Thinking about a TDI remap

[SteveA4Avant]

My A4 is a 1.9 tdi 110 bhp model. There's a company near me doing remaps for £150. They claim on my model a remap will give 140 bhp and a decent increase in torque too.

I'm tempted to get this done but I have a couple of questions. First up, someone I spoke to a while ago said it could finish the clutch off very quickly, is this correct? Also my car has 170k miles on it and has no history, would a remap on this mileage still be a good idea?

My apologies if this has been covered before.

[Gazwould]

Once you have it , it will be the best car mod ever .

Your 5 speed 228 mm clutch will not expire its more for the 130 bhp model that can easily get close to 300 ftlb of torque whereas the 110 to 140 map will be around 214 ftlb.

[Rob69]

Take the inlet manifold off and clean it first, probably choked with carbon at that mileage.

[SteveA4Avant]

Can mine be done with the ecu in place? There's a place near me has an offer on, £150 for a remap where the ecu does not need to be removed. Also is that a decent price?

[Gazwould]

Yes .

Stop fretting .

http://www.adweek.com/files/blogs/just-do-it-hed-2013.jpg

[SteveA4Avant]

I just need to get it booked in, I've got a couple of days off next week so hopefully I can get it done then.

[SteveA4Avant]

Talked to the company today, they say it needs a chip rather than a remap and it's £300 to chip it.

[Gazwould]

So it is .

Chipped afn ecu usually available from £150 on egay .

[SteveA4Avant]

I'll have a look around for one on ebay, that's sounds a better idea than paying out £300

[defever]

I've been tempted to do this as well...

Jut had a quick search on eBay:

afn chip | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xafn+chip. TRS0&_nkw=afn+chip&_sacat=0)

At the top of the list are those selling "chip" for £36 - 115. Says it's the actual chip with tuning and need to get it soldered. Bit dodge.

Further down the list are the whole ECU box with "tuning" - £175+. These are the ones to get? How can you be sure that the ECU box is tuned as claimed?

[SteveA4Avant]

I've done a chip on a motorbike ecu but that one was held in with silicone, so it was a matter of cutting the silicone, removing the chip and fitting the new one. It was easy enough but I wouldn't want to solder one in myself. I've read an electrics specialist would do the soldering of the chip quite cheaply.

[Gazwould]

Stick it on a dyno dynamics to find out the truth .

[defever]

Steve, if you click on the "chip only" advert on ebay listing it says to take the chip to an electrician and it can be soldered in "minutes". It probably works, but the thought of taking the ECU box out of my car, asking an electirtian to solder this cheap chip off eBay on to the only ECU box I have is quite risky for me.

Having said that, plugging an ECU box from eBay without knowing its history is equally questionable.

As Gazwould mentions, my initial thought of tuning my car is get it tuned (I didn't realise that it's a "chip" job for our AFN engines), where it can be dyno tested pre & post tuning. It's the most secure way to get it tuned but also an expensive option, hence been putting it off as I don't really need it. It's just nice to have more power for fun.

[Gazwould]

It's a bit more than that , the engine will idle smoother , be quieter and drive better with more torque comming in earlier and smoother , safer overtaking .

Keep in a gear longer , better flexibility , less gear changes .

It's like a newer better more refined engine was fitted .

[SteveA4Avant]

With mine I only paid £600 for the car. £150 seemed good value for a remap. I'm still going to keep looking around but I don't want to sink loads of money into it. It's false economy to spend hundreds on a car that only cost a few hundred to begin with.

[SteveA4Avant]

What about this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chip-Tuning-Box-AUDI-A4-B5-1-9-TDI-81-kW-110-HP-Performance-Power-35-HP-/171929900279?hash=item2807d214f7:g:efEAAOSwYGFU0MU h

or this

TDI Power TUNING Chip Box for Audi A4 B5 B6 B7 1,9 + 2,0l TDI +++30HP more | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TDI-Power-TUNING-Chip-Box-for-Audi-A4-B5-B6-B7-1-9-2-0l-TDI-30HP-more-/160555485527?fits=Car+Make%3AAudi&hash=item2561da4957:m:mB8w8f5qVAzgPgkBALskI-Q)

[Gazwould]

Oh God no , they fool a sensor into dumping more fuel in .

