17698 - coolant temp sensor at radiator outlet (G83): signal too small

[widgget]

OK, got a issue.

little background: i was leaking coolant, ended up being the coolant feed line to the turbo was leaking at the fitting so i replaced the hose it but the car was run with low coolant for about 10 minutes going very easy trying to limp it home in the rain.
got to work fine yesterday, yesterday after work i went out to my car and the battery was dead, got a jump and made it home. started up just fine this morning, but when i went to leave the office same thing happend, the battery was dead, get another jump and go on my way. so i get home, the cars been off for about 30 minutes and i hear the radiator fans kick on. so i scanned it and i found this code:

17698 - coolant temp sensor at radiator outlet (G83): signal too small
P1290 - 002 - lower limit exceeded - intermittent.

I know this was the reason the fan was running which resulted in a dead battery and was most likely from running the engine with low coolant.

on to the question... what sensor is it bitching about? i am guessing it's the one at the bottom of the radiator (next to where the side mount IC normally sits) that is held in by a C clip, is this correct?
if that is the case, will the green top sensor i have that goes into the coolant flange on the back of the engine work there? i only ask because i have a new one floating around somewhere. if not what is the part number of the sensor i need?

Thanks much in advance!

[widgget]

fans seem to keep turning on every 10 or so minutes....... just sitting in the driveway. cleared them and they just come back on about 10 minutes later.

i just went out and turned the key to the on position and the fans turned off. going to see if they kick on again. if they do i'm going to have to disconnect the battery.

[old guy]

Check your ECU box. My guess is that it has water in it and shorting out the ECU relay. Specifically, your J219 relay:



Pic complement of BLUEBEAST.

[widgget]

ohhhhhhh, i'll check that, it's been really wet.
Thanks oldguy.

[widgget]

the relays were sitting in about 1/2 of water.
cleaning it out now.

[widgget]

so i dried the box out and wiped up the relays.
now the car won't start. when i turn the key the starter runs and the engine turns but it ever catches at all. like there is no spark.
one of those relays get fried?

HELP! i'm home for lunch and need to get back to work :P

[widgget]

bump..

are ether of the other two relays related to the ignition? would one being bad prevent the car from firing?

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Addressing your 219 relay, actually more common than not: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...g%20car%20shut

According to that thread, the 219 relay is the fan control relay. We can get you the 219 relay as well.Click here for the 219 fan relay. We even have a picture for you since you wouldn't be the first to replace this relay:

[boy412]

Interesting that you posted this today...I had the same code come up yesterday. I never had any battery draining problems though...just the code.

Good luck dude...

[old guy]

bump..

are ether of the other two relays related to the ignition? would one being bad prevent the car from firing?

It is probably the J219 ECU power control relay. It often gets called the fan control relay (I know I'm guilty) because when it shorts out it usually causes the ECU to send power to the fan control relay located under the dash. That's why the fans were running with the ignition off. First I would try prying the cover off the relay and see if you can clean up the contacts. Also check your fuses on the left end of your dashboard. Especially 29, 32 and 34.

[widgget]

i was debating prying the cover off the relay at lunch but didn't want to break it. going to do that when get home.

if i can't make it work i'll be firing a you an order on that relay Chris. also please tell Thomas thank you for the quick response / RMA and that the replacement symphony unit he sent out is working great!

[widgget]

popped the covers on all 3 relays under the ECU. 373 and 395 were a little wet but not bad at all, hit them with some canned air and letting them finish drying tonight.

the 219 wasn't in as good shape as the other two though. it was soaking wet inside, rusted, and there was a little spring floating around (the end of the spring was broken after further inspection).
i hit the 219 with some canned air and dried it out, then cleaned the contacts. uncoiled two loops from the spring and bent it so it was a hook and reattached the spring so that the contacts were no longer just flapping around but being held back and not making connection (photos to come after i get them off my phone). hopping that the spring it's to tight now that the magnet can't over come it but i don't think it should be an issue.

going to let them finish drying tonight and see if they work tomorrow but i think the big issue was the broken spring.
wish me luck!

huge thanks out to Old Guy, pointed me right to the issue.

[widgget]

well she started after i put it all back together. i'll be replacing that relay soon, but for now it's back on the road!

Thanks again Old Guy!

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

well she started after i put it all back together. i'll be replacing that relay soon, but for now it's back on the road!

Thanks again Old Guy!

Good follow up. I definitely approve the DIY mentality on that relay! Do you think the spring was too tight or corrosion was too severe?

[widgget]

Thanks Chris.

the spring was just rusted out i think. you can see in the first photo how high the waterline was on the relays, they were almost completely submerged.


the other two weren't very bad, the 219 was pretty rusted (219 already repaired in this photo):


You can see how i uncoiled a loop from the spring and made a new end so that the contact was being pulled back the way it should be:


Good enough for now, i'll order a new one when i have a few extra bucks laying around.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Check your ECU box. My guess is that it has water in it and shorting out the ECU relay. Specifically, your J219 relay:

Bumping this old thread as I have a 17698 error. Where is this J219 relay located? Under the hood, it would seem.

[Pswish]

In the ECU box under the hood.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

In the ECU box under the hood.

Thanks. I almost came back on here to say it's not there on my car, only to dig a little deeper and look under the two computers. Ah, there it is!

Everything totally looks fine though. No evidence of water intrusion. I pulled the 219 relay - no evidence of corrosion or burning. I put some contact cleaner on all the spades and put it back in. I realize it's possible that it could fail and show no evidence, but in my experience that's rare. Plus, I don't otherwise have any symptoms - no continuous fan running- and the 17698 didn't come back (yet).

Has anyone had the sensor fail?

[Pswish]

Contact cleaner is good to remove deposits on contacts and dielectric grease will prevent corrosion, deposits and leaking electricity (by arcing). Over time, the magnetism created by the current will attract particles that will get between the contact, cause corrosion and prevent current from flowing. Pulling it disorganizes the particles and that is why when you pull a relay out of the socket and reseat it, it then will work.

[PSI NRG]

Have this same code. Replaced the sensor at the radiator outlet. Cleared the code and it still came back. Is it confirmed the 219 relay is the issue? Haven't had any fan problems or battery dying. I do notice that my temp gauge sometimes reads a tick lower than it should.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Bumping this thread as I also have a re-occuring 17698 (P1290-002) error code. I've checked the 219 relay - totally dry in there, relay looked fine, but I replaced it any way since I was in there. The error returns after a bit. Possibly related, also getting a 18339 (Coolant fan control module)

Any thoughts?