Hit An Iceberg now car barely runs. HELP

[audinewguy]

While parking my car at work this morning i hit a block of ice in the parking lot.
it destroyed my right bottom fog light and also pushed out right wheel well a tad.

thats no biggie.
my problem is now the car can barely runs now. and i seem to have no control over the throttle and the car seems to barely run and cuts off if left alone. the dash says i have 40 mi left. any idea what it can be? i have an a4 2.0 automatic quattro

[bez101]

the crash prob knocked a pipe off so prob a big air leak

and the 40 mile left on the dash aint realy got anything to do with it not running right

[b7kevin]

smashed your intercooler to bits... my guess.

[kristokes]

Take a picture underneath the car and post it here.

[audinewguy]

the crash prob knocked a pipe off so prob a big air leak

and the 40 mile left on the dash aint realy got anything to do with it not running right

i figured i put that just to rule out low gas.

[audinewguy]

Take a picture underneath the car and post it here.

will do , gonna be a bit hard. but give me a minute.

[audinewguy]

FML. the car idles all over anywhere from 2k to 1.4k and cuts off at anytime.
i couldnt get behind the wheel well because i dont have my torx set at the moment.

http://s3.postimage.org/2tx76c6kk/IMAG0141.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2tx76c6kk/)

http://s3.postimage.org/2tvwvagqs/IMAG0143.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2tvwvagqs/)

http://s3.postimage.org/2tzl6a890/IMAG0138.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2tzl6a890/)

[B7Daily]

http://postimage.org/image/2tvwvagqs/

http://postimage.org/image/2tx76c6kk/

http://postimage.org/image/2txir3m10/




FML. the car idles all over anywhere from 2k to 1.4k and cuts off at anytime.
i couldnt get behind the wheel well because i dont have my torx set at the moment.



Pictures did not post

[SykoraA4]

yeah.. i bet your intercooler is busted.

[audinewguy]

Pictures did not post

i fixed it. there isnt much to see. to the untrained eye it just looks like the foglight is out.

[audinewguy]

yeah.. i bet your intercooler is busted.

fuck. what gives u that thought though, if u dont mind me asking. im no expert. and is it fine 2 drive home?

[JPT]

fuck. what gives u that thought though, if u dont mind me asking. im no expert. and is it fine 2 drive home?

You have to look at the pictures without the bumpers on. You will see the intercooler hose attaches to the intercooler there.

[JPT]

fly300kts' timing belt writeup
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/fly300kts/Timing%20Belt/P3.jpg

[mr shickadance]

your intercooler is all broke and junk

[audinewguy]

Fml...
is there a possiblity i might have simply disconnected the hose?
my next 2 questions are.
how much 2 fix?
can i drive it home atleast?

p.s.
i work 40 mins from home. fml.

[Gil2.0T]

You cant drive it if it keeps cutting off, and no you shouldnt drive it anyways.

[arce909]

I Wouldn't drive it...

[mr shickadance]

OEM parts idk, but if ur intercooler is busted, a cheap route, would be to upgrade to a FMIC, godspeed makes an ebay kit, cxracing makes an ebay kit and they are extremely cheap and practical for a ko3 operation

your other options would be to upgrade to better more efficient dual SMIC's via ER performance they are your next more expensive option and also good for ko3 operations

ATP makes a FMIC kit and i think its cheaper then ER performance but essentially the same as the ebay intercoolers

the last and most expensive option would be the AWE fmic, good for a stock but better for a stage 3 set up (as the intercooler is made with high quality and a stage 3 would need better cooling)


for people telling you ebay is not the way to go, well they dont have the ebay kit on thier car....i do, it fits, it works, and it gets the job done and its not a part that needs to be meticulously constructed like a HPFP or a turbo does

what i will say is that if you plan on going stage 3 then yes, the ebay intercooler will not work for you,

[GarrettReid]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but icebergs are in the ocean usually.

[viperdsa]

If you take off the belly pan you should be ablt to tell if the intercooler is jacked up.

[audinewguy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but icebergs are in the ocean usually.

lol please excuse me for trying to shed some light on my dark situation. im the laugh around the office for being the guy with the expensive car that doesnt drive because i hit a small snow mound pullin in2 my parking spot.

[audinewguy]

If you take off the belly pan you should be ablt to tell if the intercooler is jacked up.

im dying too. but no tools at work. a damage intercooler would cause an weird idle and for the car to cut off though right?

[b7kevin]

Dont really need tools other then a flat screw driver to remove the belly pan. You could even use a butter knife if your dying to know.

