New owner from Newton Aycliffe,Co.Durham

[nealefloyd]

Hi!been after an A2 for a while and bought my 1.4 SE yesterday.Unfortunately,on the drive home,some 35 miles,the engine management light came on and it seemed to struggle to go above 50mph.Hope I haven't damaged it as it wouldn't start without jump leads this morning.Help!?

 

[Howey]

First start by adding an additional engine earth and go from there

 

[Andrew]

Hi!been after an A2 for a while and bought my 1.4 SE yesterday.Unfortunately,on the drive home,some 35 miles,the engine management light came on and it seemed to struggle to go above 50mph.Hope I haven't damaged it as it wouldn't start without jump leads this morning.Help!?

Welcome and sorry for your introduction to A2 ownership.

Pointless speculating what might be wrong, it could be many things. Anything you know about the history or flagged faults by previous owner? TDI or petrol? What engine code?

Needless to say get the battery fully charged and essentially you need a scan which is likely point to what is wrong, actually two scans, first scan and clear fault codes, take the car if possible on a twenty minute run and rescan to show current faults. Post results here.

Advice after depends on if you are DIY?

Andy

 

[Ozzie]

Hi!been after an A2 for a while and bought my 1.4 SE yesterday.Unfortunately,on the drive home,some 35 miles,the engine management light came on and it seemed to struggle to go above 50mph.Hope I haven't damaged it as it wouldn't start without jump leads this morning.Help!?

Sorry to hear of your problem with the new car.
If you want the codes reading to give you a starting point let me know as you aren't far off my daily commute.
Graham

 

[nealefloyd]

Sorry to hear of your problem with the new car.
If you want the codes reading to give you a starting point let me know as you aren't far off my daily commute.
Graham

Wow,would you? that would be amazing,thanks.my postcode is DL57EE no 56.I don't finish work till 3pm.

 

[simon martyn]

It's things like this that illustrate what a special resource this club is.

Massive appreciation all!

 

[Ozzie]

Wow,would you? that would be amazing,thanks.my postcode is DL57EE no 56.I don't finish work till 3pm.

Ok, I'll be heading in about then so I will call in and see if you're around.

 

[nealefloyd]

Brilliant.thank you so much.see you later.

 

[nealefloyd]

Welcome and sorry for your introduction to A2 ownership.

Pointless speculating what might be wrong, it could be many things. Anything you know about the history or flagged faults by previous owner? TDI or petrol? What engine code?

Needless to say get the battery fully charged and essentially you need a scan which is likely point to what is wrong, actually two scans, first scan and clear fault codes, take the car if possible on a twenty minute run and rescan to show current faults. Post results here.

Advice after depends on if you are DIY?

Andy

Cheers for the reply,Andy.I bought the car as so much work and new parts added.Battery is fine,just been checked by "Ozzie" who also cleared the warning light and we got a reading saying "ERG gasses too high".Need to get some road tax tomorrow to try a run again and see if the light comes back on.I don't mind getting my hands dirty,old fashioned spanner wielding etc but these electronics?Car looked like it had been stood as moss on spoiler etc but owner was a mechanic.

 

[nealefloyd]

It's things like this that illustrate what a special resource this club is.

Massive appreciation all!

yes!massive respect to all.

 

[nealefloyd]

First start by adding an additional engine earth and go from there

Cheers Howey!yes,the idea of earthing an aluminium car did occur to me.

 

[Alan_uk]

Cheers Howey!yes,the idea of earthing an aluminium car did occur to me.

If you do a search there are plenty of threads on earth points. They rust as the earth strap is steel + you get contact corrosion when two different metals touch. Earth point may look ok but need to be removed and cleaned. Sometimes the bolt can shear. The earth behind the nearside headlight and the strap from the engine to the chassis are the 2 that come up most often. I suspect due to vibration and exposure to the elements.

Here is a thread with photos and a diagram of the earth points. The diagram has 12 earth points but not all are labelled.

