Still no joy

paddy

paddy

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Really thought i had beaten the Engine management light this time with a new breather box and solenoid valve....but no :( 6 faults since the 8th August and the light is back on. same code, bank 1 too rich at idle.
It's been 1 year and 10k miles now, 7 trips to the garage both main dealer and indie, it still faults every 200 miles.
The car goes like a scalded cat, does 32 mpg on a run, ticks over silently, spins the wheels in first and 2nd and pulls cleanly to warp factor 10.
The garages really don't know and it's costing me a fortune while they guess and apart from that it totally spoils an otherwise good car. .I honestly would never buy another Audi, not because they are any worse than any other make but because the dealers are clueless when they get even a minor fault like this. It just shouldn't happen on a £34k car...:(
 
No, i would expect it to run lumpy if the Lambda was playing up, whis is a smooth as you could get.
 
What are your fuel trims saying? Have you had a smoke test done to check for air leaks
 
Not got a clue Baggy i have Vag com but i don't know how to use it beyond the basics. I have had the car from new, i had a Revo stg1 put on at 800 miles and its run un changed for 60k miles on that map. plugs were changed at 45k and were pretty near perfect which says a lot for the map i would think. all this started with the cam belt change at 50k miles. the audi main dealer said that its got fuel in the oil ? but since then its had 3 oil changes and a new HPFP and cam follower and new breather box and solenoid valve and it makes no odds, Light comes on after approx 120 miles but it will run further if i use basic unleaded, it hates super unleaded..

the real baffling thing is it runs like a dream and never misses a beat...
 
Fair enough it's not running lumpy or anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean its not the O2 sensor causing the fault light
 
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Well its booked in again tomorrow. this is its last chance. Its actually booked in for a diff oil change, a Haldex oil change in an attempt to stop the whine from the drive train. the idiot light came on again since it was booked in but TBH the best anyone can do is guess whats wrong it seems.
 
Common thing for rich fuel is O2 sensor I would second that
 
What sort of mileage are you doing a week? Also does it go the mileage quoted by your service indicator in the dash? What fault codes is it showing and what exhaust set up have you got
 
Or maybe an air leak in the intake as this can cause over fueling. Did you check your MAF wiring as this is prone to damage over time?
 
Brilliant...now they say the diff needs an overhaul and the drive shaft bearing has play in it.....and the light is still on.
 
Baggy1979 said:
What sort of mileage are you doing a week? Also does it go the mileage quoted by your service indicator in the dash? What fault codes is it showing and what exhaust set up have you got
Click to expand...

Hi Baggy Its done 60k in 6 years so its doing a std sort of mileage. Mostly journey's 50 mile + but i don't tend to use it anymore as its just not nice to drive with the light on and the dif whining away., its had more services than it ever needed and apart from the Stg 1 its completely stock. Idiot light has been coming on for 12k miles, if it didn't come on you would never know there was a problem, its goes better now than when new.
TBH i think the dif overhaul will put an end to my ownership, it started whining at 50k miles, i mean my old vivaro van has done 150k miles now and runs quieter than the Audi. when i need to go on longer journeys i always take the van especially if i am doing Motorway driving..
 
It is code p2188 you have isn't it?

diff overhaul and bearing play might not need urgent attention, sounds like garage might be trying to bleed you dry. If the engine light is really, really bothering you... which it sounds like it is... concentrate on that first

it could well be that the new issues are "due" anyway soon, they always come in threes! not cheap to maintain, our audis
 
I know what you mean but i see it the other way, no point in throwing money at putting a light out if the Diff is about to go so i will take it to audi tomorrow and see what they say about the diff., one thing for sure they can't dispute its whining, its getting worse by the day now and at 70mph you have to turn the radio up...lol.

Yea its 2188 , it faults about every 120 miles. Spent £1200 on garage bills so far and today they good as said might be time to try somewhere else...Yea well thanks for that...
 
Where are you based? I'm sure there a few good indies that will sort that problem out. I'm not knocking Audi dealerships, but they do seem to suffer from "computer says no" syndrome, then start guessing on what parts to replace. Is your car still under Audi warranty?
 
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TBH its been with an indie for the last 4 visits, they have been really good and their attempts to identify the problem have all made sense but its going back to Audi tomorrow, its out of warranty so i am expecting between £2.5 and £3k for the diff fix. but even that is cheaper than changing the car i suppose. As for the idiot light...probably end up taking the bulb out :), lets face it , it goes like stink and runs perfectly for the 12k miles the light has been on.
 
Don't pay that sort of price for diff, try get a local garage to get it out (Not that hard at all) and send it for recon or fit a used diff.
 
audi upgrades
First i want to see what audi say about their £34k car which i have had from new lasting just 50k miles before a serious mechanical failure. My last one lasted 47k miles and ran up a bill of £5.5k !!
 
Hi @paddy - I'm clutching at straws but could it be a bug in the map that's causing the error? Can you have the ECU flashed back to standard to see what happens? I know it's unlikely as '000 of others have Revo map too but just a thought.
 
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Cheers Sam
As it happens this is now being mooted more and more. Up till now i have said well the map has been on there for 50k and not missed a beat but several very experienced mechanics in high end performance cars have said the same now. the place that mapped it no longer does Revo so i don't know how i can get it re installed . I think TBH i will have to get the diff sorted first because its got so bad in the last week its almost undrivable and this is going to be the crunch
Do you have an 888 ?
 
When you say the Diff is whining. Does the noise by any chance usually come in around the 2k RPM mark? Is it from the rear?