[SykoraA4]

have somebody rev your car up while you listen from outside. put your head down by your busted fog and listen for lots of hissing air as they rev. If you hear air leaking out you've busted your intercooler. Its more likely you've actually done damage to the fins than actually busted off the intercooler piping.

Now here's something I figured out on my b5. I dont know if it will work on the b7 and I have no clue what kind of damage it could do in the long run. when I had blown off my intercooler piping in some place I couldn't fix it right away, I could unplug my MAP sensor and the engine would idle properly, and drive but with very very limited power. If you try to do that, do it at your own risk though..

[b7kevin]

I ran my map sensor unplugged for a mile when I accidently left it unclipped while working on another portion of the car. It sets the ecu into soft limp.

[Mc Suly]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but icebergs are in the ocean usually.

Titanic ;)

Yea bad times.

Get it towed if you have AAA.

[audinewguy]

thanks for the advice guys. im considering buying a FMIC off ebay. but i also have a 500$ deductible . would it be better just to file a claim?

[Mantvis]

no just buy, u dont want ur insurance to go up.
do be in a hurry to buy the FMIC, first make sure it is the inter cooler

if the fins are bent ECS has a fin fixing tool for 6 bucks, might help ya :)

[eMacPaul]

It could just be a hose popped off the intercooler, the intercooler itself may be fine.

[BASARAB]

Hate those dick's icebergs
http://cdn.10dailythings.com/images/iceberg54.jpg

[mr shickadance]

no just buy, u dont want ur insurance to go up.
do be in a hurry to buy the FMIC, first make sure it is the inter cooler

if the fins are bent ECS has a fin fixing tool for 6 bucks, might help ya :)

6$ plus whatever crazy shipping their gonna charge you HA!

all in all my intercooler cost me 250$ purchased from classifieds but i know the seller bought it on ebay for around the same price

installation costs the shop i only go to said it took them longer then 4 hours but thats what they quoted me on so thats what i was charged (about 400, 450 with tip)

all in all 700 for an installed fmic is worth not going through insurance over imo bc nobody like higher insurance rates especially if the insurance is only going to cough up 200 of their own money

[Mantvis]

idk 6 bucks and crazy shipping sounds better than 700 bucks ;)

Dont like ECS, here ya go! :)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sugexp=ldymls&xhr=t&q=radiator%20fin%20comb&cp=12&um=1&biw=1280&bih=804&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=shop:1&source=og&sa=N&tab=if

[mr shickadance]

thats assuming his intercooler is not internally damaged.....if the fins on the exterior are bent then yes, the fin tool is a better option....if his intercooler structure itself is bent then you can put good money down on the fact that his internal fins are bent....and theres nothing you can do about that except leave it the way it is and hope that it can still keep IAT's low or get a new intercooler from OEM or go the new FMIC or SMIC route

[Übermensch]

Hate those dick's icebergs
http://cdn.10dailythings.com/images/iceberg54.jpg

lulz
I'm sure OP didn't have that particular iceberg in mind when posting.

[mr shickadance]

OP dont feel so bad about being the joke of your office, i used to work at Ski Market in avon CT back when i had an xterra i decided to park on a big mound of snow (to be all offroad and shit)....long story short by the end of my 9 hour shift the snow had melted some and my tire no longer rested on snow, instead my frame was sitting on the snow mound so i could not get my car off of the mound....shit took me a hour of digging underneath, and locking my rear diff (ultimately hearing something terrible SNAP into place somewhere in my tranny)

anyways point is the next day i showed up to work and they put up a sign saying "no parking" over the snow mound.....

[Mc Suly]

NO eBay guy. All ghetto shit haha.

Get AWE FMIC. Heard great things about them.

[CleverA4Name]

6$ plus whatever crazy shipping their gonna charge you HA!

all in all my intercooler cost me 250$ purchased from classifieds but i know the seller bought it on ebay for around the same price

installation costs the shop i only go to said it took them longer then 4 hours but thats what they quoted me on so thats what i was charged (about 400, 450 with tip)

all in all 700 for an installed fmic is worth not going through insurance over imo bc nobody like higher insurance rates especially if the insurance is only going to cough up 200 of their own money

Or you could have saved $300 more and bought the AWE FMIC and installed it yourself...Better intercooler, and you get to work on your own car

[Checho]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but icebergs are in the ocean usually.

