IvDogg

Hello everyone, I have a 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro with 102,000 miles. Previous to now the only major problem I had was the computer needed to be replaced which I paid Audi to do a long time ago.

About 15,000+ miles ago I did a timing belt, tensioner, waterpump, drivebelt, etc. replacement myself.

Everything went well, with no problems until just this past week.

My wife was driving the car and the acceleration and idle just started getting jerky on her. She pulled over and we had it towed home.

I tested it out, yes, sure enough the idle is very rough and it's very jerky at 1st & 2nd gear, I didn't bother trying anything higher. The exhaust also smelled of unburnt fuel (the proper term being "lean", correct?).

I pulled the codes and got P0011 and cylinders 2 & 4 misfires.

I'm planning on taking apart the front of the car and taking a look at the timing belt, water pump and tensioner, perhaps something went bad and it's off by a tooth or so.

My questions:

Is that the right approach?
Or is the problem something else?

If so, what's the best method to see if my timing is good?
And if not, how to correct it?

Any help will be appreciated, thank you.

IvDogg

To be specific:

The P0011 code:

16395 - Bank 1: Camshaft A (Intake): Retard Setpoint not Reached (Over-Advanced)
P0011 - 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded

I also HAD another code:

16804 - Catalyst System: Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold

gtiryan

Sometimes that's the beginning signs of the oil sludge coming on. Usually a restriction in the oil flow casues the timing to become overadvanced. Might wanna check your breather hoses and see if they are soft. If so, pull the oil pan and check the pump sceen. The cat fault is unrelated, but I believe there is a software flash that the dealer can do. Might be under warranty if your under 8yr/80,000 miles. Check your timing too, but the sludge might be a possibility. If so, look into seafoam, or if you have good service records, dealer may comver for up to 10yr/120,000 miles.

lyleswk

Misfires could simply be bad coil-packs. Did you get misfire codes also? If so, address that and see if the timing issue goes away.

gtiryan

Your dealer should have an update disc to reflash the ecu for the catlayst efficiency fault too. Swap the coils around and mark them too. I would change the oil and clear the faults. See what comes back.....

lyleswk

Is the reflash a recall / free update from Audi? If so, how do I identify it to the dealer? I get the same cat fault about every 3 months on mine.

gtiryan

The tech bulletin is 2013801/2. Only covered on cars under 8yr/80,000 miles. Probably not you, but maybe.

lyleswk

Definitely not me on either account. I have 196K on her...

What it does tell me is that the software for this fault was updated presumabely to allow Audi to not be required to replace cats under warranty which means their software was monitoring things too "tightly", so intermittent faults like this really no longer worry me.

ALLDATAdiy INFO

Looking at ALLDATAdiy it says to first check the fuse for the Camshaft Adjusment Valve.