Few problems with 1999 audi a4
Few problems with 1999 audi a4
Hi all,
I have recently brought a 1999 audi a4 b5 non turbo 1.8 petrol
I have a few issues.
I have oil in one of the spark plug chambers. I think I need to replace the rocket cover gasket, can anyone confirm?
The car sometimes looses low end power, mainly when you plug away and don't really give it high revs it will loose all power, not stall, but not go anywhere! I guess this is because of the oil on the plug?
The radiator fan is always on, from the minute you turn the key.
I only have one key and its not the key with the remote central locking function. When I turn the key in the door it opens everything so I would I be right in thinking the car has remote central locking and i need to buy a key from ebay and get it cut and paired? The barrel in the door is really stiff and I think the key will break soon
There is no engine management light when I put the ignition on, does this mean the bulb has been removed? I get 3 lights that flash at me but I cant remember what they are, I will get a photo though.
When I connect my cheap obd2 reader I get a link error on it.
The windscreen gets really steamed up, and the blowers smell of coolant, I guess the heater matrix has a small leak, would K seal solve this? I think it will be a dash out job to change the matrix and i dont have the time to do that!
Coolant is a bit brown too
Not the best of starts, but it was £400 and apart from losing low end power once or twice drives lovely!
Ian
I have recently brought a 1999 audi a4 b5 non turbo 1.8 petrol
I have a few issues.
I have oil in one of the spark plug chambers. I think I need to replace the rocket cover gasket, can anyone confirm?
The car sometimes looses low end power, mainly when you plug away and don't really give it high revs it will loose all power, not stall, but not go anywhere! I guess this is because of the oil on the plug?
The radiator fan is always on, from the minute you turn the key.
I only have one key and its not the key with the remote central locking function. When I turn the key in the door it opens everything so I would I be right in thinking the car has remote central locking and i need to buy a key from ebay and get it cut and paired? The barrel in the door is really stiff and I think the key will break soon
There is no engine management light when I put the ignition on, does this mean the bulb has been removed? I get 3 lights that flash at me but I cant remember what they are, I will get a photo though.
When I connect my cheap obd2 reader I get a link error on it.
The windscreen gets really steamed up, and the blowers smell of coolant, I guess the heater matrix has a small leak, would K seal solve this? I think it will be a dash out job to change the matrix and i dont have the time to do that!
Coolant is a bit brown too
Not the best of starts, but it was £400 and apart from losing low end power once or twice drives lovely!
Ian
2nd Gear
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,372
Here is my 2 cents on your issues. anyone else, fell free to chime in, i am just taking a stab, here.
"I have oil in one of the spark plug chambers. I think I need to replace the rocket cover gasket, can anyone confirm?"
You need to replace your valve cover gasket, its leaking into your spark plug sockets. while your at it, you should also change the half moon & Tensioner gasket seal, both cam seals in the front of both cam shafts. You may even need to change 1 or 2 cam caps but i think only the B5 with a V6 engine, has cam caps, not 1.8's or 1.8T's
"The car sometimes looses low end power, mainly when you plug away and don't really give it high revs it will loose all power, not stall, but not go anywhere! I guess this is because of the oil on the plug?"
Well, there's isn't much to go on, being you haven't got your B5 scanned for codes, not much anyone can tell, without that information. The oil, filling one of the spark plug sockets may or may not be, responsible for your power loss but its not going to make your car run any better!
"The radiator fan is always on, from the minute you turn the key."
This seems like a constant ground? Not 100% sure on this one.
"I only have one key and its not the key with the remote central locking function, when I turn the key in the door it opens everything so I would I be right in thinking the car has remote central locking and i need to buy a key from ebay and get it cut and paired? The barrel in the door is really stiff and I think the key will break soon."
You could get replacement from the dealer, it'll cost you, though.
"There is no engine management light when I put the ignition on, does this mean the bulb has been removed? I get 3 lights that flash at me but I cant remember what they are, I will get a photo though."
Are you referring to the, check engine light?