<3

[vbrad26]

I <3 Florida

fixt

[Mantvis]

thats assuming his intercooler is not internally damaged.....if the fins on the exterior are bent then yes, the fin tool is a better option....if his intercooler structure itself is bent then you can put good money down on the fact that his internal fins are bent....and theres nothing you can do about that except leave it the way it is and hope that it can still keep IAT's low or get a new intercooler from OEM or go the new FMIC or SMIC route

That is correct.
Thats what im hoping that its only minor fin bend

[mr shickadance]

Or you could have saved $300 more and bought the AWE FMIC and installed it yourself...Better intercooler, and you get to work on your own car

if i did the install myself i would have saved 750$ by not going with AWE.....your logic is off by a mile

an awe fmic is roughly the same install as an ebay fmic with the exception being that an ebay fmic doesn;t require removal and reinstalling of the crash bar....again, not saying awe is a bad intercooler....but if you get it and dont go stage 3 then its an overkill mod

[clemsongt]

I really hope you didn't buy an intercooler just because some guys on a forum speculated without any hands on experience with your problem that it might be the problem...

The forum is here, so that you can get ideas on how to troubleshoot your problem. Ultimately, you will need to find the problem, make the decision on the fix, and fix it. The forum is just a conglomerate of information that may be helpful or not. It is NOT the source of infinite wisdom...

[GarrettReid]

It is NOT the source of infinite wisdom...

wut?

[Quattro]

ummm, this is a shot in the dark here...did anyone mention to vag your car? i know you were at work, figured you had the car towed home by now.

[audinewguy]

thanks for all the ideas again. no i have not bought the fmic yet. neither have i filed a insurance claim. ive just gotten it towed home at this point. later i will remove the belly pan to see whats going on.

i will say one thing. trouble suuure seems to know how to find you when you get some extra money
r.i.p my tax return 2/11 - 2/15

[tankdeer]

r.i.p my tax return 2/11 - 2/15

I lol'd

[b7kevin]

Does anyone here DIY anything ever.... Intercoolers are DUMB simple to install, it seems every person here other than a hand full are to intimidated to pick up a socket wrench.

Take that bumper off, check to see whats damaged, buy replacement parts, reinstall bumper.... Enjoy?

[Kubus]

Should have participated in our group buy

http://www.rlyslow.com/random/skidplate.jpg

Mine just arrived today. 200 bucks to protect your wallet from things like this

[Leo14]

That sucks, where in jersey are you located that you're hitting icebergs? haha just kidding, but where are you in jerz? I feel like i've seen you around before

[mr shickadance]

pretty sure your plate would have done little to protect his bumper and fog light that was also smashed but yea i could imagine it would have saved him a little bit in damages

[Kubus]

pretty sure your plate would have done little to protect his bumper and fog light that was also smashed but yea i could imagine it would have saved him a little bit in damages

Thats just cosmetic. I figure when I smash my bumper I'll convert the current one to be a winter bumper and then do something else as a summer bumper and just plow everything I see.

[mr shickadance]

winter summer bumpers would have issues matching paint to the rest of the car no? your paint would fade over time unevenly

good concept tho

[Kubus]

winter summer bumpers would have issues matching paint to the rest of the car no? your paint would fade over time unevenly

good concept tho

Matching in the winter isnt a big deal... I roll on 16's so a not perfectly matching bumper isnt going to make the car look any uglier. I'd paint the summer one along with a blend of the fenders and hood so it would look good in the summer.

In the winter I rarely wash my car anyway so unless you were looking for the paint to not match, Im sure no one would notice. My current non-sline bumper will inevitably get smashed by something here in Montreal, its just a matter of time. When that happens I wont repair it, just drive with it until winter is done and then do something proper in the summer. If it doesnt get wrecked this winter, chances are high that it'll get wrecked next winter. Its a chance I took when I lowered the car originally and a risk I took when I chose not to crank up the coils for winter after moving here.

It might not be the cheapest alternative obviously but probably the one that makes the most sense if you wish to be low.

[audinewguy]

That sucks, where in jersey are you located that you're hitting icebergs? haha just kidding, but where are you in jerz? I feel like i've seen you around before

im down in union. bro the iceberg was in my parking spot!

[audinewguy]

I really hope you didn't buy an intercooler just because some guys on a forum speculated without any hands on experience with your problem that it might be the problem...

The forum is here, so that you can get ideas on how to troubleshoot your problem. Ultimately, you will need to find the problem, make the decision on the fix, and fix it. The forum is just a conglomerate of information that may be helpful or not. It is NOT the source of infinite wisdom...

nah man im not scared to get my hands dirty. i actually just realigned my dad wiper linkage. its just that pieces for this car seem to damn expensive to just be fuggin around with without proper knowledge.