Mcandmars Avant Project

[macspring]

Mark,

You can borrow the boost leak kit and / or my S2 MAF anytime you wish?

Just let me know and I'll leave them out for you, btw swopped out the S8s and they're now in the garage.

Kind regards.

[Big Lee M]

It could also be coilpacks as mine did this as well. Was ok for around half hour the as soon as the heat hit them it would miss on WOT! It was a really harsh judder when it missed. Try the air leak first as it will be cheaper to fix.

Nice work on the car, keep at it as a lot of people just give up and break or sell them.

Hope you get it sorted.

[S2central.net]

Lee - did you get continual judders under heavy load or fuel cutoff. Latter is like slamming on the brakes, but the judders are more like misfires. My car used to have that really bad when hot - old coils here too past their best - but it got MUCH better with new HT boots.

@Mark - if MAF and/or air leaks don't show progress then it be worth swapping over coils... but it wouldn't hurt to remove yours first to see if the HT boots are OK and that spark plugs are tight too. I had two quite heavily cracked boots.

[mcandmar]

Coilpacks and POS units, hadn't thought of that. It does seem to be somewhat heat related. Plugs and boots are brand new.

@David, i'll do the pressure test this weekend, if that dont fix it i might drop over and borrow your MAF and coilpacks if thats ok

@Paul, How fussy is this chipset on fuel, will it adapt ignition timing and get on with it or can excessive knock control cause the cutouts? Havent checked for codes as i have the MIL light wired up and never seen it come on. I'm also wondering if i could capture any telling data using vacom?

[mcandmar]

Just found a clue

00544 - Maximum Boost Pressure Exceeded
27-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

[ericd]

Just found a clue

00544 - Maximum Boost Pressure Exceeded
27-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

check all the hoses/clips are tight, and none of the hoses have split under the clips, especially the tb or the turbo/maf hose at the turbo end

[macspring]

Mark,

Whatever you need to borrow from mine is fine, as mine is stilll resting.

Cab goes nice though.

Kind regards.

[mcandmar]

Think i fixed it, got my AndyP test kit out and found it wouldn't hold any pressure.

First thing i noticed was air inside the wastegate which makes sense as there not airtight, so i pinched the hose closed and then i could hear another leak around the turbo. All it needed was a 1/4 turn on the turbo inlet hose clamp and it all went silent, holds 1bar for quite a while now with no audible leaks. I guess it was more of a vacuum leak than a boost leak. Everything thing seemed fine on the test run, but time will tell...

[Big Lee M]

Glad you've got it sorted, nothing worse than not knowing what it is but it is a good feeling when it turns out to be a cheap or a free fix in your case.

[S2central.net]

Leak on vacuum leads to unmetered air getting sucked in - which is what caused the dreaded fuel cut when overboost protection kicked in.

[mcandmar]

Time flys when your having fun, just had a look at my service history and noticed ive had the S2 for two years now and done over 15,000 miles in it. What is worrying is i completely forgot the last time i changed the oil was when i bought it

Feeling a little guilty about that i finally got off my *** and changed the leaking oil pressure sender that was dribbling oil everywhere and replaced the oil/filter.

Also got me thinking, i dont think the car has ever been off the road to fix anything in the last two years. Is that a record for S2 ownership?

[macspring]

About time.


Yes, most definitely a record.

[Error404]

Glad you've been enjoying the avant Mark, 2 years without a peep is pretty good going i think!
Now get that oil changed

[irishs2]

You know now, you just jinxed yourself.

But 2 years is good going. Usually its the other way around.

[mcandmar]

Eight years and eighty thousand miles later we are back where we started. When I bought this car in 2009 it needed a new gearbox and some mechanical TLC to make it a dependable daily driver, and it has more than lived up to that requirement. I can only think of a few occasions when it had left me stranded.

1) When the original fuel pump died. Totally my fault for not replacing it.
2) When the front crank pulley worked loose and jumped the timing belt. Totally my fault for not checking it.
3) When the G40 cam sensor failed, totally my fault for not replacing it when I sorted the mess above.

Not a bad track record, and thought me a few lessons in the process. If there is a known weak point in a car, fix it, don’t wait for it to bite you. Secondly, just because a previous owner had a timing belt or other job done, don’t assume all is rosy, check it out for yourself.

Which brings me to the last two months where it has let me down twice. Here lies the third lesson I have learnt. Time takes its toll. In my mind everything was perfect because I have had it all apart, replaced all the consumables and fluids, dealt with all the common issues, what could possibly go wrong? The wear and tear of eight years and 80k miles of daily driving. A lifespan and mileage that an average car will probably never see.

First issue to raise its head was the rubber hose from the thermostat to water rail burst, which was a surprise to me as it was a brand new Audi part I fitted. …except that was eight years ago. One of the connections on the expansion tank snapped off too, again that was a new tank I had fitted. The steering rack had torn its boot and starting leaking oil, I had replaced that too. And then the final straw, the gearbox went bang! In fairness 1^st gear has been shagged for a couple of years now and sounded like a bunch of bolts in a blender, but I had been ignoring it until last week when exiting a roundabout with the foot to the floor something locked up internally and went bang.

So once again the engine was out, box replaced, and took the opportunity to replace a whole bunch of parts that looked a little worse for wear. Every coolant and boost hose has been replaced with Samcos, the leaking and clunking steering rack has been replaced with a brand new one I had squirreled away, new gearbox mounts, fresh fluids, new knock sensor, vacuum lines, water bottle, windscreen washer bottle, gear linkage bushings, the list goes on and on.

So now that is all sorted, here is to another eight years and 80k miles of S2 motoring