Problems after EA189 engine emissions update

[Bexybat]

I had a major service on my Audi A1 on the 24th March. As soon as I picked it up it felt wrong. A few days later the first of the warning lights (engine start malfunction) came on then went. The car was losing power, the engine was juddering when stopped at traffic lights. Then the alternator warning light came on. Several phone calls to Audi and a formal complaint later they agreed to give me an urgent appointment for the car to be looked at and a courtesy car. That morning I started the car and the steering was knackered!

Now they're saying it's the alternator pulley that's gone and it's mechanical and nothing to do with the emissions update because that's only a software update. It's going to cost over £650 to repair. I've asked if they've checked the EGR valve and they haven't yet. I find it hard to believe that this is just a freak coincidence that my car has broken down completely such a short time after they had my car, especially given the initial symptoms match all of those others have suffered above. At the very least if it's nothing to do with the update it's negligent that during a major service they failed to notice something wrong with the alternator pulley.

I have no idea when it comes to cars, so does anyone know if a problem with the EGR could lead to alternator problems? Or has anyone else experienced this?

Anyone considering allowing Audi to do the update: DON'T! It's just another ploy for them to swindle you of even more money.

[Bec]

On 3/27/2017 at 9:52 AM, Peter M said:

That does sound very similar to other cases of engine juddering and loss of power after cheating update. Can you ask for a copy of diagnostics to verify it is the pulley? They normally supply a video to show faults?

 

 

Peter,

Have you joined this forum on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/groups/955027937948541/

[GambuzinoPt]

On 28/11/2016 at 11:32 AM, Richiebee said:

Had a similar experience, within one week of the update, car started vibrating and juddering particularly when accelerating and then started to lose power on the motor way.  Audi has had the car and identified an injector failure, blaming supermarket fuels.  Cost £895 for replacement plus the labour for investigation.  Not happy at all! They also deny any link to update, but it's a hell of coincident since a)I have never used supermarket fuels and b)it has always been serviced by them including a week previous when they did an engine flush/treatment as well.  Time to get rid of it methinks. 

 

Hi.
Same thing here. same "coincidence" ...
Seems to be a lot of coincidences after the fix...
For the last 4 years, no low-cost Diesel. Only Premium and always serviced in Audi, even after end of warranty.
Now , 2 months after emissions fix, on the 120,000km service maintenance they tell me that needs replacement of Injector nr 4 and ask for 900€!
I've made a complaint to Audi and left a bad feedback on the call after the service. Let's wait and see what comes next.
But one thing  is for sure, if I still had any confidence on VW/Audi brand, now it's considerably less...

 

 

[GambuzinoPt]

On 12/04/2017 at 3:27 PM, Bexybat said:

 

...

Anyone considering allowing Audi to do the update: DON'T! It's just another ploy for them to swindle you of even more money.

Unfortunately all points to that !Insert other media

[ChrisK]

Hi Guys, 

I have a 2009 A3 1.6TDI. Had the emissions update 27.02.17. On 03/04/17 I was travelling between 60-70mph when the car juddered and went into limp mode. The engine light came on and it was subsequently diagnosed with a faulty fuel injector at £550. It could be just coincidence but after reading up on other issues people have experienced I'm beginning to think the update has something to do with it. The car has run beautifully since I've owned it and has cost me nothing apart from expected servicing and general wear and tear. 

Any ideas how to progress with this? 

[manihck]

On 2017-4-24 at 0:13 PM, ChrisK said:

Hi Guys, 

I have a 2009 A3 1.6TDI. Had the emissions update 27.02.17. On 03/04/17 I was travelling between 60-70mph when the car juddered and went into limp mode. The engine light came on and it was subsequently diagnosed with a faulty fuel injector at £550. It could be just coincidence but after reading up on other issues people have experienced I'm beginning to think the update has something to do with it. The car has run beautifully since I've owned it and has cost me nothing apart from expected servicing and general wear and tear. 

Any ideas how to progress with this? 

Hello ChrisK,

Our dates are pretty much the same... 2009 A3 1.6TDI, went for the update in February. They also said there should was a problem with injectors and it would cost me about 1400€.