Information - Electrical - A2 earth points

Attached are pictures for the Earth Points on the A2 :cool: NOTE: 1.6FSi Owners I have found that these cables are faulty in 3 cases (all on 2003 models!). It appears that the cable is clean at ends and makes good contact onto body, but if you look under the sleeve, it has corroded to the...

www.a2oc.net

 

[nealefloyd]

If you do a search there are plenty of threads on earth points. They rust as the earth strap is steel + you get contact corrosion when two different metals touch. Earth point may look ok but need to be removed and cleaned. Sometimes the bolt can shear. The earth behind the nearside headlight and the strap from the engine to the chassis are the 2 that come up most often. I suspect due to vibration and exposure to the elements.

Here is a thread with photos and a diagram of the earth points. The diagram has 12 earth points but not all are labelled.

Information - Electrical - A2 earth points

Attached are pictures for the Earth Points on the A2 :cool: NOTE: 1.6FSi Owners I have found that these cables are faulty in 3 cases (all on 2003 models!). It appears that the cable is clean at ends and makes good contact onto body, but if you look under the sleeve, it has corroded to the...

www.a2oc.net

Thanks.Really appreciate this info.Strangely,when I set off for home on buying the car,I got about 10 mins down the road when there was a loud bang from the nearside front area of the engine bay yet I didn't see anything fly off or drop and nothing visible under the bonnet.Haven't been able to do much with the car due to the weather AND poor starting issues.I've had the headlight out but couldn't really see any large wire.

 

[Andrew]

Thanks.Really appreciate this info.Strangely,when I set off for home on buying the car,I got about 10 mins down the road when there was a loud bang from the nearside front area of the engine bay yet I didn't see anything fly off or drop and nothing visible under the bonnet.Haven't been able to do much with the car due to the weather AND poor starting issues.I've had the headlight out but couldn't really see any large wire.

A loud bang sounds ominous, sympathy.

No disgrace in not finding the engine earthing point, look at these pictures courtesy of member Birdfish.

Andy

 

[nealefloyd]

A loud bang sounds ominous, sympathy.

No disgrace in not finding the engine earthing point, look at these pictures courtesy of member Birdfish.

Andy

Once again,thanks!Those pics will be really helpful.If and when I do locate the lead,is it just a case of refixing or should I add another?

 

[kp 115]

Thanks.Really appreciate this info.Strangely,when I set off for home on buying the car,I got about 10 mins down the road when there was a loud bang from the nearside front area of the engine bay yet I didn't see anything fly off or drop and nothing visible under the bonnet.Haven't been able to do much with the car due to the weather AND poor starting issues.I've had the headlight out but couldn't really see any large wire.

Hi nealefloyd,
I would have a look at the near side spring as they can suffer fracturing with the loud bang at time of fracture!
Hth
Keith.

 

[nealefloyd]

Hi nealefloyd,
I would have a look at the near side spring as they can suffer fracturing with the loud bang at time of fracture!
Hth
Keith.

Cheers Keith!list getting longer?

 

[Andrew]

Once again,thanks!Those pics will be really helpful.If and when I do locate the lead,is it just a case of refixing or should I add another?

Good Afternoon,

Be warned, the galvanic corrosion between the steel bolt and aluminium chassis besides causing electrical discontinuity also "glues" the two together, often leading to the bolt shearing. My advice is to soak the bolt for several days in penetrating oil such as PlusGas before tackling the bolt to give yourself the best chance of success. Also I would fit a secondary earth before tackling the bolt to give a backup and keep the car on the road if it shears, taking the pressure off attempting to remove the sheared bolt. Seen lots of advice on location and spec of a secondary earth if you search for it. Incidently as you work on the car you will come across lots of green bolts, these are steel bolts coated with a green barrier layer and Audi's attempt to reduce/minimise galvanic corrosion, not all pluses having an aluminium car! Take note of what has been posted about cleaning/inspecting the earthing point elsewhere.

Andy

 

[nealefloyd]

Cheers Keith!list getting longer?

Looked at that side and the spring looks new?!shiny black paint on there.

 

[nealefloyd]

Sorry to hear of your problem with the new car.
If you want the codes reading to give you a starting point let me know as you aren't far off my daily commute.
Graham

HI Graham,just a quick update.Got some road tax and car JUST started yesterday so took it for a 15-20min run and everything seemed fine,so i'm really confused.As you said,maybe it just needs using?I actually really want to but am fearful of the battery/charging letting me down one snowy morning after nightshift.Thanks again for clearing the warning light,which has not come back on,yet,lol.