Now what? No power and drinking fuel - intermittently.

[venetors2]

Now don't be cross, but I put a new tank of fuel in and it's going like a rocket.!

Hi i've been reading trough.... glad you sorted eventually...
And thanks for your writing...... had few good laughs

But if i was in your place i would have the belt position checked by somebody that knows the RS2 for real....
Not that i don't trust Sid... but you know....
somebody like the company the English guys suggest already.....

Stefano

[DickyC]

Ciao Stefano,

Grazie amico, lo apprezzo molto.

The car is running really well now and so, to recap, it was new Hall sensors for the crank and camshaft to correct the faults and a fresh tank of fuel to put the fizz back into the car.

It is going into MRC for an independant check and, with any luck, an OK from them.

Interestingly - and against what a lot of correspondents were thinking - Audi found no faults recorded against the air mass sensor.

That'll be next time!!

Riccardo

[venetors2]

Sorry everybody for the OT but.....
An english man that writes (properly) in Italian........ rare!!

Ciao e in bocca al lupo Riccardo!

Stefano

[DickyC]

Crepi il lupo, Stefano.

Wow! Deep water here, guys.

Better get back to cars before my internet Italian is unmasked.

[DickyC]

Forgot to say, the car's booked in for its health check with MRC in the middle of July - the earliest appointment they had - so the next thrilling instalment of an everyday story of RS folk will be a while yet.

And stop looking everyone, I found my phone. It was on the floor of my wife's car.

Yes, I'd have thought so too, but what can you do?

It's not all bad, though. The new one is nice and shiny.

[DickyC]

Now don't be cross, but I put a new tank of fuel in and it's going like a rocket.

While I'm not suggesting that the fuel was the only culprit, a dodgy tank of V-Power bought during the tanker drivers' strike to coincide with the car's own crisis certainly wouldn't have helped.

When I fill up with fuel I fill it to the top and although the car is used regularly I'm not commuting in it, so a tank can last three weeks. I swear it goes off in that time.

As it gets towards a refill I'm thinking "Woe, woe and thrice woe. It's not running well again." Fill it up and it's off again, running really well, new lease of life.

Anyone else noticed this?

I know petrol weakens over time but does V-Power really deteriorate noticeably in a few weeks or will MRC find something else wrong with the car next Tuesday?

Nonplussed of Newbury

[scillyisles]

I believe I read somewhere that V Power goes off in less than a month but in reality going off does not mean the fuel becomes useless it just means that it lowers in Octane rating. My RS2 is a bit of a garage queen and is only ever run on Vpower or Tesco Super 99. I might not run it for 3/4 weeks at a time and tbh do not notice that the fuel has gone off. Generally the standard RS2 map is setup to allow for poorer quality fuel so I wonder whether yours has been remapped without your knowledge?

[DickyC]

That's the hardest thing to judge - the rate of deterioration. When it goes well it really does fly, but the deterioration is slow and some of it may be the car objecting to standing for a few days, as many cars do, and needing a bit of a blast to feel better.

It is the fastest car - in every sense - I have owned. Quickest off the mark, highest top speed (I'm guessing...) and by far the quickest to gather pace mid range. When it's off colour it is still very quick, if it was 100% consistent it would be all things to all men in my opinion.

It has not been remapped as far as I'm aware but we'll see what MRC have to say on Tuesday. It's going to be the best sorted RS2 in my road.

[mbelle]

I've been told about V-Power going off too; not sure whether it's something to be believed i.e. after filling up, by the time you need to fill again it will have gone off by a noticable amount, however whenever I've had V-Power in (only used when I can't get to a Tesco with 99) and fill up with Tesco 99, I do notice a difference.

You could always try filling up with Tesco 99 for a tank and see if you notice the same issue??

[DickyC]

You'll think I'm a snob but I fill up my wife's car at Tesco.

The Audi has to be taken miles to a Shell station with pomp and ceremony.

Okay, I'll go to Tesco.

[DickyC]

And now, the latest exciting installment in my voyage of discovery.

Took the car to MRC yesterday for a health check. Why I didn't do this in the first place is a question I am unable to answer. It may have had something to do with wanting the main dealer's name appearing at regular intervals through the history but, whatever the reason, it was wrong.

Anyway, yesterday's lesson-learned-the-hard-way is that the main dealers are incapable of running certain checks on turbocharged Audis. And not just the old ones; MRC say they check current cars and find things Audi have missed. So, you were right, I was wrong, sorry I didn't take your advice earlier, a visit to the specialists is the way to go.

MRC pressurised the turbo plumbing and found a leak in the diverter valve and the main pipe from the turbo. Unfortunately, neither they nor their tame main dealer had a replacement pipe, so that will be another ten days. In the mean time, MRC warned me against driving it hard with a leak because with a lot of boost escaping, the turbo will keep trying to make up the pressure and may over-rev. They spin fast enough without that.

So, a new diverter valve was fitted and a new pipe is on order.

Meanwhile, in the Barking Up The Wrong Tree Dept, it would appear to have been a catalogue of simultaneous problems that was troubling me. Trying to solve the starting problems and erratic poor running with one silver bullet was never going to work. The new Hall Sensors cured the starting trouble and MRC's work on the turbo plumbing looks as if it will cure the flat spots and assorted running gremlins that I have tried so hard to blame on dodgy petrol. So, while it has always been quick, when MRC have finished with it, it will be spectacularly fast.

Also, although the grief is almost certainly not petrol related, MRC said they have heard of bad batches of V-Power and they use and recommend Tesco 99. I know, I know, it's what you all said all along.