Two days after the update it was back in their hands with engine light ON. I picked it up again and the next day it was back at Audi. It went like this for almost two weeks!!!

After that, they promptly apologized and replaced the injectors and some other parts at NO COST for me (This was really strange and got me worried because they wouldn't just offer me 1400€ if they were guilt free)!

It's been little over a month now, and today the car stopped during my commute to work. I was on second gear going up a road and it went completely limp! Had to make a full stop and that was when I realized that there was coming lots of blueish/grey smoke from the rear. As soon as I turned the car off, it stopped.

I turned it on again after 1 or 2 minutes, and everything seemed fine so I was getting it to a safer place to park and call Audi. This is when the most insane coincidence happened... I was now behind a 2004 Audi A4 1.9TDI, and it was going up at 20Km/h and smoking... I did honk so the guy would stop and we could have a chat about it and complain to Audi TOGETHER, but I believe the guy thought I was mad at him and didn't stop, unfortunately.

My car is scheduled for tomorrow, and I'll bring some of these comments with me, and some feedback from that facebook group when they accept my application.

I'm really !Removed! at Audi/VW for trying to get away by making their clients suffer and making them all pay for the same components, when it's clear that we all have the same symptons AFTER THE UPDATE! Don't they know how easy it is for us to do a google search and find about a lot of other people with the same problems?

[SteveSE]

My friend has a Seat Ibiza with the 1.6 diesel engine in it and i told him not to take it back for the "upgrade"

As i told him about all the issues with this upgrade and the fact i have not taken my A4 and my wives A1 back

he still did and after five minutes driving back from the dealers the warning light came on and straight into limp mode.

After having his car for a few days Seat told him the egr had failed but it had noyhing to do with the ea189 upgrade.

He has had tha car from new on an 11 plate with abour 75k on the clock without any issues what so  ever then all of a sudden after the upgrade edr fail.

As a good will gesture Seat of Wakdfield said they will fit a new egr and cover 95% of the cost and funnerly enough they  happened to have one in stock.

After doing some research i have found out on the 1.6 diesels the original  egr valve will not run with the new software upgrade hence warning lights and limp mode and a new modified version is fitted.

Seat knew this and this is why they have them in stock and willing to give 95% discount but it still cost my friend  £70 he should have not had to pay plus his time in and out of work.

As everyone says dont take your vehicle back its nothing but trouble.

 

 

 

[Magnet]

Oh dear, how many more?

To be fair we don't hear about the recalls that go well, but I guess nether do we know the full extent of the problems following these recalls.

What amazes me is where are the media here? They were quick enough to swoop on VAG's ill doings with this whole debarkle, but seem conspicuous in their absence about the public's bad, and sometimes expensive, experiences. 

Is it that car owners aren't notifying the press about such issues, or are the media now closing their eyes to these problems? 

Food for thought and comment I feel.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Bec]

On 4/24/2017 at 0:13 PM, ChrisK said:

Hi Guys, 

I have a 2009 A3 1.6TDI. Had the emissions update 27.02.17. On 03/04/17 I was travelling between 60-70mph when the car juddered and went into limp mode. The engine light came on and it was subsequently diagnosed with a faulty fuel injector at £550. It could be just coincidence but after reading up on other issues people have experienced I'm beginning to think the update has something to do with it. The car has run beautifully since I've owned it and has cost me nothing apart from expected servicing and general wear and tear. 

Any ideas how to progress with this? 

 

Lots of people suffering the same issues here >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/955027937948541/

[Bec]

13 hours ago, SteveSE said:

My friend has a Seat Ibiza with the 1.6 diesel engine in it and i told him not to take it back for the "upgrade"

As i told him about all the issues with this upgrade and the fact i have not taken my A4 and my wives A1 back

he still did and after five minutes driving back from the dealers the warning light came on and straight into limp mode.

After having his car for a few days Seat told him the egr had failed but it had noyhing to do with the ea189 upgrade.

He has had tha car from new on an 11 plate with abour 75k on the clock without any issues what so  ever then all of a sudden after the upgrade edr fail.

As a good will gesture Seat of Wakdfield said they will fit a new egr and cover 95% of the cost and funnerly enough they  happened to have one in stock.

