S3 8P Woes

[JuggHead]

Hi guys,

Don't really know the VAG community in CT. So hoping someone here see's this and maybe has some insight. Recently bought an 07 Audi s3 8p with 150km on the clock.

Little frustrated at this point had the car with tuners for the last week. Car was cutting intermittently when driving and the tuner says the ignition/spark timing is out by 3-12 degrees and car keeps putting itself into limp mode (I have no idea what all this means).

I bought the car from a dealer thinking it was a decent deal (stupid me) as it has full service records and recent invoices for repair work done like cambelt, water pump, etc.

So far we've done the following work with the tuner:

• Full service
• New platinum spark plugs
• R8 Coils
• Gearbox oil change
• New Fuel Filter
• High-pressure fuel pump regulator changed (faulty)
• New engine speed/crank sensor (it was faulty)

The car came with an aftermarket Forge motorsport intake, I believe an uprated clutch, downpipe, and catback exhaust. The previous owner had a tune on the vehicle but the dealer mentioned they flashed it back to stock because it was over-boosting. The mechanic confirmed that the car was over-boosting but that the previous owner had actually change the actuator on the turbo. We've also ruled out a faulty MAF.

His last recommendation is to re-tune the car as his suspicion is that the main culprit. I've pumped about 17k into this so far. The new Stage 2 tune with calibration is R 4999.00. Was hoping someone here would be able to give their 2c before I pull the trigger.

 

[Ageless_ZA]

@JuggHead Dropped you a PM

 

[CarboVan]

I'm assuming you made all these changes after you've had the car for a while already?
I would have just taken it back to the dealer to fix. Or push for a refund perhaps.
But yea, guessing that ship has sailed considering all the changes you have made already.?

 

[Hobo Joe]

Hey bud, sorry to hear about your issues!

I have a 2010 8P S3, but am fairly new to CT so also not too familiar with the VAG scene here. I currently use either Ferroli or the Etuners CPT branch for any work that needs to be done on my car.

I've had some related issues on my car in the past, but they turned out to be fairly straightforward (fouled plugs or clogged fuel filter). It sounds like your issue is either fuel or air related and if you've changed the maintenance parts related to that, then my guess is that the file was not properly removed. There may still be settings that are related to the old tune that are active currently and causing your fuel/air ratio to be off, etc.

You should speak to the dealership and ask them how they went about "flashing to stock", as maybe their "stock" file is not actually the correct factory spec S3 settings. Besides that, your best bet is probably a new tune from a reputable tuning house. They would be able to clear any existing conflicting ECU settings and apply a custom tune for your vehicle.

 

[LaidToRest]

My best advice would be to sell it asap. I had 2007 S3 8P 2 years back with fewer KMs (paid R150k). Long story short, spend over 200k to try and fix never-ending issues, replaced everything you can think of. The last straw was the power steering rack went (65k replace cost, which I never did) and then the Haldex system broke (another almost 100k to replace). At that point, I sold it for R80k. I could have bought a brand new Golf 7 GTI and it would have cost me less in the long run (not to mention the S3 8P is not light on fuel at all).

If you keep going down that rabbit hole you will look back at this post as an "I told you so".

Don't like to be a doomsayer, but it is what it is.

Edit: she was a beaut though

 

[Mogo]

My best advice would be to sell it asap. I had 2007 S3 8P 2 years back with fewer KMs (paid R150k). Long story short, spend over 200k to try and fix never-ending issues, replaced everything you can think of. The last straw was the power steering rack went (65k replace cost, which I never did) and then the Haldex system broke (another almost 100k to replace). At that point, I sold it for R80k. I could have bought a brand new Golf 7 GTI and it would have cost me less in the long run (not to mention the S3 8P is not light on fuel at all).

If you keep going down that rabbit hole you will look back at this post as an "I told you so".

Don't like to be a doomsayer, but it is what it is.

Daaaamn that Sounds like a horrible marriage! Glad you left it.

 

[Hobo Joe]

My best advice would be to sell it asap. I had 2007 S3 8P 2 years back with fewer KMs (paid R150k). Long story short, spend over 200k to try and fix never-ending issues, replaced everything you can think of. The last straw was the power steering rack went (65k replace cost, which I never did) and then the Haldex system broke (another almost 100k to replace). At that point, I sold it for R80k. I could have bought a brand new Golf 7 GTI and it would have cost me less in the long run (not to mention the S3 8P is not light on fuel at all).

If you keep going down that rabbit hole you will look back at this post as an "I told you so".

Don't like to be a doomsayer, but it is what it is.

I've had the rear diff/haldex go on my car as well... A new one from Audi is 90K, but I got a second hand unit and with installation was less than 10K.

It's not always the case with these cars though, i've had mine for 7 years (230K on the clock now) and never had any issues besides the rear diff. It may be heavy on fuel, but have loved all 7 years of ownership.

How could you ever part ways with a thing of beauty like this😛

 

[Confucius]

Not sure if these engines had the cam follower issue like the gti but that was an every 10k km change when I had my golf.

If it’s fuel related, you can look at changing the fuel pressure regulator. Guys use the one from the rs4. After I changed my fuel pump and a better tune, was having issues where car would go into limp mode because of low fuel pressure. A vagcom cable is a good investment. You will be able to log various parameters and see what’s happening when it goes into limp mode

They are nice cars though. I drive an S4 now but my golf was a lot more fun to drive with full stage 2 upgrade.

 

[Skalabala]

Some OBD codes will help

 

[JuggHead]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Car is back in my hands but still isn't sorted. No codes but keeps going into a 'soft' limp mode. Disconnecting the battery and discharging seems to reset ecu and then it works.

Not happy with tuner so going to take it to Thanas tuning - seems to know what he's talking about so thanks for the recommendations - when I have some spare cash. Have parked it in the garage for now pity because it definitely sounds like a healthy engine.

Thinking I'm either going to need a new intake or MAF. Every time I plug MAF back in, the car runs rough but fine with it unplugged. Also seems to guzzle fuel without MAF plugged in so no point in driving it.

 

[madness_inc]

Try some MAF cleaner first