 bolts (10mm) which can be loosened to make these adjustments. Best to mark the old unit before removing it.

Also, the motor on the actuator can burn out if the VNT is sooted and therefore its putting extra load on the motor.
The KKK turbos are known for this issue. Most replace the actuator and find it works fine for a while as the motor is new, but then fails again.

Finally before fitting a new item mark the current position, loosen the 3 10mm bolts and move the actuator fully a few times, set back to home position and tighten the bolts.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the advice, I have managed to find a turbo repair company that can supply a new actuator that has been set up with a VAS programmer, so should be able to fit it and hopefully get it up and running. Will report back on how it goes!
 
I set about fitting the replacement actuator last night. I set the actuator bracket.bolts to the same position as the faulty unit but when turning on the car it was showing a fault on the VCDS of electrical malfunction on the actuator again, I worked out that the position the new unit had been set at 20% and 80% was different to the old unit and the stop point on the turbo VNT arm was outside of this range. So I loosened the bolts and performed an output test on the actuator with it connected to the turbo to then get the stop points in the right place and after a few goes it was set up ok and stopped bringing the faults up on VCDS on start up.

I never actually started the car during this time just set to position 2 on the key. Once I came to start the car I found that my battery had gone flat from having my auto lights on for a few hours! I charged it up overnight and then this morning tried to start but it just turned over and wouldnt start, VCDS is showing 4 of 6 glow plugs open circuit, It already had 3 O/C but now one more must have gone dead whilst doing the actuator. It started fine last night, so guess only two glow plugs is not enough! Going to change all 6 see what happens.

Oh and my bonnet gas struct decided to loose its pants last night also, fix 1 break 2, classic Thursday Night Tuning....
 
I wouldn't of thought that glow plugs would stop it starting this time of the year as it's not that cold.On my old PD130 Passat the glow plugs don't even come on at all till it gets below 9 degrees C.
One had gone on my 2008 car when I bought it which I changed then. Over the next 18 months another 2 failed so I just changed all 5 as they don't last forever. Hope you get this sorted easily.
 
Changed all 6 glow plugs, same problem, cranks fine but won't fire up. No fault codes other than a few radio/antenna faults.

Wondering if there is an immobiliser that has been reset with the battery being removed to charge?
 
The immobiliser actually allows a car to start for a few seconds before cutting out and then displaying the immobiliser symbol.
All sounds very strange , I take it there is diesel in the tank? . Can you hear the fuel pump priming the car when the ignition is turned on ?.
 
It's not firing up at all just cranking...I'll check for an immobiliser light though

The fuel level is quite low and my drive has a slight slope with the front of the car higher at the moment, I checked the pump with vcds and I can hear it run under the car then s fluid bubbling noise, does this sound right?
 
Put 10L of fuel in with cans this morning and no change, battery is going flat as well, I'm wondering if there has never been enough charge in the battery to crank the engine and power the ecu and electronics going to put the battery on charge for a couple of days and see what happens.

Strangely my spare key now won't remote lock the car but will turn the engine over, I didn't see any immobiliser lights on the dash when cranking
 
Do the vanes adjust Ok on the turbo. If the VNT had jammed itself shut that would be fully closing off the exhaust, can't think of anything else.
You can use easy start whilst cranking to see if this will get the engine firing.
 
Battery had s good level of charge this morning so tried to start still no joy, tried disconnecting the actuator arm and held the vanes open, no luck. Popped a glow plug out and is very dry, no fuel smell. I disconnected two injector plugs and measured the voltage when cranking and only got a steady 0.06volts on both.

I measured the voltage on the connector of what I believe is the high pressure fuel pump, top front of engine, and that get 5-6volts when cranking.

So looks like some kind of fuel supply issue?

Going out to get a can of easy start see what that does
 
I sprayed some easy start in the intake while cranking this afternoon and it fired up for a couple of seconds but no more. I think that fuel supply is the problem. It's as if something is stopping the injectors letting fuel in and/or the high pressure fuel pump is not running.

Are there any tests I can carry out using VCDS to check the injectors or high pressure pump?
 
