Lumpy cold start ... thought it was firmware update

[P_G]

I also still get the cold problems and have 0080 firmware, I suspect the engine is fuelled to richly, almost like having too much choke on for those that remember.

[PetrolDave]

have 0080 firmware, I suspect the engine is fuelled to richly, almost like having too much choke on for those that remember.

That's how mine feels on cold mornings after the 0080 upgrade, also an obvious smell of unburnt petrol from the exhausts for the first few minutes. Pretty obvious to me that the 0080 over-fuels on cold starts.

Wasn't like it when I had 0050, and never had a cold start problem so IMHO the 0080 has made the car worse not better.

[reevesroadster]

Ok, as a refresher, i was having lumpy start, fuel smell on cold start and poor mpg. I took my car to a stealer, they had it for a day and gave it back to me last Thursday, told me to fill it up with some good fuel and give it a run.

The car is like a new car, no fuel smell, no lumpiness (is that a real word) and I even managed 29MPG on the M25 on Friday.

Ive just sopken to the service guy who had my car, and heres what they did:

Checked latest firmware upgrade installed: Latest was already loaded.
Reset the basic settings.

Yep, thats it.

Apparently, as you drive the car the ECU alters settings according to your style. (Nothing new there). Cars driven hard tend to provide more fuel in the air/fuel ratio and this affects the car at cold start. As you drive and the parameters alter, the band of tolerance between the min and max values decreases, so there is less range of adjustment as you drive. By resetting the basic settings and driving the car, the system relearns your driving style and the process continues.
My service guy stated that they check this at service intervals. He also suggested that changing other parameters, like filters, oil etc also benefit from the resetting of the basic settings, as the car "learns" that the filter etc is new and alters parameters for those elements too. This is how the system manages your oil quality in relation to service life.

This might also explain why some people are complaining of poor running after the firmware upgrade.

I did ask if he had the module information so that the changes could be done via VAG-COM, and he suggested using ERWIN (Will post seperately on ERWIN).

[RS4Molar]

My cold start characteristics are similarly difficult to understand. Some morinings when ignited it will sit around 1800 rpm and then gradually come down to normal idle speed and then for no apparent reason when iginited like this morning it will simply drop down to idle speed ? I too let it warm up usually to about 50C before taking off and short shift untill fully warm at around 90+C ? Haven't really noticed lumpy, hesitant start however most performance cars will have cold start enrichment quite high.
Cheers

[s3marc]

Mine is still in the garage , 16 days now...... they rang yesterday to ask permission for the head tech to take the car home overnight to test it for cold start problems.

Car has had many new parts and I am hoping for a full report - so I can post back. But I fear that they have changed so much, that actually identifying what needed to be changed may not be possible. Car has probably had a full reset, so if what reevesroaster says, is true, then mine may well be ok for a few weeks until the parameters settle down again - it does sort of make sense, as in the early days of owning the car - I did not have these problems...


Does disconnecting the battery for say 1 hour cause a full-reset? I seem to remember from days of my S3 people saying something like that.....

My god I miss my babe! Audi switched the A3 loan for an A6Avant 2.0TDI - jeez what an old man's car, never known something soooooo sloooowww

[audijohn]

Mine is still in the garage , 16 days now...... they rang yesterday to ask permission for the head tech to take the car home overnight to test it for cold start problems.

Car has had many new parts and I am hoping for a full report - so I can post back. But I fear that they have changed so much, that actually identifying what needed to be changed may not be possible. Car has probably had a full reset, so if what reevesroaster says, is true, then mine may well be ok for a few weeks until the parameters settle down again - it does sort of make sense, as in the early days of owning the car - I did not have these problems...


Does disconnecting the battery for say 1 hour cause a full-reset? I seem to remember from days of my S3 people saying something like that.....

My god I miss my babe! Audi switched the A3 loan for an A6Avant 2.0TDI - jeez what an old man's car, never known something soooooo sloooowww

I would have thought disconnecting the battery would do the trick. Anyone

[s3marc]

If it is the case, anybody with a currently 'lumpy' cold start problem, fancy disconnecting their battery for a while - reconnecting and then checking if they still have the problem over the next few days.

[PetrolDave]

I was booked into Camberley Audi on Friday for them to reset all the "Basic Settings" (1 1/2 hour job) to see if that would restore the "character" lost in the 0080 firmware upgrade from 0050.

But last night I did a long fast hard 90 mile drive and this morning all the "character" is back - fast, sharp, snappy, electric response to the throttle. The rabid dog is back! (see earlier posts)

[MarkB]

So the moral of the story is treat it mean, keep it keen

[reevesroadster]

Nice one Dave - you certainly notice the difference when the "rabid dog" returns.

[s3marc]

Good to hear Dave.

So are you still running 0080 , or did they revert it to 0050?

Got mine back after nearly 3 weeks - it is reasonably smooth first thing in the mornings now - but to me doesn't seem quite as perky as before - might just be me - maybe I need to give it a damn good thrashing

Still waiting for a full report on what was done - they are suppose to be sending one to me , I know that one of the components changed was a solenoid - but where from I have no idea.

Marc

[PetrolDave]

So are you still running 0080 , or did they revert it to 0050?

Still running 0080.

And the lumpiness I used to get when leaving work in the evenings has gone too (I never had the morning cold start lumpiness) - it looks like you need either the dealer to do a full basic settings when they do the upgrade (which adds 1 1/2 hours to the time taken to do the job), or you need to give it a damn good thrashing!

[Andyuk911]

Was this free Dave ? can you pm(on Tyresmoke) the name of the tech ... so I can pass to my Audi dealer for a chin wag. Thanks Andy

[PetrolDave]

Was this free Dave ?

The initial investigation was free, and I suggested the basic settings to them after it was posted here - if that had/has to be done that will be free too. They regard it as a warranty issue - an official Audi SW upgrade was done and the customer is unhappy with the car afterwards.

[reevesroadster]

My stealer suggested this is performed after all engine related work to the car, ie service, oil change, filter change.....and no mention of any charges, as its part of the maintenance of the car.

Would be handy to work out if this can be done through VAG COM!!