Audi 2.0 TDI had a stage 1 remap in August last year. Just started having coil light flashing on dash and engine light come on. Come up as p0403 EGR code error. Mechanic has said can close/remove? EGR valve. How will that affect my already stage 1 remapped car, does it have to be remapped again afterwards? Would it be worth contacting the original company who remapped it first to see what they say?

 

1 hour ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

Audi 2.0 TDI had a stage 1 remap in August last year. Just started having coil light flashing on dash and engine light come on. Come up as p0403 EGR code error. Mechanic has said can close/remove? EGR valve. How will that affect my already stage 1 remapped car, does it have to be remapped again afterwards? Would it be worth contacting the original company who remapped it first to see what they say?

 

Hi would suggest it won't affect the original remap but it raises the question why they did not offer to map out the EGR while they were at it, blocking it can be done but that will give you problems at a later date, much better to have the EGR  told         that its too cold for it to be open then you won't have the problems associated with blanking.

Steve.

20 hours ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi would suggest it won't affect the original remap but it raises the question why they did not offer to map out the EGR while they were at it, blocking it can be done but that will give you problems at a later date, much better to have the EGR  told         that its too cold for it to be open then you won't have the problems associated with blanking.

Steve.

Thanks Steve, the guy who remapped the car was a mobile set up, he just rocked up lifted the hood tinkered with his computer and it was all done in a few minutes. What are the are the specific problems I will encounter at a later date?

Edited January 31, 20224 yr by AudiOwnerGroup

3 hours ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

Thanks Steve, the guy who remapped the car was a mobile set up, he just rocked up lifted the hood tinkered with his computer and it was all done in a few minutes. What are the are the specific problems I will encounter at a later date?

Hi, there lies the problem, most of these mobile people, Techs shall we call them, arrive and plug in take your money and clear off, normally they are considered cheaper than say a static remap company, which they are they have no premises to pay for and often as not have just a basic software program and not the same tailored software platform as for example Blufin, if you buy from them they will go through extensive questioning of what you expect and then give you realtime options of what you can realistically achieve as per the milage on the vehicle, you then get a loading device and its normally a ten minute job to load it via the OBD port, all of their software programs are checked for quality before they get to the end user and the advantage of their system is that you can upload the mapping back out, yes these types of companies are more expensive but what you get is bullet proof technology.

If the mapping is working ok just buy another EGR valve and fit it and leave it there, if you block it in another few months you will probably start getting some more codes/lights as the ECU will have worked out there is no gas flow and thats why the EGR is not sending it any data to tell it when the valves open/closed because the valve is jammed in a ton of soot where its backed up past the blanking, mapping out changes the command protocol and tells it to stay shut, the other down side is my mate did it on his transit and over miles the red hot gass melted the blanking plate and allowed the super heated gas into the engine bay which in turn melted the fan housing at the front, remapping is a multi faceted industry and if you go mad with it power wise it causes horrendous and expensive problems which I have personally witnessed on some occasions, it comes down to the old saying, IF YOU WANT FAST,BUY FAST, believe me its cheaper in the long run.

Steve.

Thanks for the detailed reply Steve. I see what you mean about the remapping variations, I was originally booked in to the have the remap done with the rolling road and proper testing but days before it was due to go in it had an unrelated problem with the car so  I rang to rebook it and I was told I would lose the £50 deposit, to say I was miffed was an understatement, so I went for the mobile option, was cheaper I admit but presumed would suit my needs.

My mechanic has quoted around £800 to have another EGR fitted due to the proximity of the valve in the engine, does this sound correct?

 

17 minutes ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

Thanks for the detailed reply Steve. I see what you mean about the remapping variations, I was originally booked in to the have the remap done with the rolling road and proper testing but days before it was due to go in it had an unrelated problem with the car so  I rang to rebook it and I was told I would lose the £50 deposit, to say I was miffed was an understatement, so I went for the mobile option, was cheaper I admit but presumed would suit my needs.

My mechanic has quoted around £800 to have another EGR fitted due to the proximity of the valve in the engine, does this sound correct?

