My first Audi A2 1.6 FSI problems

bene22

bene22

New Member
Hello all,

I recently bought my first Audi A2, but unfortunately I don't think it was the bargain I was looking for.
It's a 2002 1.6 FSI SE, with Opensky and a lovely full black leather interior, bought for £1150.

Seemed fine on purchase, but the problems started after getting it home. First off the engine warning light came on, so off to the shop to buy a ODB reader, came back with fault codes P1031 and P0404, on top of this water was leaking out of the expansion tank and the Opensky roof only goes halfway back, funny sound sometimes on startup. Time for extensive research and trouble shooting ?.

P1031: activation intake manifold flap for air stream regulation, specified value not reached
P0404: Exhaust Gas Recirculation Circuit Range/Performance

I hear the Opensky problem is common and a difficult fix, I can live without for now.
The water leak seems to be down to a broken seal on the expansion tank, waiting on a new one to see if that solves the problem.
The funny sound on startup, only happens sometimes for a 2-3sec then sounds normal. Sounds like the air filter has been removed, or it's just turned into a diesel engine for a few seconds. Anyone know what this is?

P0404: So after some research I decided to strip down the EGR valve, was bit of pain to get off, but got it out in an hour or so. It was quite black inside, so gave it a good clean, then cracked it open to take a look inside. underneath the plastic, I found to stripped cog teeth, fortunately you can just rotate the cog a little to avoid using these teeth. Reassembled and for now, problem fixed!

P1031: After reading every relevant thread on this forum, it seems like this is a bigger problem to fix. Problem with the intake manifold flaps not reaching there required position. I have checked the actuator arm and this all looks normal. So my question now is what can I do, I am guessing the engine needs to be striped down and the manifolds flaps checked and cleaned? I have bought two cans of Wynns Petrol EGR3 just on the off chance it does something, as heard of one report of this working. I am a bit of a budget, and don't really want to be spending the cost of the car fixing it at the garage. How hard is it to get the intake manifold off the car? Heard one guy removing engine mounts, is this really necessary to get it out?



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Morning.
I’m still in my first 12 months of fsi ownership so don’t see myself as an expert.
Some great knowledge within here tho.
It seems most, including mine make the diesel noise on start up. My mechanic thought it was a timing gear in the cams. Quite an expensive part to buy but seems a lot of people just live with it.
I’ve also had coolant issues with mine, it’s currently in the garage having thermostat housing replace at a big cost. I also had to have the expansion bottle replaced after I had all the head gadget work done...
If I turned the climate control ‘off’ the engine temp would soon go up.
Slowly getting the car right.
No experience with the OSS roof sorry
Good luck!
Phil
 
try searching for the pro boost map on hear there is a really useful tread on hear about it and that involves the flaps ect, to my mind if your mechanically minded/able id strip it out open the flap into the open position and go down the route of the proboost map will save you in the long run with some of the common issues the 1.6 fsi seems to throw up, hope this helps
 
audisean89 said:
try searching for the pro boost map on hear there is a really useful tread on hear about it and that involves the flaps ect, to my mind if your mechanically minded/able id strip it out open the flap into the open position and go down the route of the proboost map will save you in the long run with some of the common issues the 1.6 fsi seems to throw up, hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Still trying to get a grasp on how hard the job will be???
So would the pro boost map help turn off the engine warning light, or is this something I would need to live with?
 
bene22 said:
So would the pro boost map help turn off the engine warning light, or is this something I would need to live with?
Click to expand...
The thread about the ProBoost remap can be found here...

Pro Boost FSI remap

************************************************************UPDATE JUNE 2022********************************************************************** ProBoost will no longer be offering UK buyers the option to buy a remapped ECU direct from them in Germany. I will now be the only source for UK FSI...
www.a2oc.net

Cheers,

Tom
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

I bought an FSI about 6 months ago so also no expert however like most FSI owners have spent a lot of time reading here about them.

Diesel rattle sound at startup - seems to be an FSI thing as this happens on all although settles after a second to the normal quiet petrol engines car it is. I have used an oil additive which claims to add a molecular bond to metal parts which are subject to friction and reducing it. It’s reduced the initial clatter and even after non use for 2 weeks it starts quieter than it did when I bought it.

