Originally Posted by TGR172

Hey guys. I had the same problem a while back with almost the same exact symptoms. The vagcom can help out identifying the exact actuating valve. Can't think of the exact part of the software to test them with as I don't have it in front of me but its the routine that activates all the engine selenoids etc. You can activate each one manually or automatically. Use the manual mode. For those actuating valves open the hood and get in a quiet place and activate each individually you can hear the click for each vagcom doesent give an error report unless the selenoid on the valve is shorted ... Which usually isn't the case. You can ohm them out till the cows come home and they most likely will read fine because the selenoids are electrically fine. The valve itself is usually stuck so if you don't hear a click then thats the one that is stuck. I then pulled it out and connected it to a power source and could feel the selonoid trying to move the valve. Those valves control the oil flow that pressurizes the automatic timing ,advance /retard of the camshafts. You can pretty much tell which bank/side of the engine the bad actor is on by which cyls are misfiring. Ok that said, yes sometimes the screens, which were covering the ports on the side of the valves get worn and get stuck in the valves and jam them. Now if you have money to spare go ahead and buy a new one. But, there is a simple way to clear out the jam in about 10 min once you have it removed from the engine. Did it on mine about 50k miles ago and no problem since. I posted a procedure on the vagcom forum a while ago but I'll give a quick overview here. Get some mmo to lube and clean the valve. A small nail/tack with a head on it, and a vice grip or pliers to hold the nail about half inch from the head. Put mmo in the ports to lube everything up. The valves are spring loaded so put the head of the nail into the round hole on the end/bottom of the valve and hook the head of the nail on the inside of the hole. Use that to pull the plunger of the valve out. Might take some effort, then push it back in. Keep exercising it like this several times until the spring in the valve allows it to smoothly retract on its own. This frees it up then hook the power source and check that it is operating smoothly. By hooking the hole at the bottom you are not damaging any of the ports or o rings. Reinstall and ur good to go. Look I know its an Audi and you're thinking omg I can't do that but they are not rocket science and are not unique to bag. Jap and american cars have pretty much the same setup on the newer ones. I wouldn't worry about the screens damaging the oil system it would have been damaged already by now.

Originally Posted by Audibb

I am not that technical so will not do myself. In way of an update, the P0021 was thrown about 3 weeks ago, and my mechanic found the small screen blocking the actuator. Fixed.
Now just today I was thrown a P0014 - basically same issue just on the other bank. I will let the forum know if it is the same screen issue.

Originally Posted by roylok

That's exactly what I have been saying for ages. Once one fails you will have the others follow soon after. Just replace them all and you are done. It's a faulty part as simple as that.

Originally Posted by roylok

There are 4 solenoids on a 2007 4.2. Two banks, one intake one exhaust solenoid in each bank. There might have been a misunderstanding.
If they insist there are only two than you should get out of there ASAP!

Originally Posted by Audibb

Update - I found a mechanic who used to work for Audi so very familiar. He goes through the normal checks for a P0014 (including testing current), pulls the solenoid and finds a piece of screen stuck. He says he will replace solenoid. I say that Audi already replaced 2 solenoids when I took it in for a P0014. He says they replaced both intakes, but the P0014 points to the Bank 1 exhaust...


Did Audi dealership replace the wrong solenoids, and then when the P0014 came back on immediately, decided to charge me for the solenoids and also tell me that it would be 10K to fix because it is a timing issue?

Originally Posted by roylok

Update on n208 valve. The valve eventually failed completely, and the culprit was a piece of screen mesh jamming the valve also affecting the oil flow. Now I'm thinking about doing an oil change to make sure that there is no other pieces floating in the oil.