After doing some research i have found out on the 1.6 diesels the original  egr valve will not run with the new software upgrade hence warning lights and limp mode and a new modified version is fitted.

Seat knew this and this is why they have them in stock and willing to give 95% discount but it still cost my friend  £70 he should have not had to pay plus his time in and out of work.

As everyone says dont take your vehicle back its nothing but trouble.

 

 

 

 

Lots of people suffering the same issues here >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/955027937948541/

[SteveSE]

Have not counted but there must be hundreds of people,probably more with some sort of issue.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/volkswagen-emissions-scandal/8-reports-of-volkswagen-tiguans-losing-power-after-ea189-emissions-fix/

[Bexybat]

Hi all, an update on my car - the engine noise is horrific 24/7 now. No mechanic can tell me what is wrong with my car. I've had 2 test drives with Audi technicians. One of them admitted that the emissions update is known by Audi to change the sound an engine makes (despite Audi UK repeatedly telling people it has no impact on this...).

More interesting for those who have had the EGR valve problem - the service manager of Swansea Audi, David Jones, admitted that Audi UK know that the update does break some EGR valves - this is due to an underlying issue with the valves which is then triggered by the update. So anyone fighting Audi on this front please feel free to use this admission against them as you shouldn't have to pay a single penny to put this right.

[Andy wingrove]

I have an A3 2.0 59 plate , thought it was a great idea to take my car to Audi and let them do this horrific update for my emissions "fix" it has completely ruined my car , the car judders stinks of fumes / burning smell when driven , the fan stays on every journey I take and there isn't as much power there anymore, spoke to Audi who say they will do a diagnostic check on the vehicle but I know nothing is wrong with it, and they will not reverse the update , I think this is absolutely disgusting that they seem to think it's not there fault even tho it is obvious from how many people in this group have the same issues after the "update" I'm furious to say the least and would never advise anyone take there car to a Audi dealership for this update or for any other work mind...

[fast edd]

Hi all, i'm quite new to this club and have noticed that their seems a large number of EA189 emission update/fix/cheat problems from a varied amount of Audi models, like yourselves i've also been tricked into this update back in February and so far have only suffered a slightly less refined running engine ,! No failures yet !! However I have run a standard VAG com diagnostic with no faults .I have called Audi uk. to discuss what they intend to do returning our A6 tdi 170 Le mans back to it's previous quiet and refined state and the Audi employee replied with "We can plug your vehicle in to check but! if not fault is found you will be charged  £60!!! ,This is all we can offer" . I'm still chewing over this and have thougot about a basic economy remap which may cost £250-£400 but will kill many birds with one shot . Remove this dreaded software fowl up , improve linear power delivery, possibly better mpg, increase power as a by product and save based on feedback on this subject £1500  ish from EGR/ DMF replacement . Just some food for thought maybe. Let your insurance company know though if you have this remap done.

[fast edd]

Just a quick extra add from my last post,  a vehicle in good serviceable order is essential. 

[Andy wingrove]

Fast edd , I have spoke to a mechanic I know who does remaps and he said it will resolve the problem, they have basically done a !Removed! map on the car and now needs either a standard map or something with a bit more bhp/ torque more mpg and just an all round better performing engine, the VAG group should be sued they are basically putting all road users lives at risk , if the car goes into limp mode when on a busy motorway or any road for that matter it could cause a serious crash, and alls Audi are telling me is that they will do a diagnostic check ... not good enough the fix they have put on the vehicles is no fix, it's dangerous!!! They should be sued for this ..., I'll be getting me vehicle remapped so it's back to its normal performing specs and hopefully the issues I'm having will be dealt with through this 

[fast edd]

Hi Andy, cheers for the reply . Yes this is one massive !Removed! up of volcanic proportions, not only has their been an illegal operation performed on all affected EA189 engines but VAG somehow think by carrying out a less than appropriate fix which is causing some very close/near misses with accidents for some customers they think they can abdicate responsibility for their fowl up . And a remap on a vehicle with 70k on the clock will probably cause a DMF and clutch issue also.Anyway enough honking , it's a great car as are all members cars  here so yes a remap is the answer is guess .

