and if your not tuned i have an apr tuned ecu for sale

 

You guys are great - I appreciate the chiming in and support.

Ok - just to clarify - even after moving the coilpack to a different cylinder, my misfire error stayed on cylinder 2 - so I think we ruled out the coil pack for now. (to my disappointment - the coilpack would be a cheap and easy fix). The plug gap was wide and so I might be lucky with an even easier/cheaper fix, but not sure yet.

The speed sensor is still an issue - it might not be causing the misfires, but it seems to be a likely cause of the 'no starts'. And it might have caused the one stall that I had.

I thought that the previous owner (not the salesman - I got the name of the previous owner from the title) told me that he had replaced (not upgraded) the turbo. I know that he told me he replaced the CAT. (he blames the after-market CAT for the occassional p0420 "bank 1 under efficiency" CEL.

OPPPS - just went for a test drive with vagcom (by the way - vagcom is gone, now we have to get "vcds lite" or something - I'll start a thread on that shortly.

Anyway - on the test drive, I stalled at a red light. Here are my codes at startup:

2 Faults Found:

16395 - Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake): Retard Setpoint not Reached (Over-Advanced)

P0011 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent

16706 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs

P0322 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent

So -does this mean that the urgency for replacing the speed sensor is climbing quickly, or do I have some other problem?

Also, measuring blocks showed some misfires scattered across cylinders 1-3 but there is no engine code for misfires?!? Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

How can I tell if I'm tuned? I don't think I'm tuned - the original owner had his work done at the dealer (according to carfax), and second owner bought the car for his wife (or so he said, when I called him after getting his name off the title).

My understanding is that if you chip, then you really need to upgrade other things as well - or at least the turbo and cat have shorter life expectancy. True?

Thanks

 

Not quite sure on this, but Im thinking that maybe the computer is trying to retard the timing to prevent the misfires, and now that it has retarded timing so much, its getting close to its "set point" and since the timing belt is off just a little it cant quite make it there, and even if it did it would probably still be missing?? Just a guess theres people more qualified to answer for that code and your symptoms than me.

I really think you need to do the engine speed sensor, that might take care of all your problems, and replace (or swap) the misfiring plug (if you swap it, then see if the misfire moves).

Bank 1 under efficiency can be because of the cat, but you obviously arent running efficiently when your engine keeps missing... so I would guess that to be the cause of that code.

The misfire count has to reach a certain amount within a certain amount of time for it to throw a code (you can see it resets the counts after a little while). I had all cylinders miss at idle before i changed my plugs but it never threw a code. If you are missing on all cylinders a little bit, and alot on another, once youve replaced that engine speed sensor I would say just replace all the plugs, since the plugs this car likes stock are cheap anyway.

To find out if your chipped they usually put a sticker on the ecu. Otherwise, on the very slight chance, we found out my buddy was chipped with apr using this procedure: (scroll down to where it says "how emcs works") http://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_golf18t.html

And true, it puts a little more strain on the engine and turbo if its chipped, but many have run high miles with the stuck turbo and only an upgraded DV valve just fine.

 

if you don't have a boost guage it is pretty hard to tell.... i have apr tuning, and a dv i could sell you... i have a boost guage, but not sure what condition it is in anymore...i could throw that in for free....


apr tuned ecu 3 programs, test pipe code, and 2 foot code(more for brake boostingO
stratosphere dv


apr is running a sale for pretty much what i have.. 500
dv is like 150 i would say, traded my buddy my old forge bov for it...


i'll do both for 350 and give you the guage....or you can buy a boost guage see if you are tuned and if not buy my stuff


all i ask for in return is your ecu, but i will ship mine and you can send yours back in my box


pm me and let me know

 

so what are typical boost readings?
I'm using vagcom and my boost range goes from 960 (specified, 980 actual) to 1640 specified.

The actual is the specified +/- 50 within a few seconds. So with the limited vagcom testing I've done so far I'm not seeing much loss.

thanks!

 

updates:

Car had increasing difficulty starting and more frequent stalls. Several times I walked away because the car would not start in parking lots. Never stalled and then failed to start - but I started to worry about that possibility and so limited my driving.

Wish I had spent a few bucks to get the sensor faster (I had taken the free ground shipping from autohaus AZ). But the problems were getting worse faster than I expected, and the stalling (and near stalls) were becomeing increasingly frequent.

Not the 25 minute install that I thought it would be. But that has more to do with my inexperience. Mechanic friend helped me out. We ended up doing all the work from above the car.

Tracing the cable was a bit fun, but ultimately it went under the oil filter. Moved the rad overflow, and removed the oil filter and then we could reach the sensor (with difficulty - long arms and experience working blind were important factors to success). (due to removing oil filter, we did raise up the car, remove the belly pan, and place an pan to catch dripping oil).

Ended up cutting the old sensor cable to remove it.

Now the car is working better, running smoothly and so far no stalls or problem starts. I should vag it and make sure there are no codes hiding (codes that didnt set off the CEL).

I put about 70 miles on it - not quite enough to be confident that all problems are resolved - but its looking good.

Thanks!

 

Glad its sorted out, if you keep getting that misfire, check your plugs at cylinder 2, or your ICM.

 

Car still running good. Still getting occassional p0420 but thats a different thread.

 

For starters, I searched haha...
I have an 01.5 1.8tq awm, and right now I am at the same position as the op in post #14, and about to buy the "Reference Sensor - Engine Speed Sensor" from ECS, part#078906433A.
Is this the correct part? (I ask because some threads say crank postion sensor, but most say engine speed sensor, just wanna be sure) And lastly, may sound stupid to some, but if it is my engine speed sensor, wouldn't my tach be working improperly as that sensor controls the tach (I believe..., mine is working fine btw) Thanks.