Inherited a 2.7T A6 with a couple of issues

[SkiahMutt]

Hello AudiZine! I've been an intermittent reader/searcher of the site for quite a while, ever since my brother bought his 2002 A6 2.7T Tiptronic many years ago. Well, this past Wednesday, he called me to say that between the issues he'd been having with the Audi, and his recent purchase of a lovely 1992 Dodge D250 to move to California in, he was planning to abandon the Audi in South Dakota. Naturally, I couldn't pass up a basically free Audi, even if it did have some problems, so now I find myself with a new car!

Here's the problems as I see them:
1: Car has a nasty misfire under load. Seems to be worst at low RPM and high throttle angles.
2: Usual information display lines
3: Some rust starting over the driver's side wheel arch
4: Lots of check engine codes(likely related to no. 1)

The codes I pulled with my universal scanner were as follows:
P0300
P0491
P0492
P0442
P0175
P0348
P0172
P0011


The story on the car goes something like this, my brother bought it in around 2010 with 130,000 on the clock. It ran fine for two years, we did oil changes and replaced on igniter module. Suddenly, out of the blue, it developed a severe misfire, and threw several codes. I was traveling at the time, so my brother took it to an indy VW/Audi mechanic in the Ames, IA area. The mechanic charged him 2500 dollars or so to replace the timing belt and all associated parts, as well as the timing chain tensioners, which he said he believed was the cause of the problem. The car allegedly ran fine for about 24 hours, then immediately began misfiring and running poorly again, at which point my brother decided to not spend another penny on it, and it's been that way since(now has about 185,000 miles, so it's been running like this for around 30,000 miles).

It seems to me that given the P0348 and P0011 codes, I must have an issue with the timing chain/belts. I believe the best course of action would to be ordering a full timing belt kit, and possibly chain tensioners or whatever wear item is associated with the timing chains. That said, I haven't been able to find a lot of information on the 2.7T in regards to these codes, so I'm more or less flying blind on this situation. I'm willing to get a copy of VCDS or whatever other software would be helpful in diagnosing this, as well as doing actual troubleshooting on the car, but I would appreciate some direction as far as where to start, and what to look for in terms of this issue. Thanks in advance, and sincere apologies if this has been covered already, and I simply didn't find it when searching.

[PaperToast]

i would suggest getting a vagcom scan done
post in the regional forum to see if someone close has one you can borrow if you dont have one
then report back with the data

[SkiahMutt]

That's kind of what I was figuring. I'm planning on getting that set up and purchased this weekend, so I'll probably just do it myself. What should I be looking for? Just see what codes come up in Vag Com, or should I be looking for something specific?

[PaperToast]

the codes are key to figuring out whats going on
otherwise its a crapshoot and throwing parts hoping to fix the correct thing

[LINDW4LL]

It seems to me that given the P0348 and P0011 codes, I must have an issue with the timing chain/belts. I believe the best course of action would to be ordering a full timing belt kit, and possibly chain tensioners or whatever wear item is associated with the timing chains. That said, I haven't been able to find a lot of information on the 2.7T in regards to these codes, so I'm more or less flying blind on this situation. I'm willing to get a copy of VCDS or whatever other software would be helpful in diagnosing this, as well as doing actual troubleshooting on the car, but I would appreciate some direction as far as where to start, and what to look for in terms of this issue. Thanks in advance, and sincere apologies if this has been covered already, and I simply didn't find it when searching.

You are on the right track. Most of the other codes are just emissions related, and you likely have a vacuum leak too (the EVAP leak, for example is often caused by one or more broken vacuum lines), which explains the "rich" codes.

The P0348 code is for a wiring issue (a short) for the cam sensor, and does not indicate that timing is actually incorrect, but rather that the sensor is not functioning. However, the P0011 code is what we're worried about as that obviously does imply that timing is wrong. If you buy a VCDS cable (either a genuine RossTech cable, or an eBay cable + the $99 VCDS-Lite license), you can check the timing with it if you want.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that the timing is bad and is what's causing your misfires.

[bpark1210]

Go to the ross-tech website and enter in your DTC's. Should give you some indicatoin of the work that needs to be done before firing off money to buy parts.

[SkiahMutt]

Thanks guys! Big help already. I've got a generic cable, so I'll try the VCDS lite to see what I can figure out, and report back then.

I'm loving the forum so far. You guys seem to be one of the friendliest and most helpful automotive forums I've ever come across.

[c5penguin]

i would suggest getting a vagcom scan done
post in the regional forum to see if someone close has one you can borrow if you dont have one
then report back with the data

I have a vagcom cable on its way. Do you know what software I could use to make diagnosing the 491 & 492 codes easier? Or somethings I could check while I wait for this cable? Also, im in Golden, and I see this post is a couple years old, but if you see this, maybe we could meet up and I could pay you to give me a hand. We both know the dealership is going to go to replacing the pump first so i'd like to avoid that

[covrtdesign]

This has been a life saver for me for all of the codes and possible reasons for the codes.

http://mechanicalee.blogspot.com/201...ngine.html?m=1

[covrtdesign]

I have a vagcom cable on its way. Do you know what software I could use to make diagnosing the 491 & 492 codes easier? Or somethings I could check while I wait for this cable? Also, im in Golden, and I see this post is a couple years old, but if you see this, maybe we could meet up and I could pay you to give me a hand. We both know the dealership is going to go to replacing the pump first so i'd like to avoid that

Since you are in Golden, I can highly recommend going to 5280 Motorsports in Denver on W Dixie pl and Pecos. Eric and his crew are fantastic and will go through the codes with you and figure out what parts are dead. I go there too often and get great advice and Vag Com work for free. Best shop in Colorado by far.