Dev

[Dev2]

Hi,

So wondering if anyone could help or give some advice for my situation.

I own an A3 2.0 TDi 2010 black edition and iv had an engine management fault since the beginning of the year.  The car was tested by a garage and they said its seems like its possibly a wiring break between the battery and ecu. After hearing that I took the car into Audi in Feb and they had a look and said it could be possible that its a wire break but sounds more like its an ECU replacement and quoted me around £1300.  I took the car away and have had the management light on since but the car runs perfectly fine (even tho audi said ecu could die soon).  Thing is my MOT is due soon and I know im going to need this fixed. 

So my question is does that price sound about right for an ecu replacement, or do you think audi are being a rip off? Iv looked around and prices for ECUs for my model are around £200 to £400.

What would you guy recommend?

 

Any help would be much appreciated!! 

[cliffcoggin]

Perhaps these people could help?

http://www.audiecu.com/

I know nothing about the company but it appears to offer much lower prices than Audi.

[Magnet]

Hello D,

There are too many ifs and buts in this for me, if I was contemplating changing the (the expensive at any price) ECU. You tell us you have an engine management fault, but you don’t tell us if the engine management light is on all the time or just occasionally. 

Both investigations have pointed to either a wiring break ( my stab at it would be bad connection rather than an actual break), or an ECU issue. Let’s say you change the ECU - it isn’t going to solve the problem if it is indeed a wiring issue - I would eliminate this possibility before buying a replacement ECU. 

MOT and car running well? Maybe worth nipping it along to your friendly local MOT station and asking them to test the emissions against the VOSA limits, so you know where you are.

Perhaps you could let us know how you get on.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

 

[Dev2]

Hey, 

Thanks for the fast replies.  Sorry if i didn't make it clear by what i meant.

The engine management light is on all the time, they have tried clearing the fault but every time the car was started back up the fault came straight back. 

Audi were the only ones to say its an ecu replacement and said they can only check for a wire break by removing the ecu and this would mean if there was no wiring issue at that point it would have to be a new ecu or my car wouldn't start again.  And the only reason i mentioned the mot is because Audi said it would fail with this fault.  

I will give your recommendations a try and let you guy know of any changes.  Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

 

Regards,

Dev

[Magnet]

Hello Dev,

Thanks for filling in a bit more detail. Personally, I’m struggling with Audi’s comments that to check for wiring breaks, they have to remove the ECU, and if there aren’t any breaks then you would have to have a new ECU for the car to start again. Why? Surely they can simply replace and recode your original believed- faulty ECU and you are back where you started. 

What codes are being shown against the car?

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Dev2]

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for the fast reply again,

I was just as confused by what they had said to me also but i will try and find the service paper work from when they looked at it and see if that says any more info.

From what I can remember the engine management was for a fault code with terminal 30, which they explained to me was connected to the fuse box and the ecu. The fuse box side is fine as everything works such as lights and they said there would be more obvious problems.  They suggested trying a new battery which was tested and the fault was still present.

That is where they then explained that it has to do with the ecu, and that for them to check if it is a wire break they would have to remove the ecu and if there was no wire break it would mean my ecu was at fault and they could only fix it by fitting a new ecu? I was never told anything like you had said about recode my original one.  

My main concern is that Audi are wanting to charge me £1300 to replace and fix my ecu fault when it all just a bit to confusing.  Especially if there are other options as you mentioned.

Do you think i may be better off going to an ecu specialist garage and getting a new set of eyes looking at the issue? 

Sorry to be such a pain but i really appreciate the response you have giving.

 

Kind regards 

Dev.  

[cliffcoggin]

I can't help with the diagnosis, but I would want an independent assessment of the fault before spending that much money. I would also want a money-back guarantee on any proposed solution, as I have been sceptical of Audi diagnoses in the past.