When i bought my 170 Quattro with 23k on it and was driving home from Glasgow to Newcastle once on the motorway at around 70 mpg or in lower gears around 2k rpm I had a horrible whining/booming noise from the rear.

It was the propshaft rubber donut that had split. The garage fixed it for me for free which cost them best part of £1000 as they had to use Audi parts and Audi don't sell the rubber donut fitting on its own. But you can buy it yourself for around £50 and pretty easy to fix.

This is the one my car needed (A3 2011 170 TDI model) https://www.autodoc.co.uk/febi-bils...L8DA3U1BQZA73gDWgUNSR_eW_M5yFIRkaAjM3EALw_wcB

I actually need the one of the front doing now as the fronts starting to make the same noise . Just a case of removing bolts and pulling apart, drop old one out and replace. More awkward to get to than anything.
 
No this is a hum/whine, comes in at 35mph and back at 70mph, sounds like an electric motor, its coming from the back.

One thing that bothers me is the last 2 haldex oil changes i have said oil and filter and both time they come back saying there is no filter. This morning i rang Audi and they say the haldex does not have a filter, its not in the parts book and its not in the service schedule ...which it isn't i agree ? and yet everyone says you must change the filter with the oil ?
 
paddy said:
Do you have an 888 ?
Click to expand...

An R8 888 - Hell No but one day maybe.

_888 is something I've always added to my usernames. I got married on 8th Aug 08 (so maybe my lucky/unlucky number) and with reference to my wedding speech tip the 8 on its side and it's the symbol for infinity which is my love... :puke2::puke2::puke2:

Don't lose heart with the car - kind of better the devil you know ah
 
Sorry no an 888 was a classic late 90's Ducati :) which was what i was meaning.
 
I would check the exhaust for leaks, it would only take a very small leak over time to throw a fault, also clean your air mass but use correct cleaner these are cheap easy things you can try yourself and if you check your long & short term fuel trims before and after you can see if you've made any difference
 
Definitely a filter. Audi don't list 1 as they state it's a life long item. Which is rubbish. Oil and filter need doing every 20k.
 
Yes i did clean the MAF using an electrical cleaner, non residue. Asked at Audi this morning about Haldex filter and they said no. at the end of the day if its not in the service schedule, its not even a listed spare part and Audi main dealers (and my local indie) say its unnecessary who am i to argue. any way its booked in for the week after next to look at the whine.
thanks for all your ideas.
 
I wouldn't pay the Audi dealer if they couldn't fix the fault. Did have the EML light on my friends Seat Ibiza and Seat presented a £960 bill to him but the EML light came on again as he drove home. I told him to go back and ask them replace the original parts and refund his money, surprisingly, they did and the EML light didn't return and still hasn't after 5 years.
I think you should do the same, the main dealers think they are a law to themselves and shouldn't be allowed to treat customers in this way, it wouldn't happen with any other consumer product.
Also have you had the Revo map removed? might be embarassing for you if the map was causing the problem.
 
paddy said:
Yes i did clean the MAF using an electrical cleaner, non residue. Asked at Audi this morning about Haldex filter and they said no. at the end of the day if its not in the service schedule, its not even a listed spare part and Audi main dealers (and my local indie) say its unnecessary who am i to argue. any way its booked in for the week after next to look at the whine.
thanks for all your ideas.
Click to expand...

Consider changing your indie then as this is probably the #1 cause of rear diff problems. You can buy the filters on ebay for the facelift cars as Volvo uses the same diff and does list the filter as a part # (pre-facelift have the Audi filter listed on tps).
 
Just an update
The S3 went into the local garage who had a handy bit of kit which was an infa red camera and audio direction type thing, the car was put up in the air and run up however nothing was overheating or making an obvious noise but after a while and a search with a stethoscope its was decided that the near side bearing is noisy on the output of the Dif.. Dif is now being dropped out and sent off to see if it's repairable, if not its £3k +vat and fitting for a new unit, pretty disgusting for a 60k mile car but thats audi for you :) Yes you can get a second hand one for £150 on ebay but lets face it...i have a £150 second hand one on there now it seems. :)
 
Another update...diary of an S3 owner..lol
so they took the dif out and sent it off but the specialist says he cant see anything wrong with it, that said he cant get it fully to bits because its simply not designed to come to bits and the bearings are non stock and Audi don't sell them. Bottom line is now i ether put the old dif back in and shell out for all the work and know i have not got anywhere or i throw £3600 at it with a new dif while this one is out. The garage says there is no guarantee that it will even solve the problem...might be wheel bearing.lol Got to make my mind up what to do by tomorrow.
First person to sugest i drive it through the showroom window at Audi and leave it there gets a pat on the back.
 
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Put it back together as is and change the wheel bearings. If that doesn't work, change the diff for a used one. If that works then it's all good. If not, drive it through the showroom window at Audi...
 
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Have you driven another S3 of same kind of spec to see if there is a definite difference, maybe your senses are tuned into driving a front or rear wheel drive car and the extra moving parts of the haldex system is an added noise to the whole s3 driving experience.
 
Nice idea Audsmart but i have owned this for 6 years and had a 3.2 Quattro A3 before for 5 years :) so i know what they should sound like.
Should hear today about cost.
Flea bay is full of these things for £500 but then i have a really nice looking unit with 50k miles on it i could put on flea bay for £500 :)
There are some on there from breakers, one with 22k miles but you cant prove it and what happened to it. In a front end did the shock go down the prop shaft into the haldex ?, in a side impact did the shock go up a drive shaft into the output bearing ? I think its most likely the output bearing i have trouble with now.
 
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