[Andy wingrove]

No problem pal, I love my A3 and after this update I'm beginning to hate it... once fixed I'll love her again but knowing it's going to cost the amount roughly to get resolved or the hassle if I don't get it remapped is going be ridiculous through Audi, I'm booked in to have it diagnosed on Tuesday but I'm not going to bother as they will only tell me nothing has come up on there scanners etc etc and try charge me for it.. soon as I jumped back in the car when I picked it up it stalled.. and I've never stalled the car, wish I had never taken it now and as for the dealership USELESS!!! 

[fast edd]

Hi Andy, my brothers 330d BMW has a Celtic Tuning eco remap and it is although a 6 pot lump which runs smooth and quiet as standard feels like it could crawl up the side of my house and returns 60+ mpg on a run , so I guess that answers that question then .170 bhp up to 200 ish if desired and quieter and smoother for the Avant is my next road to travel.I guess that's your train of thought!!!.

[Andy wingrove]

Yes edd definitely I'm taking my A3 be done tomorrow it's only 140bhp so 170bhp afterwards but I'll be happy have the smooth running motor back and not worry about the issues potentially coming my way, egr fail dpf blockage etc Audi won't do anything so I'll get it done by having the map it will cost 200-300 roughly but I'd rather that than the hassle of taking it Audi when the issues occur having time of work etc plus the lies they will fill me with... nothing has come up on our scanner , it's nothing to do with the ea189 update BOLLOX!!! It's everything to do with that fail fix , I'll let you guys know how my car is after the map and if it's as you said a much easier/ cheaper fix than dealing with a dealership 

[fast edd]

Good news buddy, I believe you meant Stealership not Dealership. Common spelling mistake that you know😅😅. 170 it's  a good gain and right from the go . Be a good idea to start looking on Blackcircle tyres for some new fronts soon then!!!.👍👍

[Andy wingrove]

Yes god damn predictive txt haha that's what they are mate bang on, and yh should be ok pal let's see... 🏎💨 and tyres ... man it's going be a dear do 💷💷💸💸

[fast edd]

Funny really i've just been watching how Audi hand build and manually tig weld the R8 , I wonder if the same team were involved in the software for this ruddy cheat!!! . It would explain the full retraining each person has to go through every 6 months to validate they have the same standard/tolerance they have been for the last 6 yrs welding together  that R8 with regards to this hoodwink of a fix. Just a thought really 😉😉😉✌

[Magnet]

To Administrators and Moderators - again.

I did suggest some weeks ago that this vitally important topic be moved to near the 'top of the shop' so it becomes readily and easily accessible, rather than being relegated to near the last of the topics.

Nothing seems to have happened, and if that suggestion has indeed been considered and it has been decided that it does not warrant an upgraded position within the forum content , then I guess it will indeed stay where it is. 

However, I think it would be progressive if someone in authority would at least reply to this suggestion - for or against.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

 

 

[Steve Q]

58 minutes ago, Magnet said:

To Administrators and Moderators - again.

I did suggest some weeks ago that this vitally important topic be moved to near the 'top of the shop' so it becomes readily and easily accessible, rather than being relegated to near the last of the topics.

Nothing seems to have happened, and if that suggestion has indeed been considered and it has been decided that it does not warrant an upgraded position within the forum content , then I guess it will indeed stay where it is. 

However, I think it would be progressive if someone in authority would at least reply to this suggestion - for or against.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

 

 

Hey Gareth, 

Sorry if you've not been replied to by any admin or moderator. I missed your suggestion previously and would have acted on it sooner if I had known.

Then again iv not been a moderator long so may have been suggested before I was a moderator which would explain why iv missed it. 

Anyway, it cannot be denied the importance of the information provided by members regarding the ea189 emissions recall and as such I have featured and pinned the topic. You should now find it at the top of the recalls section. 

I also just want to add a big thank you for members providing the information on this topic and on other topics as the club can only function with friendly and helpful members :) 

Also a personal thank you to you to Gareth as I know your always providing very good answers to some of the more complicated questions on here. It is greatly appreciated :) 

Cheers

Steve