Under 30k miles and the motor is blown

[SoMdAudiA4]

Well had all the symptoms of bad coils so I ordered a set of r8 coils...the swap out didn't fix the problem unfortunately. So, being a certified pre-owned I had Audi Roadside tow the car to Audi Silver Spring. They called me today to tell me that cyl 3 has no compression and it needs a motor.

Because of the GIAC stg1 tune, Audi won't cover the motor. So I've gotta get the car and tow it home where it will sit until I figure out what to do. I don't have the money for a motor, much less the cash to pay someone to put it in for me.

Not sure what i'll do besides cancel the insurance and turn the tags in...car has literally 29800 miles on it and was maintained by Audi every mile of its short life. Fucking cop out in my opinion that the tune is at fault...

Suggestions, opinions, thoughts, etc - all welcome

[AKO]

What kind of car??

[geebus]

What kind of car??

B8 A4

[AKO]

Try talking to a SA. I have heard a few stories about customers reflashing cars to stock and the dealership performing the warranty work.

[14S4GWM]

That's a shitty day right there, sorry!

[audistealth]

Depending on your relationship with them, is it worth asking for a reason to deny in writing? They should have to prove the tune caused the failure.

[SoMdAudiA4]

Yea guys, sucks. I'm waiting for the service manager to call me. I fully intend to get a lot of explanation from me. They have had the car and done all service work as scheduled since 4k miles and the GIAC stg1 tune use to be something they SOLD to their customers. I also can't believe a new motor is the true fix, again I drove the car until they sent a tow truck and it drove, just not smoothly.

That said, anyone interested in coming to my house where the car will more than likely end up and help me figure out the real issue and a fix other than a motor swap? Hughesville Md is where I live - plenty of beer and whatever else to those willing to help.

[AFONE]

Go see Jimmybones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SoMdAudiA4]

Go see Jimmybones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've heard about him...hear he's quite the Audi animal! He's a bit far from me and I'm not sure how i'd get the car to him without a tow bill bigger than a repair bill haha

[Race Shooter]

You can also talk to GIAC. If Audi is blaming the tune, you should be able to make them take responsibility for it or they can help you prove to Audi that it wasn't the tune that did it. Its in their best interest to help you since they don't want you going around saying that the tune ruined your engine.

[Serpent]

Yea guys, sucks. I'm waiting for the service manager to call me. I fully intend to get a lot of explanation from me. They have had the car and done all service work as scheduled since 4k miles and the GIAC stg1 tune use to be something they SOLD to their customers.

When did Audi Silver Spring sell GIAC stage 1 tune?

[SoMdAudiA4]

When did Audi Silver Spring sell GIAC stage 1 tune?

Audi SS never did, other Audi dealers did in the past. Thats why I went GIAC in the first place. My dealer admits they've heard of dealers doing it, so my point to them was if they did and even though SS didn't, Audi Corp must have signed off on it..they were crickets at that point.

I'm thinking its seals that are the issue and a full motor replacement isn't needed...again, I drove the car until the tow truck picked it up. No leaking oil, no holes in the block, only CEL's were misfire's...I just feel if it were a legit blown motor, CEL's would say all sorts of things, the car wouldn't move, etc.

At the end of the day, it needs a repair of some sort and I'm still owing about 25k on it (bought it a little over a year ago for Audi Tyson's Corner) so I'm stuck with fixing it and keeping it in my inventory.

[14S4GWM]

You can also talk to GIAC. If Audi is blaming the tune, you should be able to make them take responsibility for it or they can help you prove to Audi that it wasn't the tune that did it. Its in their best interest to help you since they don't want you going around saying that the tune ruined your engine.

yeah right, never gonna happen and if it does you'll be paying out the ass for it

[SoMdAudiA4]

yeah right, never gonna happen and if it does you'll be paying out the ass for it

I agree...though liked the thought of his suggestion. They have no care about me and surely not going to dedicate a resource to help me prove its not the tune, for free.

[SoMdAudiA4]

Audi SS Service Manager just called...I give it to him, he's def a customer first kinda guy. He said they're going to do a leak down test on it to see if they can isolate the repair to just a head and not a full motor. He did say its 99% likely that as soon as they hook up to the spec actual i'll lose powertrain and drivetrain warranty on the spot. I told him at this point, my best bet is for him to take the work as far as he can under the CPO warranty (bill free to me) and then if Audi balks, i'll have a the issue identified and a better resolution plan (of course he's hoping i'll keep the car there for them to do the work).

So we'll see...

[LINDW4LL]

He did say its 99% likely that as soon as they hook up to the spec actual i'll lose powertrain and drivetrain warranty on the spot.
So we'll see...

Why not flash it back to stock before they hook it up to the computer?

[LAXlittleant26]

Jeez man I wish you the best with that.

[SoMdAudiA4]

Why not flash it back to stock before they hook it up to the computer?

They won't let me. They said in the system that will show the car leaving and coming back with the same issue, yet the ecu being cleared of the fault codes, data logs, etc. I even offered to yank the ecu and take just it to Ed at Induktion (leaving the car at the dealer) but they said that wouldn't fly...

[chillindrdude]

I would have flashed back to stock before any dealership service even touches it, unless you have a solid relationship with your SA.

Otherwise, I'm empathetic about the broken car, but with aftermarket tunes, you run the risk of having your warranty voided. Pay to play.

[SoMdAudiA4]

I would have flashed back to stock before any dealership service even touches it, unless you have a solid relationship with your SA.

Otherwise, I'm empathetic about the broken car, but with aftermarket tunes, you run the risk of having your warranty voided. Pay to play.