Vcds should enable you to check the pressure in the rail.typically I think it should be around 250 bar when starting. I would make sure the in tank pump is working and sending fuel to the high pressure pump.you can do output tests on vcds to switch the pump on
 
ok thanks will try that tonight, I'm pretty sure the tank pump is working as I tried that with the output tests, I will check the rail pressure when starting, is this done using the measuring blocks function when cranking over and I should see a pressure read out?

Is it possible I have turned the fuel/injection system off in the basic settings feature on VCDS?
 
Done some more testing last night.

To start, I checked that I am getting fuel after the fuel filter when cranking, disconnected the outlet pipe on the filter and fuel squirts out on cranking. I could also see a couple of small air bubbles flow in the clear pipe connected to the high pressure pump after re-connecting the fuel filter, so I know that fuel is getting to the high pressure pump.

With VCDS connected on start up I can see that the high pressure fuel sensor is reading 0.0 bar, so I am guessing that either the sensor is faulty or the pump is not pumping and this is why the ECU is not telling the injectors to open? I am not seeing any DTC faults with the pressure sensor, Is it possible to loosen a high pressure fuel pipe slightly to see if fuel escapes to check if the pump is working or is this unsafe?

The hpf pump looks mechanical also, is there a solenoid that may be at fault?

Video with readouts of pressures etc..


any help gratefully received
 
Still not having much luck with this, I tried a replacement fuel pressure regulator valve on the end of the left bank fuel rail and no change, still 0.0 bar pressure when cranking. These valves appear to be closed as default anyway.

I have disconnected some of the high pressure fuel pipes and attached a hose and bottle to catch the fuel, I'm getting fuel flow right up to the pressure sensor. Its not a massive flow rate but it does come out at a steady flow which when cranking at 2-300rpm, I guess not that much is going to come out anyway???

I have found some damaged cable insulation on a couple of the wires coming off the pressure sensor on the right hand fuel rail, although this is not showing a fault in VCDS. I'm going to try a replacement pressure sensor and repair the wiring and put a new fuel filter in and see what that does.

Anyone have a wiring diagram showing the fuel pressure sensor and is wiring back to the ECU? thanks.
 
To follow this up, I finally got my car started yesterday. I changed the fuel pressure sensor and also rewired the connector. The 3 cables just before the connector were brittle and starting to expose the inner conductors so I cut back 10cm of wire on the loom, dismantled the connector and wired in 3 new bits of cable.

After this I tried to start it but still nothing, it was cranking slow so I put the battery on charge for 24 hours and tried again. At first it didn't start so I got VCDS out to measure the fuel pressure and cranked it for a couple of seconds, I saw the pressure go up to 40-50 bar after a couple of seconds of cranking. So I tried cranking for a bit longer and then it started!

So it would seem that it was either the fuel pressure sensor or the wiring, I am going to put the old sensor back on to rule that out so I know exactly what the problem was.

The car ran fine on on a test drive last night and on the way to work this morning, then the coil light came on pulling into the car park..... so this story will continue by the looks of it...
 
Just checked the engine, the actuator arm had popped off the actuator, put it back on seems to be ok now, will check codes later though!
 
Glad you got there in the end, Really confusing when you are working on one thing and then the engine decides not to start. Logic dictates that's it's usually something to do with where you have been working. I suppose that the wiring may have been the issue and you have disturbed it when working on the car.
 
yeah massively frustrating when this kind of thing happens, car has been ok today so think I have got to the bottom of it all. Thanks for your help.
 
Hi jeff, so what was actually throwing up the P3348 code in the end? I've had my turbo remanufactured but the code is still there and still going into limp mode. Waste of £500+. It's driving me insane. Now I believe an adaptation needs to be done also but can't find anyone in the Midlands with the VAS6395 to do it. Don't want to take it to the dealers...generous drink tokens for anyone who can sort this for me! :-( a very sad A8 owner
 
The actuator itself was faulty, the internal electrics were not working so the actuator was not moving. Have you replaced your actuator as well as the turbo?
 
I have just ordered a cable. I was told the actuator had been re-manufactured as well as the turbo...whatever that means. I'm going to clean my MAF next and then after that I'll have to take it to Audi Listers for a full diagnostic.
 
