A3 TDI Servicing

Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI sport 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a service, which i'll be doing myself.

In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+ miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?

The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.

Thanks for any advice!

Reply to
Mark
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fwiw, habitual driving with very low revs can contribute to carbon build-up in the cylinder head. Audi has a fluid and associated procedure to remove such carbon. Might be worth giving it a try...

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

Reply to
daytripper

MAF sensor in the air intake after the filter? Coolant temp sender? Both are known to go bad and give poorer running.

You EGR and turbo may also be clogged up. There are online guides on cleaning both.

Not sure how long the injectors last on these but they may be due for renewal.

How well does the car run otherwise i.e. same power as before or down a bit?

This won't affect the sooting but when was your timing belt last changed? Audi are now recommending every 60k or 4/5 years so yours could be due very soon.

HTH Dave

Reply to
Dave

Take a look at TDIClub.com for good advice.

Like Dave said, the EGR/Turbo could be a little sooted- also the intercooler could be clogged. Cleaning procedures are on TDIClub.com. Cleaning the turbo is quite involved though- but you could just work the VNT actuator back and forth a few times from under the car and see if that frees it.

It's probably worth doing an italian tune-up as well- get the engine warm and then drive it *hard* in 2nd/third. You might want to check that cambelt first!

I'd would say MAF as a possibility for the smoke/economy issue, but when my MAF failed on the 99 A3 110 sport I had, it was as ceonomical as ever, just slower. A quick test is to unplug the MAF and see how performance is then: it should be much worse. For a proper diagnosis, you need to log output with VAG-COM.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

Hi -

I'm in the market for a car. Not sure if I'll go new or used yet. If used, not many years. Is there a list out there of what years/models are diesel engines? My goal is biodiesel conversion.

I'm posting this to three groups, including Audi & Volkswagen. I realize Mercedez also makes diesel but that is a little out of my price range. If someone wants to recommend other car brands that run diesel, please do.

Thanks! Scott

Reply to
Scotter

Where are you from?

Reply to
benteaches

Reply to
Scotter

Older Mbz's are plentiful, reliable and take to bio and vegoil nicely. I'd recommend an early 80's model 300td. HTH Ben

Reply to
benteaches

If you want new you'll have to wait to at least third quarter before VW brings out the new 2.0L TDI(Merc's Blue Tec engine w/o the urea filter). You have to be careful when running Biodiesel. The new engines are designed for VLSF.( as seen at any Diesel pump) For used cars if you want something modern and runs on Biodiesel, your only choice is VW TDI's, 3rd or 4th Gen either Jetta, Golf sedan-wagon-hatchback. Many 3rd and 4th Gen TDI's run on homemade bio. For more info go to

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. Google TDI and the second entry is TDIClub, right behind the Texa Dept of Insurance. ;-)

If you want more choices you have to move outside of North America.

Reply to
elweasel

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