Main Dealer Problems

[neil_1821]

Hi everyone,

 

I apologise my first post not being in the introduction area but I have an urgent problem and i'd really appreciate some input.

My dad has an Audi A5, 2012 model with the 1.8 tfsi engine, he has had it less than a year and the car has only covered roughly 25,000 miles (it was purchased from a reputable secondhand car dealer, not audi directly)

He was adamant there was a missfire with the car so it went to Audi Nottingham who said there were no error codes, they updated the software and gave it him back. He was still positive there was a missfire so I got a good friend to look at it for him and sure enough, between 1100-1200 rpm there was an intermittent missfire accross all 4 cylinder but no error codes showing. Within 30 mins of sitting stationary and playing with the throttle he got a count of roughly 150 missfires.

My dad took the car back to Audi and managed to demonstrate the missfire and ever since they've been investigating the problem, they've had the car almost 3 weeks.

As far as I know they've replaced the coil packs,  spark plugs, vacuum valve and they've debugged the ECU rectifying any issues it's thrown up and had the master techs look at it. As the weeks have progressed they initially thought it was a problem with the flywheel but now they're saying it's a problem with the engine, possibly crankshaft or camshaft. They said they won't charge him for the 20 hours labour, yes that's correct they've spent 20 hours on it and still don't know what it is!!! but they said he'll have to pay £1300 for the stripping of the engine.

My concern is that stripping the engine down wont fix the problem and after spending 20 hours on it and having various master techs look at it, doesn't sound very promising.

Can anyone offer any advice, heard or seen of this problem before?

[Trevor]

Hi Neil...welcome to the Forum

I would say that overall, the Audi Techies have had a fair crack at the whip and if they can't find a definitive answer then rather than blindly stripping an engine down to possibly not find any further clues...I would take the car back, thank them and then take it to a good independent VW Audi specialist who may have a bit more of an idea whats causing the misfires.

I know it sounds strange but if it's not the coils or cylinders or intake causing the fault, has anyone checked the exhaust system...as in the flow of gases and temperature of the cat because if there is a blockage this can sometimes result in a slight misfire/poor combustion at idle...worth checking as no parts or expensive tests.

Keep us informed on the progress .

Cheers  Trevor