Upon start up the ECU does a scan of different features of the car, one of them is a range cycle on the actuator to check the vnt arm limits, if it is outside the range the ECU will put the car into limp mode to stop it over boosting as there may be something wrong with the turbo. It will move the actuator fully backwards and forwards to the stop points of the turbo VNT vane positioning arm. These stop points should read at 20 and 80 % of the actuators travel but if the actuator is slightly out of position the stop points will read slightly out, it might be at say 21 and 81 % or 18 and 78 etc.

You can use the output test mode on vcds to test the limits of the actuator, the actuator arm will continue to move backwards and forwards during the output test and the VCDS software will show you the low and high % in its display window. You can then undo the bolts very slightly that are holding the actuator on and move it backwards and forwards until the percentage of movement is within the limits 20 and 80%.

Where this will all go wrong is if your actuator has been set to move in a different range other than 60% (between 20-80%)

I'm pretty sure they cant re-manufacture the actuators, they just clean up the one that was on the original turbo that they would have used to re-man the one they sold you.

doing the output test will also show you if the actuator is at all moving. because if that has an electrical fault it will show the P3348 code also. my turbo arm was moving very freely so I knew it was not the turbo, everywhere I spoke to at first wanted to sell me a complete turbo unit until this place sold me a actuator that had been set up to 20-80% www.reman-tec.co.uk

hope this helps, post again or message me direct if you need any more help
 
Thanks for the comprehensive information. Finally, 6 months later my P3348 code has gone. I took the car back to the garage who fitted the turbo and told them I was not taking it back until it was sorted. After a few hours of testing they put in a new actuator, which they should've done at the start as I told them my old turbo was fine and suggested they test the actuator first. The car drives like a dream...next stop is MAF sensor clean. Can you suggest any other things worth doing on a 162k mileage car? EGR has already been removed and cleaned too.
 
Glad you got it sorted, I'm sure there are a lot of cars that have had new turbo and actuator units when really they only needed an actuator. To be honest I don't really know what else to do other than regular service...maybe clean the air intake and boost hoses?
 
Glad you got there in the end. The kkk bv50 turbo seems to suffer with these actuator problems that can be a real pain to resolve. Some really useful info on how to resolve and diagnose the issue from @TurboJeff
 
This is a great thread, full of useful info! I recently bought a b7 3.0tdi that's occasionally going into limp mode. I'm not convinced it's the turbo, and it's occasional. As above (or was that another thread) , it seems worst when it's warmed up and on lots of shorter journeys.

I'll be hooking vcds up tonight and doing an actuator test to see how its moving etc.

I'll report back with any findings for others benefit also.
 
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So glad I found this thread. I am experiencing same issues as @crazy88.
What I have done is when it is hot after stopping and starting a few times, if the environment is quiet enough, I can hear the actuator trying to open but just doesn't, sounds like gears slipping, grrrrrr. I unplug the actuator and reconnect it a few times, I see the arm open and move then I carry on driving, it will then just go into limp again.

I have cleaned out the turbo already which wasn't too bad compared to what I have seen on the interweb.

So, definitely actuator? I don't really want to blow R3k just to find out it isn't. On that note, anyone able to organise one cheaper and send to South Africa? With our current state of affairs **** has gone expensive.
 
Oh yes, possible to open them and repair them? I don't want to chance opening mine, can't put it back together and then I don't have a car at all.
 
sound like the actuator is faulty, you should try disconnecting the turbo vane arm from the actuator and turn the ignition on and off to see if the actuator moves freely, also move the arm on the turbo vanes see if that moves freely.

I would avoid opening the actuator as its unlikely you'll be able to fix it if its broken.
 
Hi! I need some help. I took my turbo to replace the compressor, and now it sometimes gets the following error:

013128 - Control Circuit for Controller for Turbocharger 1 (J724)
P3348 - 004 - Electrical Malfunction
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100100
Fault Priority: 0
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 195126 km
Time Indication: 0

Freeze Frame:
RPM: 798 /min
Torque: 39.0 Nm
Speed: 0.0 km/h
Temperature: 69.3°C
Duty Cycle: 60.8 %
Voltage: 14.29 V
Duty Cycle: 12.2 %

Its not always, but when it comes, car goes to limp mode.

I think the turbo people didnt take care of actuator position, so now its wrong positionated. Is there an easy way to recover the original good position?

An othe consult: why do I see 2 Duty Cycle numbers in Freeze Frame?

Regards!
 
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