A 2nd A2 for me - project FSI

BiggDogg

A2OC Donor
Time to own up - I've bought another A2 to go alongside my TDI 90.

It's a '52 plate 1.6 FSI in Dolphin grey with 4 months MOT, under 97,000 miles and all the books, 2 working remote keys, fully working OSS and climate, DIS, 4 electric windows, Concert II with 6-disc changer in the boot, rear bench seat, light grey Alcantara with lumbar support electric adjustment, 16" originally alloys, false floor in the boot and never-been-used collapsible spare tyre.

It's a project because I bought it locally off eBay as spares or repair. So what's wrong:

Sold as a non-driver because of an "intermittently faulty servo".
EGR pipe split and leaking exhaust gases (suspect this caused servo brakes issue) - already replaced with new gaskets
The exhaust is blowing at the back too.
The driver's seat is wearing very thin on the centre suede section and has worn through in the middle.
Lots of engine fault codes initially but looks like the classic flaps not working, idles rough but smooths out at higher revs.
K&N air filter I really don't like these - will replace it once the intake is done
No evidence the timing belts have ever been changed, last owner for 4y says they didn't change it - so needs doing
Oil level sensor fault displayed in DIS in yellow
Front bumper has been replaced at some point but no other sign of accident damage; the replacement bumper has foglights but these are not wired up and the switch doesn't have a second pull-position to control them.

Having replaced the EGR pipe, saved the old fault codes, done a throttle body reset and reset the fault codes, I'm still getting the 17439 intake manifold flaps setpoint not reached. I'm halfway through intake manifold removal, expecting to find a broken actuator arm but will clean everything up even if by some miracle it's not broken and the valve or potentiometer are faulty instead. Of course I'm referring to lots of excellent posts on this forum on the subject, as well as the Audi workshop manual: https://workshop-manuals.com/audi/a...stem/removing_and_installing_intake_manifold/

Question is: since I've got that end of the engine apart, seems now is a good a good time to do the timing belts kits and death pipe too? Anyone disagree?

All the best,

Matt
 
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Nope. Do all these things while it’s in bits. If anything, removing the timing belt and that left engine mount makes access to the rear of the engine far easier because you can pull it forward.
 
Great, thanks. Now I’ve got the upper and lower manifolds off. The flap actuator arm is broken and the flaps are maybe a bit stiff but not as bad as I was expecting. I have to order a bunch of parts now and they’ll arrive whilst I’m away on hols.
When I took the upper manifold off, levering it off the injector o-rings, one brass tube has stayed on its injector, the others have stayed with the manifold. I guess I need to take off all the brass tubes and renew the o-rings on both sides? I’m a bit worried that crud from the outside is going to end up inside the injectors and trying to take all precautions to prevent that. Any tips appreciated.
Many thanks,
Matt
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Don’t worry about the brass ring. The seals are the same either side. Best to replace them if they have been off but they ain’t cheap!

I’m seriously considering a flap delete on the ECU, this is very similar work to what I did, I got all the inlet cleaned up, got all the injectors cleaned out and replaced one of them. The flaps move freely, the arms not broken, but when it’s all back together it’s still not great. The acceleration is lumpy, from what I understand that’s a side effect of the flaps going up and down. It’s like there’s a turbo spooling when there isn’t. Also, wait till the flaps are working again for it to throw the next bunch of codes. No doubt relating to NOX sensors and other things that weren’t in use because the flaps were gone.
 
I also have a broken vacuum actuator arm on my 1.6FSI. In order to save myself a lot of work, should I replace the actuator (presume link arm can't be replaced on its own?) without removing and cleaning the inlet manifold? Or would the fact that it was sticking and, hence, broke the link arm mean that the replacement would subsequently break too? Can the actuator be replaced relatively easily?
 
