Model: 2008 A3 2.0t FSI Gas Engine 117k Miles

So I'm in a mess of a situation right now. Its a complicated problem/story behind it but I'll try to simplify it as much as possible. But if more details are needed, I can provide them.

So what started all these problems was back in December, the engine mount that is on the side of the timing belt broke while driving and the engine was hanging. At that time, I had that mount replaced as well as the timing belt since I thought the belt might have been ruined since it was rubbing against the cover that covers it on that side. Now my dad is a mechanic and has done all this work. He originally replaced the timing belt back in April since the car was getting up there in miles and it was recommended that it get done. When he replaced the timing belt this time, he misaligned it and when cranking the engine over, the valves got bent. Because of that, the head had to come off to get the values replaced and he said that he kept braking things to get the head off….He took the engine apart and put it back together multiples times since getting the valves replaced on the head, looking for an obvious cause to these problems. Eventually I decided enough was enough and got the car back from him. I'm afraid he will make it un driveable if he keeps trying to fix it.

When I got it back, I've been having the following problems. Under heavy acceleration, the car sputters and the check engine light flashes for about 10 seconds and goes away. Reading the codes showed P0300 (Random Cylinder Misfire). It also showed the codes for a specific cylinder misfiring but every time it was checked, it always said a different cylinder. But it always showed the P0300 one. Here are the codes for the cylinders. P0301 (Cylinder 1 Misfire), P0302 (Cylinder 2 Misfire), P0303 (Cylinder 3 Misfire), P0304 (Cylinder 4 Misfire). Doing a search online suggests that the MAF sensor, spark plugs, or coils could cause this problem. All of those were replaced but the problem persists.

Secondly, the car has been feeling a bit rough at idle. When I look at the tachometer, it does move around when at idle as well. It never did that before. A week later, the check engine light came on and hasn't gone away since. When reading the codes this time, it showed additional codes. P0299 (Turbo Underboost), P0171 (System To Lean (Bank 1)), and P0106 (Manifold Absolute Pressure/BARO Sensor Range/Performance). If the code is cleared out, the light usually comes back on 20 minutes later when driving. An online search also suggest the MAF sensor could cause the P0171 code. A bad MAP sensor could cause the P0106 code. And I didn't really research the P0299 one that much but one forum I saw said some type of bypass valve could cause that issue.

My main question is, where should I go from here. I don't really trust my dad to work on it anymore at this point. Especially if something like the mount broke after he worked on it, who’s to say it wont break again. I want to get that checked out too. As far as the other problems, I'm thinking a wire must of gotten clipped or cut and who knows if something like that can ever be found. Should I even bother trying to take it to a shop to have it looked at or just scrap it? Are there machines that can tell if a wire is cut or not? Sorry for the long post but I think all of this needed to be explained. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Please ignore my previous post. It seems you have the bent valve issue resolved. Try this regarding the rough running and MAF sensor code. Disconnect the MAF Sensor. Crank the car and see how it runs. If it runs much better, you definitely have a defective MAF sensor. The ECU can run the engine just fine without it using the O2 sensors.

 

Wow.....I think I wrote a little too much lol. Thanks for reading all of that btw. Well I've been driving the car for about two weeks so if the valves were bent, I assume the car wouldn't be driveable or the problem would be super obvious all the time? Yeah, I thought about disconnecting the MAF and driving around. Strange enough, when I started the car this afternoon, the check engine light was off and it didn't have the sputtering problem. This seems extremely strange. Thought I guess this points to more of a sensor problem versus a mechanical problem? I'll have to see what happens as I continue driving.

 

In any case, I'm really paranoid about the engine mounts. I'm afraid one of them is gonna break again. Not sure if I mentioned this in my original post but there are only two bolts holding in the amount instead of 3. The third one was kind of welded in place so I'm not sure if its still there. Any reccomendations on how to see if they are there/if the mounts are in good condition?