"When I connect my cheap obd2 reader I get a link error on it."
Take it to a local car store and have them scan for codes for free.
"The windscreen gets really steamed up, and the blowers smell of coolant, I guess the heater matrix has a small leak, would K seal solve this? I think it will be a dash out job to change the matrix and i don't have the time to do that!"
I doubt your heat is working, you may have air in the coolant system, that needs to be bleed or your heater core is clogged. Do you have heat or not?
"Coolant is a bit brown too"
You need to replace your, "oil cooler seal" as its leaking oil, into your coolant lines or perhaps the whole oil cooler, altogether.
Hence the reason your coolant is brown. You also need to flush the entire coolant system of the oil contaminated coolant with water and replenish it with new G12 coolant. Then after that is done, you need to bleed all the air out of your coolant system. there are several bleed holes, from which you can do this. You have a lot of repairs on your hands, maybe you should have checked it out, before you purchased.
I'm sure other, more experienced users will chime in and add too or correct my suggestions. I tried my best to help a fella in need.
"I have oil in one of the spark plug chambers. I think I need to replace the rocket cover gasket, can anyone confirm?"
You need to replace your valve cover gasket, its leaking into your spark plug sockets. while your at it, you should also change the half moon & Tensioner gasket seal, both cam seals in the front of both cam shafts. You may even need to change 1 or 2 cam caps but i think only the B5 with a V6 engine, has cam caps, not 1.8's or 1.8T's
"The car sometimes looses low end power, mainly when you plug away and don't really give it high revs it will loose all power, not stall, but not go anywhere! I guess this is because of the oil on the plug?"
Well, there's isn't much to go on, being you haven't got your B5 scanned for codes, not much anyone can tell, without that information. The oil, filling one of the spark plug sockets may or may not be, responsible for your power loss but its not going to make your car run any better!
"The radiator fan is always on, from the minute you turn the key."
This seems like a constant ground? Not 100% sure on this one.
"I only have one key and its not the key with the remote central locking function, when I turn the key in the door it opens everything so I would I be right in thinking the car has remote central locking and i need to buy a key from ebay and get it cut and paired? The barrel in the door is really stiff and I think the key will break soon."
You could get replacement from the dealer, it'll cost you, though.
"There is no engine management light when I put the ignition on, does this mean the bulb has been removed? I get 3 lights that flash at me but I cant remember what they are, I will get a photo though."
Are you referring to the, check engine light?
"When I connect my cheap obd2 reader I get a link error on it."
Take it to a local car store and have them scan for codes for free.
"The windscreen gets really steamed up, and the blowers smell of coolant, I guess the heater matrix has a small leak, would K seal solve this? I think it will be a dash out job to change the matrix and i don't have the time to do that!"
I doubt your heat is working, you may have air in the coolant system, that needs to be bleed or your heater core is clogged. Do you have heat or not?
"Coolant is a bit brown too"
You need to replace your, "oil cooler seal" as its leaking oil, into your coolant lines or perhaps the whole oil cooler, altogether.
Hence the reason your coolant is brown. You also need to flush the entire coolant system of the oil contaminated coolant with water and replenish it with new G12 coolant. Then after that is done, you need to bleed all the air out of your coolant system. there are several bleed holes, from which you can do this. You have a lot of repairs on your hands, maybe you should have checked it out, before you purchased.
I'm sure other, more experienced users will chime in and add too or correct my suggestions. I tried my best to help a fella in need.
Thanks for your help
As for the oil in the spark plug, the valve cover gasket seems easy enough todo so will get that done... hopefully it will sort the low end power problem out, if I rev the car enough it doesn't do it anyway.
With the central locking, the question I am asking is... were some A4's made with central locking and not remote central locking? If they were all made with remote central locking I will be able to get another key with the buttons. If they weren't I need to sort my barrels out.
I think the fan is down to a relay, not sure if anyone can shed any light on this if they've had the same issues.