I’ve not gone down the pro boost map as mine is a low mileage example and these problems typically start to occur around the 80k mile mark when the carbon builds up. Have a search for my previous posts as I’ve asked questions around this before with answers from members.

Another key thing is to use super unleaded, it needs this and it’s what most FSI’ers use. I myself use Tesco Momentum 99.

Ive asked a fair few FSI questions so if you search my member name you’ll see what I’ve asked and what responses were.
 
Hi, and welcome.
I have a Tdi and FSI.
The FSI sounds like a diesel on startup, usually when warm. Also has a slight knock at idle. I think the knock i probably piston slap. I thought the diesel like noise was lazy lifters, but despite a flush its still there so I just live with it.
I have a ProBoost ECU fitted although I had no previous issues, apart from an occasional hesitation and misfire at low revs. The car runs fine now and passed it's mot before the lockdown.
It's designed to remove all the parts that cause issues, such as the manifold flaps and egr.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
 
Jellybean said:
Hi, and welcome.
I have a Tdi and FSI.
The FSI sounds like a diesel on startup, usually when warm. Also has a slight knock at idle. I think the knock i probably piston slap. I thought the diesel like noise was lazy lifters, but despite a flush its still there so I just live with it.
I have a ProBoost ECU fitted although I had no previous issues, apart from an occasional hesitation and misfire at low revs. The car runs fine now and passed it's mot before the lockdown.
It's designed to remove all the parts that cause issues, such as the manifold flaps and egr.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That's good to know, I can live with the weird noises, but must admit it was a bit of a concern the first time hearing it.
Looking into Proboost, looks pretty ideal to be honest! and a lot cheaper than taking the engine apart. Just shame they don't do one for the sunroof ?
 
I guess the workaround for the OSS is to disconnect the switch in the roof panel!
Alternatively contact @Kleynie for servicing, repairs or replacements.

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Welcome from another FSI owner, your experiece sounds typical for the purchase of a FSI, but you do sound more than capable of putting it to rights. Well done on sorting the EGR valve for now, but if it occurs again I wonder if Paul(Depronman) could print you another cog (for a fee).

Several points...

As others have said the brief odd sound at startup is normal, remember something vaguely about a couple of seconds for oil to reach the top of the engine. Yes it does sound like a diesel, in fact I had a passenger once who had not travelled in my FSI before and unprompted said "oh, you have a diesel".

Looks like a coolant flush and renew is due it looks horrible.

BSS (Boken Sky System) is very common (weak design points) but Adam or Paul will fix it, but not cheap. As you say something for the back burner; you still have the pleasant light interior.

New coolant expansion cap is the right way to go first, just pray it is not something worse.

Lots of points you raise about the flaps. You really need VCDS for diagnostics, the base level version Registered VCDS Lite at £75ish is good value, lots of info on here if you search. I assume you have read the P1031 thread and tried some of the basic diagnostic ideas before diving in and stripping down. Very difficult to see if the vacuum actuator arm is broken, but does it move down 15mm when the ignition key is turned to first position accomanpanied with a click.? Suction test? Multimeter test on the potentiometer? ......

Yes the Pro Boost remap is a solution, (I have some reservations), to the flap issue and it will turn off the EML light. You may well have to still strip the manifold even if you go this route to initially open the flaps. If the flaps are seized shut or partly shut and you did nothing and implemented the map which expects the flaps open and runs in homogeneous mode, then the air intake profile would be wrong. I have no idea how this would effect performance.

Welcome again.

Andy
 
Hi bene22, welcome to the forum and fsi ownership.

When i bought mine 2 years ago it didn't rattle at all from cold but according to the records had an oil change less than a few hundred miles before i picked it up. I soon found it does rattle occasionally, less than 40% but very briefly a second at most. I find as the oil gets older the rattle can go on for 2 secs before quietening down. I'm using Fuch Titan pro S triple ester oil. It's the highest spec of oil you can get and when i put fresh oil in the rattle goes away completely for a while.

You've probably read these engines need to be looked after, oil changes every 10k at least and run on the best high octane fuel like shell V - power. Doing this keeps these engines as clean as can be preventing carbon build for much longer as apposed to an engine with a less than sympathetic owner and servicing regime.

To do the inlet manifold job you don't need to remove engine mounts, i think it's the top engine mount you remove the bolt and tilt the engine forward to gain access behind the engine and inlet manifold. Incidentally this is also the way to do a cam belt change.