 

Hi the job itself is an absolute bar steward its a major strip down which involves dropping the subframe driveshaft and exhaust but if thats the fitting price only and does not include the valve I reckon he is trying to price himself out of that job, they put the EGR half way down the back of the block so its under the cat at the top and behind the exhaust and subframe at the bottom, even the safer option of mapping the EGR out will cause problems with the turbo life and engine bay temps as the engine runs hotter and the exhaust side of the turbo gets to work in a couple of hundred degrees higher gas temp which shortens its life, I would shop about for some other quotes before diving in.

Steve.

I am bumping this topic as 3 years down the line Stevey Y's prophetic words have come home to roost.

I basically lived with the engine management light coming on and off. It wasn't persistent and only happened now and again. However, a few months ago it was getting more persistent so I took it to a fresh mechanic I hadn't used before. Told him the problem and he suggested the EGR delete, which I went ahead with. For the first couple of days it was fine, then next thing the DPF light came on (I had never seen this light until I had the EGR delete). He said the car needed a regeneration we tried to do it manually there and then but despite revving car at 2000 revs for 15 mins it wouldn't go out.

Anyway I had to to to Derby a 2 hour drive on a trip. The DPF light was still on, but no other lights and the car was running fine (no limp mode). Drove all the way there, DPF light stayed on. On the way back the engine management light and the emission control lights both came on. I pulled into services stuck my OBD reader in, cleared them and I was on my way (DPF light still on). Another 1 hour later the DPF light went out also. Hooray! thought I'd cracked it, so much so went back to the mechanic and told him all lights were out, car running fine.

This lasted about a week and DPF light came back again. Went back to the mechanic he suggested maybe a DPF delete, but I didn't want to go down that route.

I then took it to another mechanic and explained in details everything to him, the remap, EGR delete etc.. he said he would test it, chemically clean out the DPF, service, changed all filters etc, which he did. Said he tested the dpf afterwards and there was no soot readings, he said all the results were clear, but the DPF light still hadn't gone out, he said run it for a few days see if it goes out. Which I did and it did go out, car running fine no lights again. But alas a few days later DPF light back on again. Then engine management and emissions lights.

Took it back to him again he said he would ask the guy who does the remaps etc.. to look in the ECU to see if was something there. Didn't really come back with anything but he did say the EGR valve was slightly open so he blocked it off. Again, was ok for a couple of days but now all lights on again and in limp mode and can't clear the codes.

So at a loss really, just went back on this forum and realised I had posted about it years ago, so thought I would resurrect it to see if anyone has any ideas.

My mechanic has suggested a new EGR valve, would that then get rid of the DPF light? He did say something about the engine not getting to the right temperature to clear the DPF, but I thought he had cleaned that anyway, would it have built up again in such a short space of time?

Not sure the guy who did the EGR delete knew the car had a stage 1 remap, would that have showed in the ECU?

Presently car is in limp mode with all 3 lights on, the thing is, it runs well when its in normal mode, just don't know what to do next.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

26 minutes ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

I am bumping this topic as 3 years down the line Stevey Y's prophetic words have come home to roost.

I basically lived with the engine management light coming on and off. It wasn't persistent and only happened now and again. However, a few months ago it was getting more persistent so I took it to a fresh mechanic I hadn't used before. Told him the problem and he suggested the EGR delete, which I went ahead with. For the first couple of days it was fine, then next thing the DPF light came on (I had never seen this light until I had the EGR delete). He said the car needed a regeneration we tried to do it manually there and then but despite revving car at 2000 revs for 15 mins it wouldn't go out.

Anyway I had to to to Derby a 2 hour drive on a trip. The DPF light was still on, but no other lights and the car was running fine (no limp mode). Drove all the way there, DPF light stayed on. On the way back the engine management light and the emission control lights both came on. I pulled into services stuck my OBD reader in, cleared them and I was on my way (DPF light still on). Another 1 hour later the DPF light went out also. Hooray! thought I'd cracked it, so much so went back to the mechanic and told him all lights were out, car running fine.

This lasted about a week and DPF light came back again. Went back to the mechanic he suggested maybe a DPF delete, but I didn't want to go down that route.

