So I took my car to the mechanic....

eagleeyejoe

I have an Audi A3 1.9 Tdi. Recently it has been giving trouble starting in the mornings. It seems to happen when the weather is cold. The car didn't start straight away and when it did start a cloud of smoke came out the exhaust. A yellow light was coming on the dashboard.

So I brought it to the mechanic on Monday morning and left it with him. When I left it with him I was told him the issue with starting the car and I also mentioned that the turbo in the car goes every so often (perhaps every 2/3 weeks). It would go for a short period (no acceleration). When I turn off the car and turn it back on it would be fine. It was only a small problem but I said i'd say it to him all the same.

I picked up the car yesterday and the mechanic changed the heater plugs in the car. €125. Fair enough. Took the car home and realised there was no acceleration at all on the main road. I said I'd leave it for another 24 hours to see if the problem would clear....but it hasn't. The car has gone from the turbo working 98% of the time to now not working at all since I picked it up from the mechanic. It's really frustrating. I was driving earlier and struggled to get 110km on a 120km road.

I rang the mechanic and said this to him. He said this is the first he heard of a problem with the turbo and says I never mentioned anything to him about it on Monday. I know in my own mind that I did say it to him. He just might not have heard me properly. Anyway, I'm bringing it back to him next week. What I want to know is should I be expected to pay up another €100 - €200 for something that not working since I picked up from the mechanic or should I insist that he covers the cost of repairing the issue with the turbo at least back to the 98% level it was at originally. Any advice would be appreciated.

ddarraghh

i am guessing that there is/was an intermittent engine managment fault,
after the engine has been worked on something may have been disturbed(loose wire ) to make the problem worse .
i dont think the mechanic is at fault

peasant

First off ..whatever isn't working properly on your car, it aint the turbo because that's purely mechanical and doesn't magically recover by switching the engine on and off if and when it's gone.
It can also not be destroyed by installing new glowplugs.

What probably IS gone is some stupid sensor or another (or it has a wonky connection) ...airflow sensor would be the first suspect.

As that has stopped working since your mechanic has been near the engine, my suspiscion would be that he has accidentally turned the previously wonky connection into a broken one (by finally pulling/damaging a cable somewhere)

Or maybe your sensor just gave up the ghost completely by shere coincidence.

martin46585

i had something similiar with a volkswagen, glow plugs and dash light, anything other that putting the car on a diagnostic code reader is only clutching at straws,(no pun inteaded)
prices vary quite a bit but for around 50 euros a decent mechanic will at least tell you if the original faults are cleared and what others are registering on the cars ecu.
hope this helps

mickdw

Your car had a fault. It has now gotten worse. Mechanic is not at fault imo. To be honest, it may be better that the fault is there permanently now. At least it will be easier to find!

Muckie

Diagnostic check is your best bet, could be any number of
reasons(faulty loom or engine sensors). Ask before you bring
it back can he do a diagnostic check just so you know
exactly where the fault is and a rough price.

snowman707

eagleeyejoe wrote: »

I have an Audi A3 1.9 Tdi. Recently it has been giving trouble starting in the mornings. It seems to happen when the weather is cold. The car didn't start straight away and when it did start a cloud of smoke came out the exhaust. A yellow light was coming on the dashboard.

So I brought it to the mechanic on Monday morning and left it with him. When I left it with him I was told him the issue with starting the car and I also mentioned that the turbo in the car goes every so often (perhaps every 2/3 weeks). It would go for a short period (no acceleration). When I turn off the car and turn it back on it would be fine. It was only a small problem but I said i'd say it to him all the same.

I picked up the car yesterday and the mechanic changed the heater plugs in the car. €125. Fair enough. Took the car home and realised there was no acceleration at all on the main road. I said I'd leave it for another 24 hours to see if the problem would clear....but it hasn't. The car has gone from the turbo working 98% of the time to now not working at all since I picked it up from the mechanic. It's really frustrating. I was driving earlier and struggled to get 110km on a 120km road.

I rang the mechanic and said this to him. He said this is the first he heard of a problem with the turbo and says I never mentioned anything to him about it on Monday. I know in my own mind that I did say it to him. He just might not have heard me properly. Anyway, I'm bringing it back to him next week. What I want to know is should I be expected to pay up another €100 - €200 for something that not working since I picked up from the mechanic or should I insist that he covers the cost of repairing the issue with the turbo at least back to the 98% level it was at originally. Any advice would be appreciated.

with what he charged for the glow plugs he could well afford a hearing aid, think you would be better finding some one else.

Hal1

snowman707 wrote: »

with what he charged for the glow plugs he could well afford a hearing aid, think you would be better finding some one else.

Oh dear...:rolleyes:

galwaytt

OP - I think you're mis-diagnosing the problem, and whilst the mechanic didn't cog what you said, it's unlikely to be the turbo. The turbo is a mechanical part, and either works, or doesn't. It does not 'do', intermittent.....in all likelihood, it's your MAF or possibly dumpvalve that's either iffy or gone AWOL.

If the turbo was 'gone' I find it hard to believe a mechanic that wouldn't be the first to replace it.........for a price, of course !

jm99

hey eagleeyejoe, i have a similiar problem with my golf tdi. i dont have any problem starting it except now and again there's a whine for a second or two when i start it. no lights on the dash. i lose the turbo every now and again. sometimes it could be fine for 2-3 weeks and then it could happen twice in a day. usually on long journeys to dublin or cork when i open it up a bit. i'm fairly chuffed people reckon the turbo is not the problem, could do without needing that replaced $$$$$.
i'm basically ignoring it till the new year(cash flow problems) but would be grateful to find out how you got on with your audi when you get it sorted. cheers

Car Mad

Id be nearly 100% its an air flow sensor problem they are known to give trouble in audi and vws.Its a job you could do yourself very easy change new sensor shudnt cost more than 80-100 quid.Better still to be sure its your problem if you know someone with same type car and same engine code swap them over just to be sure its your problem.:cool:

craichoe

Definetely MAF (Mass Airflow Meter).

Had the same problem on my 1.9 TDI, costs abourt 120 euro for a replacement and takes about 5 minutes to change.

gofaster_s13

V/W turbos are variable geometry turbos and yes they can give intermittant problems as the vanes are electrically controlled and yes sometimes they can be rectified by switching on and off the ignition as it can unstick the solenoid controlling the actuator it can also unstick the vanes in the turbo itself but once you get to this stage something is on its way out, had a Transporter in the garage 3 weeks ago with the exact same symptoms and it did turn out to be the turbo unit.

ddarraghh

dont think all tdis have that system,
the last turbo i had off a tdi deffo was a standard unit
in out oil pipes

meathstevie

craichoe wrote: »

Definetely MAF (Mass Airflow Meter).

Had the same problem on my 1.9 TDI, costs abourt 120 euro for a replacement and takes about 5 minutes to change.

You can get those MAF jobbies a lot cheaper in a decent motorfactors. I used to have a TDI Octavia that needed one a year or two ago. Branded part was €110+vat. Bought one in a motorfactors for a lot less. Takes about 5 minutes to replace as craichoe says.

Nonoperational

Non branded MAFs can often be complete sh1te.

gofaster_s13

ddarraghh wrote: »

dont think all tdis have that system,
the last turbo i had off a tdi deffo was a standard unit
in out oil pipes

All the TDI's have the variable geometry turbos with the actuator on the turbo being controlled by a remote vacuum solenoid.