Set point not reached can be a confusing one in my humble opinion. Even if you remove and clean the manifold and flaps you still may not extinguish the EML for very long. Others have failed in this regard. I noticed on mine that the light would be off for at least a month and a 1,000 miles then come back. This over time reduced in freqency to the point where almost every journey it would come on, it varies. My feeling is it's the potentiometer thats at fault. The electrical signal breaking down slowly to the point of am almost constant eml.

So,..........if your N316 is working and pipes not loosing vacuum, the plastic flap rod isn't snapped, your car has had a gazillion oil changes and your flaps could be quite clean, as mine were when it was replaced, you just might get away with changing the Potentiometer only. Would be great to see you try that if only to confirm my theory.

All the best with it cheers Mark.
 
Andrew said:
Welcome from another FSI owner, your experiece sounds typical for the purchase of a FSI, but you do sound more than capable of putting it to rights. Well done on sorting the EGR valve for now, but if it occurs again I wonder if Paul(Depronman) could print you another cog (for a fee).

Several points...

As others have said the brief odd sound at startup is normal, remember something vaguely about a couple of seconds for oil to reach the top of the engine. Yes it does sound like a diesel, in fact I had a passenger once who had not travelled in my FSI before and unprompted said "oh, you have a diesel".

Looks like a coolant flush and renew is due it looks horrible.

BSS (Boken Sky System) is very common (weak design points) but Adam or Paul will fix it, but not cheap. As you say something for the back burner; you still have the pleasant light interior.

New coolant expansion cap is the right way to go first, just pray it is not something worse.

Lots of points you raise about the flaps. You really need VCDS for diagnostics, the base level version Registered VCDS Lite at £75ish is good value, lots of info on here if you search. I assume you have read the P1031 thread and tried some of the basic diagnostic ideas before diving in and stripping down. Very difficult to see if the vacuum actuator arm is broken, but does it move down 15mm when the ignition key is turned to first position accomanpanied with a click.? Suction test? Multimeter test on the potentiometer? ......

Yes the Pro Boost remap is a solution, (I have some reservations), to the flap issue and it will turn off the EML light. You may well have to still strip the manifold even if you go this route to initially open the flaps. If the flaps are seized shut or partly shut and you did nothing and implemented the map which expects the flaps open and runs in homogeneous mode, then the air intake profile would be wrong. I have no idea how this would effect performance.

Welcome again.

Andy
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Andy, much appreciated! Yes think it could do with a full service, will make a start on that soon. I do have access to a 3D printer actually, I would imagine this needs to be printed in nylon or perhaps ABS, although I think the current fix should work for now, due to only needing a 180 degree of motion.

The noise sounds like a bit of a VAG design issue, do all FSI engines do this, on other brands too?

Haha, yes the coolant is pretty far gone, i'm thinking most of this is probably from the rusty cap. I did also purchase a head gasket chemical test kit, to check if any exhaust gasses in the coolant, hopefully tomorrow ?

Yes have read all the threads and have tested for free play in the actuator arm, all seems to be moving fine as far as I can tell. Pro Boost map seems like the best solution for now, or just to drive it as is. It's a little sluggish to pick up, possible a little juddery even, and the idle seems a bit wobbly, but really have nothing to compare it to so could be normal?

 
Yet another FSi owner with an OSS roof wading in here! My roof has never worked but I love the airy feel inside the cabin it gives. As others say, that diesely rattle is completely normal and lets you know your engine is still in the engine bay. Like yours, my coolant tank suffers from the same thing but laziness dictates throwing more coolant in once every 3 months or so. It is worth noting that all the coolant can appear to vanish when the engine has been stood for a while so bear this in mind as you may top it up and it blows it all over a freshly cleaned engine bay!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've had three fsi's. All made a rattle on start up for a few seconds, all had the p1031 set point fault at some point too. I'd definitely try pro boost route first, quite a few had tried it now, and the reviews seem positive. The inlet job isn't too bad if you are handy with the spanners, and after doing 4 or 5 times I'm reasonably confident giving it a go, but if it can be avoided using pro boost, that's the route, as you won't have to do it again..good luck, when running on full power the fsi is a great car to drive.
 
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