I then took it to another mechanic and explained in details everything to him, the remap, EGR delete etc.. he said he would test it, chemically clean out the DPF, service, changed all filters etc, which he did. Said he tested the dpf afterwards and there was no soot readings, he said all the results were clear, but the DPF light still hadn't gone out, he said run it for a few days see if it goes out. Which I did and it did go out, car running fine no lights again. But alas a few days later DPF light back on again. Then engine management and emissions lights.

Took it back to him again he said he would ask the guy who does the remaps etc.. to look in the ECU to see if was something there. Didn't really come back with anything but he did say the EGR valve was slightly open so he blocked it off. Again, was ok for a couple of days but now all lights on again and in limp mode and can't clear the codes.

So at a loss really, just went back on this forum and realised I had posted about it years ago, so thought I would resurrect it to see if anyone has any ideas.

My mechanic has suggested a new EGR valve, would that then get rid of the DPF light? He did say something about the engine not getting to the right temperature to clear the DPF, but I thought he had cleaned that anyway, would it have built up again in such a short space of time?

Not sure the guy who did the EGR delete knew the car had a stage 1 remap, would that have showed in the ECU?

Presently car is in limp mode with all 3 lights on, the thing is, it runs well when its in normal mode, just don't know what to do next.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Hi a new EGR will not cure the problem, you have to check the ASH levels and soot, but in saying that if the ash levels are high it wont regenerate anyway as ash cannot be burnt off, my guess is your EGT sensors are duff and not supplying the ECU with the correct temperature to initiate a regen therefore the DPF just blocks up, the other thing that causes this effect is the DPF pressure sensor, therefore you are better served replacing EGT and pressure sensors, BUT not before checking the DPF ash levels the ash limit is 60% anywhere near that and it needs taking off and cleaning or replacing [expensive] , in essence no amount of sensor replacement will cure high ash content.

Steve.

Thanks for the reply Steve. The last mechanic did clean out the DPF and then tested it for soot levels he said all the readings were OK, would he have tested the soot levels too? I can call him and ask him.

Sorry I meant would he have tested for ASH levels too?

5 hours ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

Sorry I meant would he have tested for ASH levels too?

Hi hopefully as a lot of them are only interested in getting the soot levels down [easy] using any proprietary  DPF cleaner the ash is near impossible to clear with anything like that, I constantly get to read cars where the owner says that the DPF has been cleaned a couple of weeks ago only to find the DPF is nigh on its limit  for ash which wont leave a lot of room for the new soot load therefore it does one of two things it either keeps regenerating the reduced space or wont regenerate at all as the forced regeneration process will set light to the car as its protracted and will overheat the DPF and probably set the DPF pressure sensor alight which is quite common on the 2.0 litre engines, I have come across this before where the garage has cleaned the soot out and re zeroed the loadings with the ash still in there, when I tried a forced regen the DPF after 15 mins was glowing red and I had to abort the process which caused chronic oil dilution so adding more problems, I have trialed all known ash dissolving compounds on the market and if the ash is anything around max, THEY DONT WORK the only way is have the DPF off and have it professionally cleaned, from that you get a flow certificate before and after and you have the certain knowledge its clean, the ash forms large brick particles around the edge of the core inside and the only way to remove these is chemically clean the unit and then bake it to break up the ash the final process is a reverse flush under pressure which removes it because it goes out the way it went in as the channels are much wider.

Steve.

Wow thats quite a thorough clean, I was charged £220 for quote 'DPF Chemical clean and road test', I will have to ring him to ask if ash levels were checked.

 

Thanks Steve.

24 minutes ago, AudiOwnerGroup said:

Wow thats quite a thorough clean, I was charged £220 for quote 'DPF Chemical clean and road test', I will have to ring him to ask if ash levels were checked.

 

Thanks Steve.

Hi having now imparted that particular piece of information another possibility rears it ugly head, if you pour acid which the fluid basically is if you leave the sensors in which they dont do with the off car cleaning it blinds at best or kills the downstream EGT sensor, have known people to use brick acid and leave it to soak overnight which has totalled both EGT sensors which then stops regeneration and the whole thing just fills up double quick.