Nope, I agree Chillindrdude. I simply didn't trust the car to get on the beltway (only way to induktion from my house) and then from there to Audi SS. I called and talked with the SA and she said they probably could diagnose without needing to hook up to the "spec actual" and everything would be fine....her tune changed a bit once the car got there, and I was pretty upset by it. However once the SM called me, he was back to what she was saying and willing to do all he could for me. So I gambled by sending the car their without getting flashed back because I was to worried about getting stuck on 495 with a broke down car and all that comes with it. I don't clearly get the whole idea that I can't come pull the ECU and take to be flashed and bring back without big brother Audi knowing...but I guess it is what it is at this point.

[LAXlittleant26]

Just by chance, was the car real jittery (is that a word) in specific gears? Sounds a little similar to something I experienced twice.

The first time, I got someone with a VAGCOM to "reset" it, which returned the cylinder to it's normal state. The other time, I left it in a garage for 3 hours, came back and it was fine.

[chillindrdude]

Obviously too late, but I encourage peeps to sign up for AAA for their towing provision, unless your auto insurance has it.

It came in handy when I needed a tow back from VIR!

[SoMdAudiA4]

Just by chance, was the car real jittery (is that a word) in specific gears? Sounds a little similar to something I experienced twice.

The first time, I got someone with a VAGCOM to "reset" it, which returned the cylinder to it's normal state. The other time, I left it in a garage for 3 hours, came back and it was fine.

Yes and No. The symptoms were identical to a bad tank of gas. Wife literally drove 1000 miles the week before, gets home and fills up with gas (same Shell station same 93 octane), parks it with no issues. Goes to work the next day and it noticed "funny" (her term), i drove it to the gym that evening and agree it was missing and kinda falling on its face at low speed (0-45mph). Agreed with her probably a bad tank of gas, so we picked up a bottle of Lucas Octane booster...as the week went on the problem got worse. Finally a CEL came on and read only to be misfire codes. So I ordered the r8 coils, replaced them but no fix. It was at that point i sent the car to audi via audicare.

- - - Updated - - -

Obviously too late, but I encourage peeps to sign up for AAA for their towing provision, unless your auto insurance has it.

It came in handy when I needed a tow back from VIR!

I have it through insurance...but think they only pick up the car and not me...didn't want to be left on the road waiting for a friend so to speak.

[JimmyBones]

Go see Jimmybones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks man.

I've heard about him...hear he's quite the Audi animal! He's a bit far from me and I'm not sure how i'd get the car to him without a tow bill bigger than a repair bill haha

I have a truck and trailer but it is a bit of a drive from Fairfax to you. Let me know how things go.

[SoMdAudiA4]

Will do....hoping for enough info to make decision by COB

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

[b6onboost]

I suggest you get AoA involved. Firmly, and politely, request Audi cover some or all of the fix in good faith.

It seems a handful of people have had luck having Audi cover at least 50% of the repair in the event of catastrophic engine damage or blown turbos, even when they are tuned or even just out of warranty. Its worth a try. It seems to work more often than not because Audi knows these issues happen on stock cars, so they know its their problem, and that its a cop out to tell the customer to piss off because of a tune or a recently expired warranty. They know a motor shouldn't need replacement at 30k miles. If you and your SA push AoA, they'll probably offer some sort of remedy or discount.

Situation sucks, but Chillindrdude is right...tuning under warranty has risks and unfortunately some Audi motors have nasty defects that you really don't want to give them a way out of fixing.

[SleeperCar]

this is terrifying, sorry to hear man....

have you tried going to Dimitra at Audi SS? she is pretty legit, and they are relatively cool about mods.

[DirtD1ver]

this is terrifying, sorry to hear man....

have you tried going to Dimitra at Audi SS? she is pretty legit, and they are relatively cool about mods.

Did you read any of this. his car is at AoSS. Not saying who his SA is but im 99% sure I know who his SA is.

[SleeperCar]

Did you read any of this. his car is at AoSS. Not saying who his SA is but im 99% sure I know who his SA is.

I did, lol, guess I missed the critical piece, doesn't help Cuz I'm speed reading multitasking at work....

I'm surprised AoSS is being like this

[SleeperCar]

Did you read any of this. his car is at AoSS. Not saying who his SA is but im 99% sure I know who his SA is.

you dont flash back when you go to AoSS right? have they ever given you grief for anything?

[Serpent]

I'm surprised AoSS is being like this

After a certain point there is nothing they can do. It is out of their hands.

[SleeperCar]

After a certain point there is nothing they can do. It is out of their hands.

That's fair, I'd figure they wouldn't flag it though, and give you a chance to flash back.... They told me that's how they operate as I was discussing tune with them before, maybe it does depend on SA....

[Serpent]

Step 1: Ask SM what your options are...at this point very limited and his hands tied.

Step 2: Follow through his plans if they are favorable to you - if not, start a claim with AoA and see where that takes you.

Step 3: If step 2 does not work, pull the car out - take it to independent shop and have them do the work.

I really hope you can come to a favorable solution with Audi - I feel your pain.

[SoMdAudiA4]

Step 1: Ask SM what your options are...at this point very limited and his hands tied.

Step 2: Follow through his plans if they are favorable to you - if not, start a claim with AoA and see where that takes you.

Step 3: If step 2 does not work, pull the car out - take it to independent shop and have them do the work.

I really hope you can come to a favorable solution with Audi - I feel your pain.

I just hung up with the SM....Audi of SS is def a stand up shop, hands down. No good news for me, but they did their best and gave me probably the best alternative to keeping it under CPO and getting repaired. I'm not going to put it on here for good reasons, but just wanted to make sure there was no doubt in Audi of SS, they are a great shop and customer friendly as they come!

Now to figure out how to do what they suggested...I'll fill everyone in once we get to a safety zone haha

[Zach L]

What happened?