Yes I mean the engine check light (sorry I am in the UK, didn't know this was a US forum lol) Should it light for a few seconds when you turn the car on? I get 3 lights flashing at me. One is this -> (!)
Yes I have heat, a lots of it! Coolant system is bled. Where is the oil cooler seal?
Ian
As for the oil in the spark plug, the valve cover gasket seems easy enough todo so will get that done... hopefully it will sort the low end power problem out, if I rev the car enough it doesn't do it anyway.
With the central locking, the question I am asking is... were some A4's made with central locking and not remote central locking? If they were all made with remote central locking I will be able to get another key with the buttons. If they weren't I need to sort my barrels out.
I think the fan is down to a relay, not sure if anyone can shed any light on this if they've had the same issues.
Yes I mean the engine check light (sorry I am in the UK, didn't know this was a US forum lol) Should it light for a few seconds when you turn the car on? I get 3 lights flashing at me. One is this -> (!)
Yes I have heat, a lots of it! Coolant system is bled. Where is the oil cooler seal?
Ian
2nd Gear
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 712
From: Toronto, Canada
Low power - Could be oil on the spark plugs, could be anything really. No use in trying to figure it out until you can connect a scanner.
Radiator fan - There's a fan control module under the drivers' side frame rail by the washer tank (no clue if it's on the other side for RHD cars, but most likely not). If that fails it could cause a the fan to always run, I've seen it before. I'm pretty sure the procedure is outlined in the service manual, which can be found using google.
Keyless entry - The car's probably equipped with the receiver and everything, but I really have no idea since every B5 sold across the pond had a remote. Ask around on audi-sport.net, the majority of people there are from the UK.
CEL - Some Euro B5's have the CEL disabled, no idea why but that's how they did it. The bulb is replaceable though and is one of the only filament bulbs in the cluster, the rest are LEDs. Again ask on audi-sport to confirm.
Warning lights and scantool issue - The (!) light and ABS light flashing means the ABS controller is likely dead, probably the most common problem on the B5. Sometimes a dead or malfunctioning module breaks scantool communication, actually any malfunctioning controller has the potential to do so. Try unplugging the ABS controller and scanning again, it's located on the drivers' side (again on LHD cars) attached to the ABS pump. There's a long connecter with a sliding lock, unplug that.
Brown coolant - Probably just old coolant that's never been changed, if it were oil contaminated it would basically turn into mud. If it has the same consistency as regular coolant and is still translucent it's safe to say it's not oil contaminated.
Sweet smell and fogging windshield - 90% of the time it's a heater core, no way around it apart from replacing it or bypassing it by looping the lines that go to it.
Radiator fan - There's a fan control module under the drivers' side frame rail by the washer tank (no clue if it's on the other side for RHD cars, but most likely not). If that fails it could cause a the fan to always run, I've seen it before. I'm pretty sure the procedure is outlined in the service manual, which can be found using google.
Keyless entry - The car's probably equipped with the receiver and everything, but I really have no idea since every B5 sold across the pond had a remote. Ask around on audi-sport.net, the majority of people there are from the UK.
CEL - Some Euro B5's have the CEL disabled, no idea why but that's how they did it. The bulb is replaceable though and is one of the only filament bulbs in the cluster, the rest are LEDs. Again ask on audi-sport to confirm.
Warning lights and scantool issue - The (!) light and ABS light flashing means the ABS controller is likely dead, probably the most common problem on the B5. Sometimes a dead or malfunctioning module breaks scantool communication, actually any malfunctioning controller has the potential to do so. Try unplugging the ABS controller and scanning again, it's located on the drivers' side (again on LHD cars) attached to the ABS pump. There's a long connecter with a sliding lock, unplug that.
Brown coolant - Probably just old coolant that's never been changed, if it were oil contaminated it would basically turn into mud. If it has the same consistency as regular coolant and is still translucent it's safe to say it's not oil contaminated.
Sweet smell and fogging windshield - 90% of the time it's a heater core, no way around it apart from replacing it or bypassing it by looping the lines that go to it.
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