I also have a broken vacuum actuator arm on my 1.6FSI. In order to save myself a lot of work, should I replace the actuator (presume link arm can't be replaced on its own?) without removing and cleaning the inlet manifold? Or would the fact that it was sticking and, hence, broke the link arm mean that the replacement would subsequently break too? Can the actuator be replaced relatively easily?
I’m fairly certain you can’t remove the actuator without stripping the inlet off.
 
A feature of the design in the photos attached leads me to suspect it is possible to change the vacuum actuator without removing the intake. There is a recess in the intake casting which appears to allow the actuator arm to pass into the hole on the flap shaft plastic wheel thing. Note that the arm stub “bayonet lock” can only be fitted with arm at exactly the right angle. Also there is insufficient clearance in the recess to enable the arm stub to slide straight out or in, so you have to tilt it in. Hopefully the photos show the method. Obviously I am doing this with the intake off the car and just showing how to take the broken stub out but I think it could be possible to do this and then fit a complete new actuator without disassembly.
As to whether it is worth replacing just the actuator: I guess that the plastic gets brittle with age, and also the flaps and their shaft bearings gum up and increase the load. On my intake it's possible to move the flaps easily with very light finger pressure but they don't fall under their own weight. Here’s the photos:
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I had to remove my intake manifold as the flaps had seized causing the actuator to snap. If u remove intake manifold then i would suggest you renew both gaskets and injector seals x4 as a minimum needed to reassemble. Good luck
 
A feature of the design in the photos attached leads me to suspect it is possible to change the vacuum actuator without removing the intake. There is a recess in the intake casting which appears to allow the actuator arm to pass into the hole on the flap shaft plastic wheel thing. Note that the arm stub “bayonet lock” can only be fitted with arm at exactly the right angle. Also there is insufficient clearance in the recess to enable the arm stub to slide straight out or in, so you have to tilt it in. Hopefully the photos show the method. Obviously I am doing this with the intake off the car and just showing how to take the broken stub out but I think it could be possible to do this and then fit a complete new actuator without disassembly.
As to whether it is worth replacing just the actuator: I guess that the plastic gets brittle with age, and also the flaps and their shaft bearings gum up and increase the load. On my intake it's possible to move the flaps easily with very light finger pressure but they don't fall under their own weight.

-brilliant, thanks. I'll try to assess how stuck the flaps are before deciding on the next steps.
 
Many thanks for all the advice, it is very much appreciated.

After a lot of distractions including finishing off fixing up my son's Polo after a fallen tree incident and a couple of holidays, I'm finally back on the FSI project. I've cleaned out the manifold flaps with Forte valve cleaner, they are moving freely and I lubricated the flap shaft with engine oil, and changed the potentiometer and actuator.
The old death pipe is out, the water pump and timing belts are off and the camshafts are locked. I thought I could remove the 3 screws holding the thermostat housing to the engine and gain enough room to wriggle the old death pipe free, but once it was loose I could see the joint between the thermostat housing and the engine was going to need cleaning, so all the hoses and both cables had to come off, to do the job properly by getting the thermostat housing on the bench. The date code on the death pipe reads June 2010 and the C-clip at the thermostat end was missing, so there's no doubt it's been changed before.

Injectors:
Now I have the injectors exposed, should I take them out and have them checked and cleaned if necessary? If so, where?

Having read the online workshop manual instructions back in July I had been slightly put off the idea because of (from memory) needing to change the teflon injector tip seals and use some special tool to shape them. But now I can't find the page again. I thought it was this one, but it's not:

https://workshop-manuals.com/audi/a.../fuel_rail_pipe_with_high-pressure_injectors/

Can anyone advise?

Wiring:
I've found some dodgy wiring connecting to a sensor in the block that sits centrally, under the death pipe. I expect I can take it out for a proper look and find out what it is on ETKA, or 7zap. Has anyone had trouble with this wiring before? The on-wire part of the connector - the plastic shell seems to be missing and someone has soldered some wires direct to the sensor pins, though this is viewing with a mirror and headtorch.
Also there is nothing connected to sender on the gearbox which is mounted just above the right hand driveshaft exit. It looks like nothing has been connected there for a while as the contacts are green and it has several mm of grit in the bottom of it. Looking around, there's no wires dangling, nothing to connect to it. Was there ever?

