smawRS4

I bought a 2007 RS4 2 years ago. Absolutely my dream car.

Had preinstalled APR stage 1 (with pipes) and Miltek downpipes and Cat.

Drove great for almost 2 years, I'm at 55K miles. Recently had check engine light go on and took it to a dealer because I'm trying to pass a smog check.

Dealer response:
"You need a new ECU because of the aftermarket software you have installed"

Fault Code : “fault p0601 internal control module memory. Check sum error it has a internal malfunction”

Took it to an APR authorized dealer to reflash to stage 1 hoping that would clear the code. Didn't work and same fault code came back.

I talked to APR today and they said:
"we never see check some errors on your car, it's a hardware issue".

I talked to Audi America today and found out ECU is covered to 80,000 miles.

Audi dealer said they wouldn't cover it because the ECU has been "tampered with":

"ECU never goes bad on it's own, it's the software you installed. that's why we cover it to 80,000 miles"

On top of all this, I have a 3rd party warranty until 60K but they won't cover it either because Audi is supposed to cover it.

WTF? I feel like APR, AUDI, and Mercury are all gangbanging me.

Any advice from the experts here?

Thanks you

ELEVENS

Well i'm no expert, but ecu's DO occasionally go bad on these cars bone-stock. You're at the mercy of the dealer. This is a good example of why you want to be on good terms with your dealer. But then, I suppose there's a certain number of JERK dealers where there is simply no hope of good will. Try another dealer if you can.

Reggie

I would second this recommendation - if this does not work then look at a aftermarket shop that does APR and see if they can source a used ECU>

smawRS4

Thanks for the comments and advice. I'll try both routes.

I thought I was on good terms with my dealer but he told me my car is "D1" or something red flagged by Audi already. Supposedly they check ECU even during a simple oil change or maintenance and red flag you if they see it has been flashed. I don't know how true that is.

I'll try another dealer first.

I'm still pretty surprised at the lack of support from APR on this. Especially when it is directly related to their work.

Anyway, live and learn.

Wish me luck.

Thanks again for the advice.

G35Dalf

This is a little ridiculous. In no way can second party software damage the computer hardware like this.

It's like saying: installing an illegal copy of Microsoft Word by an unknown party on your computer fried your CPU, so we're not going to honour the warranty on it. Unless the ECU has been removed and physically tampered with, I'd go after Audi.

A checksum error is due to a small area of bad memory on the microchip itself. A bigger fault would cause a lot more problems or crash the whole system. These Germans over-engineered it - adding checksums to ensure the memory integrity is 100% is overkill - many PC makers used to do this for their PC's but not anymore.

A random high energy particle from space could have hit and damaged a couple of molecules in you car's ECU memory and caused this error - so for Audi to fault someone else is stupid.

This shouldn't fail your smog check, unless they won't test the car if there's any type of ECU error.

Good luck.

smawRS4

I just wanted to update on this so hopefully others can learn from my headache.

I was just about to give up and just buy a new ECU. As a last resort I contacted ABT to explain the situation and ask if they had any suggestions. This was their response:

"I would check with the facility that tuned your RS4 to see if they have received and modified the updated software from Audi. If they have this "new version" you should be able to have them re-flash both ECU's and the "internal malfunction/check sum error" code will be gone."

I tried contacting 023 Motor Sports to ask. They are the APR shop that originally tried to reflash back to APR Stage 1 and it didn't clear the check sum error. For some reason I got no responses after a couple emails and calls. I assume it's because of this thread and me shedding light on potential problems with APR. They either didn't want to be involved and **** off APR or they knew they couldn't make any more money off me. Whatever the reason it's pretty ****ty of them and I wouldn't recommend their shop.

I tried calling APR directly and they had no answer either. Every time I call that place I get the same lazy, careless, get me nowhere replies. They basically didn't know and suggested I go to Audi.

I tried 3 Audi dealers and none would reflash my ECU back to stock mode with the supposed updates. Still dumbfounded as to why not.

As a last ditch effort (and a suggestion by one of the mechanics at the Audi dealer) I went to Griffin Motorwerke in Berkeley to see if they could help. They are truly life savers, I can't stress enough how much of a relief it was talking to someone that seemed to genuinely care about my situation and know and care about my car.

They were able to somehow get me the official Audi stock reflash with the updates and confirmed that mine was two versions too old. As ABT said, that cleared the check sum errors. After adding a couple
CO2 spacers I FINALLY PASSES F****** smog today. Even though I was in stock mode and have Milltek cats. They pulled some magic but I am very very grateful.

Thank you Curley! You now have a customer for life.

I'll likely have a code pop up soon because of the cats but I'm hoping the reflash back to "APR Stage 1 with pipes" should put everything back to normal. If APR wasn't already paid for and 023hadn't already charged me to transfer the warranty to my name the last time I was there, I really wouldn't do it.

I have lost a lot of respect for APR and Audi after this whole ordeal. APR for the lack of care and for not knowing there was a freakin update, "we've never seen this, not our problem" was their attitude the entire time. And Audi for just completely turning their back on a very loyal customer. Perhaps I should have called Audi directly and would have gotten somewhere but just the fact that their dealers treat customers like that just for tuning their car is bad enough.

I trust some of you 07 RS owners with APR software will be going through this shortly to get smog checks. Hopefully APR will get their **** together and be able to help you this time but if not feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions.

She's still worth all this though!

Cheers,
S.

G35Dalf

Wow, truly epic bullsh1t service from APR and 023. I can't believe their attitude - once they've made the sale, no other customer care is deemed necessary.

I can assure you, I and all my friends will be avoiding them like the plague.

OP, glad to hear things worked out for you, finally. Enjoy your car! It's nicely lowered btw.

Datadatum

Thanks for the update, and so happy you were able to sort the problem out!

Persistence pays.