As I was up North - Banbury - I met up with the car's previous owner. He drove down to meet me, which was very nice. He reminded me that his tried and tested method of car maintenance is to use the main dealer for the annual service and MoT, specialists for tricky stuff and your competent local bloke for dull stuff you don't want to do yourself. As his stable includes the S4 Avant he replaced the RS2 with, the Ferrari 365 he restored himself and a GT40, he should know. That’s right, his advice is the same as yours. I know what I’m going to do in future.

"How is the S4?"
"Competent."
"Are you damning it with faint praise?"
"No, it's just not as much fun as the RS2."

An S4 Avant, a Ferrari 365 and a GT40... Ah, yes.

"What did you come in today?"
"My wife's baby Fiat."
"Uh, huh."

[DickyC]

The final analysis:

The starting problems were cured by Audi replacing both the camshaft and crankshaft Hall sensors. As far as Audi were concerned the car was then fine with all queries answered on the fault codes and their health check.

The erratic running has been cured, in two stages, by MRC as a result of their heath check. MRC did a pressure test on the turbo plumbing and found two leaks, one in the diverter valve and one in the main pipe from the turbo to the intercooler. (It has a proper name but I've forgotten what it is.) At the time of the health check they replaced the diverter valve with the stock S3 valve in preference to the stock RS2 valve which is pants apparently (I'm quoting), but they did not have the pipe. Audi supplied it, I took the car back today and MRC fitted it. Then, with MRC's 600bhp Doug (his S4, not him) riding shotgun, we went for a little spin.

"We'll drive out of town, over the motorway and onto the dual carriageway. Don't clog it until I say." Oh, dear. The unfortunate chap clearly has to deal with customers with heavy right feet.

The car is brilliant. All the power is back, the turbo comes in perfectly at 3,500rpm and all that will-it-won't-it is gone. Fantastic.

As I said in an earlier bulletin, I should have accepted advice earlier and gone to the specialists first, not second.

£880 to Audi for the Hall sensors (and cambelt and bits and bobs)
£121 to MRC for the health check and S3 diverter valve
£301 to MRC for the main turbo pipe and road test (most of which was the pipe itself)

£1300 to get it right but it felt worth every penny as I drove home. My vigorous but faintly irrational pursuit of dodgy petrol as the culprit has been exposed as advanced level straw clutching.

Those who read my anecdote about fuel consumption and old racing drivers in georgers2's "fuel consumption on rs2", may agree that my role in life may well be to find the most expensive way of doing anything and everything vehicular and then publishing notes on how not to do it.

Thanks for staying with me on this; thanks for all advice and encouragement.

The RS2 - what a car!

When it's running right...

[rs2315]

The final analysis:

The starting problems were cured by Audi replacing both the camshaft and crankshaft Hall sensors. As far as Audi were concerned the car was then fine with all queries answered on the fault codes and their health check.

The erratic running has been cured, in two stages, by MRC as a result of their heath check. MRC did a pressure test on the turbo plumbing and found two leaks, one in the diverter valve and one in the main pipe from the turbo to the intercooler. (It has a proper name but I've forgotten what it is.) At the time of the health check they replaced the diverter valve with the stock S3 valve in preference to the stock RS2 valve which is pants apparently (I'm quoting), but they did not have the pipe. Audi supplied it, I took the car back today and MRC fitted it. Then, with MRC's 600bhp Doug (his S4, not him) riding shotgun, we went for a little spin.

"We'll drive out of town, over the motorway and onto the dual carriageway. Don't clog it until I say." Oh, dear. The unfortunate chap clearly has to deal with customers with heavy right feet.

The car is brilliant. All the power is back, the turbo comes in perfectly at 3,500rpm and all that will-it-won't-it is gone. Fantastic.

As I said in an earlier bulletin, I should have accepted advice earlier and gone to the specialists first, not second.

£880 to Audi for the Hall sensors (and cambelt and bits and bobs)
£121 to MRC for the health check and S3 diverter valve
£301 to MRC for the main turbo pipe and road test (most of which was the pipe itself)

£1300 to get it right but it felt worth every penny as I drove home. My vigorous but faintly irrational pursuit of dodgy petrol as the culprit has been exposed as advanced level straw clutching.

Those who read my anecdote about fuel consumption and old racing drivers in georgers2's "fuel consumption on rs2", may agree that my role in life may well be to find the most expensive way of doing anything and everything vehicular and then publishing notes on how not to do it.

Thanks for staying with me on this; thanks for all advice and encouragement.

The RS2 - what a car!

When it's running right...

A very good read for anybody new to owning an RS2 or any speicialist car for that matter.
Thanks for sharing with us Dicky.

rs2315.

[DickyC]

Thanks, rs2315.

I'm wondering what to do with my time now. A new project? A Frogeye Sprite in need of attention, perhaps?

What am I saying? After an RS2 it would be like going everywhere on my hands and knees.

No, I'll spend my time enjoying it on the road and take it to Castle Combe in September for the Audi Day. What do you reckon? Flat through Folly and try to beat last year's 120 up hill before braking for Avon? Oh, yes, accelerating to 120 up hill with a good 40mph in hand if only the hill was longer!

That's more like it. Marvellous.

[rs2315]

Thanks, rs2315.

I'm wondering what to do with my time now. A new project? A Frogeye Sprite in need of attention, perhaps?

What am I saying? After an RS2 it would be like going everywhere on my hands and knees.

No, I'll spend my time enjoying it on the road and take it to Castle Combe in September for the Audi Day. What do you reckon? Flat through Folly and try to beat last year's 120 up hill before braking for Avon? Oh, yes, accelerating to 120 up hill with a good 40mph in hand if only the hill was longer!

That's more like it. Marvellous.

Keep taking the medication dicky, you'll pull through.

rs2315.