Alcantara repair:
I had been under the impression that Alcantara was some sort of posh hide, like suede only from some exotic land mammal like a llama or antelope. It isn't, it's man-made, a sort of very short tuft fleece. My driver's seat which is mushroom-colour leather and Alcantara has worn through in the central part and I'd like to repair it on the cheap. Has anyone attempted to remove the seat base covers and sew in new sections of Alcantara? Or should I just take it to a local vehicle upholster?

Matt
 
Lots of questions. I can answer one. The sensor in the back of the block under the death pipe is the knock sensor. - Andy
 
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Having read the online workshop manual instructions back in July I had been slightly put off the idea because of (from memory) needing to change the teflon injector tip seals and use some special tool to shape them. But now I can't find the page again. I thought it was this one, but it's not:

https://workshop-manuals.com/audi/a.../fuel_rail_pipe_with_high-pressure_injectors/

Can anyone advise?

https://workshop-manuals.com/audi/a...stem/removing_and_installing_intake_manifold/

If you go a few pages further in the same section of workshop manuals the above comes up which refers to the teflon bit in the injectors - is this what you're looking for?
 
Best send the injectors off to be cleaned and tested. When they did mine the teflon seals were not changed, if they aren't torn you will be fine.

ETA, I have a black 90 and dolphin FSI !!
 
Many thanks Andy, Robin and Nige - yes that's the page I was recalling. It's the bit using 4 tools T10133/5 to T10133/T8 which put me off. Really hoping they aren't torn then. I'll google for someone to send the injectors off to unless someone can make a recommendation - who did you use Nige and B4Andra, and what should I be paying?
If one is torn - can one order these tools or does a new set of teflon seals come with them, (which I guess are just plastic mouldings anyway).
What does ""Teflon ring calibration (adaption)" actually mean?

Cheers again,

Matt
 
Best send the injectors off to be cleaned and tested.
Yes, great advice ! Injectors are commonly failing on FSI's.

Alcantara is a synthetic fabric. It's a trademark from an Italian company. BTW, it is said that they have a so huge demand that they cannot produce enough...
You can buy a piece of Alcantara fabric to have your seat repaired. They key point is matching the color.
 
Thanks fbi, Keith and Nige.
It sounds like at least one of the injector service companies will renew the teflon seals so that should be that sorted.
For removing the injectors, I've found Laser Tools 5069, instructions here:
https://www.lasertools.co.uk/items/PDF/Products/5069_Instructions.pdf
The tool set is £106 on eBay. This is rather steep but less than a new injector (eBay £163).

It looks to me like the extractor part of the tool (part A with the pivoted jaws) actually bears on the plastic part - this is a pic of a new injector:
fsi injector.jpg

and the drawing in the workshop manual:
manual.jpg

and the tools:
tool.jpg


I am minded to have a crack at making parts A and C myself. Am I making a meal out of this? Should I just grab hold of the injectors and pull, or is that just going to end in tears?
Thanks in advance,
Matt
 
Regarding the price of Injectors, only a few months back i paid just under £100 delivered for genuine Bosch with 5 year guarantee. I can't find that part with the dealer anymore but found this AUDI A2 8Z 1.6 Petrol Fuel Injector 02 to 05 BAD Nozzle Valve Bosch 036906036

We were in a similar position as yourself Flaps not returning to set point slight misfire on one injector. I took the path of "fit and forget" as i didn't want anything to come back and bite us so bought a new lower inlet manifold. It may not have been completly necessary but if you like something enough i think it pays in the long run and being just an enthusiast rather than "Trade" helps as your investing in yourself rather than just getting it running for sale approach.

Really liking this thread and the detail you've added to it.
 
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