[SteveA4Avant]

Oh God no , they fool a sensor into dumping more fuel in .
Cheers I will avoid those then. I guess my best option is find a 2nd hand chipped ECU or try and find somewhere that sells the chip so I can get it done myself.

[SteveA4Avant]

The plot thickens.....

I have spoken to a few places who all said the chip needs to come out and it'll be around £300. But I also got an email back from a place in Manchester. The first thing he said was "I bet no one's seen your car and they all want to take the chip out"

He went into a lot of detail. He said there is a switch over point with early A4s. Some can be easily tuned over the OBD port and some need the ECU removed and the chip replaced. He said he would need to see my car to identify which type it is. Also he said if I wanted it, he could do the chip swap version for £250, but he actually advised against having it done, as due to the ECUs capabilities, the results would be nowhear near as good as the normal remap types.

[Gazwould]

He must know if he's worth his salt what ecu numbers have to be chipped and those that can be flashed .

Record the number of your ecu and if someone can give you a definite answer go with them .

[defever]

Any update on this?

I've been thinking more about getting tuned ECU, but to get the full benefit of tuned ECU I should also upgrade my fuel injector pump, nozzles, and turbo from factory maybe? Also an intercooler?

My car has become a bit of a long term project...

[SteveA4Avant]

Hi, no real update at the moment. The one fella that did seem to know what he was talking about asked me to photo the ecu or give him the numbers on the outside of it. I've been away on holiday and haven't got round to doing it yet. I've looked around a lot more on the net and I read that anything with my engine pre year 2000 will need a chip and solder. So even when I do get round to pulling the outer cover off the ecu, I don't hold out much hope of it being the type that can tuned via the OBD. If I'm lucky and it is the OBD type I'll get it done, if it's chip and solder I won't bother as the price is so much more and the gains are less.

[Fire26662]

There is one little bit in the description I don't like.
A little more for the tuning software : It is designed for maximum horse power and torque without damaging the turbo or the engine! The maps are reworked professionally, with many many work!
The boost is raised up to 1.15 bar hold and about 1.3 bar peak which is the maximum for this turbo
I have a 1998 AFN and the boost pressure is 2.1 bar peak and 1.9 hold. If the chips in the ECU were only in sockets I might have a go at decrypting the original MAP myself!

[SteveA4Avant]

I still haven't pulled the cover off the ecu yet. I think the better option is to buy another car. Well what I mean is, keep the Audi as it is as my main vehicle and instead of trying to map it I will leave it alone and but something else to go fast in.

[Gazwould]

Depends what you call fast some say 130 bhp is , lol , and what type of car you want.

[SteveA4Avant]

I always have a company van that I use all day, I bring it home on a night too as I'm field based. Monday to Friday it's very rare I even use my own car, it's mostly weekend use and I do low miles so in the past I have always bought something a bit interesting. Most of the cars I've had have been stuff like big Jaguars, and a few quick Toyotas, celicas and Supras. I just bought the avant as a run around but ended up loving it. It's amazing on fuel and I can fit all sorts in the back of it. I was going to get a map then some nice wheels. But I'm thinking by the time I spend £300 on the chip swap and a few hundred on wheels I could have another car. I'm thinking something like an early 90s MR2.

[Gazwould]

Turbo ?

Also consider a Nissan 200 SX S14 .

[defever]

I think that's a fair thought Steve; if you don't use your A4 much and was cheap to buy then maybe invest on something more interesting. It all depends how you perceive your A4 to be worth.

I dug up my ECU yesterday and turns out to be a solder job for chip tuning. I'm thinking of getting chip sockets and tuned chips and search for local electrician who can solder the socket for me. That way I can have the option of swapping the tuned chip with original if I want to revert back.

I don't know what the cost of chip sockets (my ECU has two chips to swap for tuning) and labour charge for soldering, but I'm sure it'll be less than £300 to get it done at a "performance tuning" company.

I'll keep everyone posted on the other thread I started...

[SteveA4Avant]

The A4 is so useful and amazing on fuel which is why I want to keep it long term. It's great for long trips, both my family and my partners live 100 miles away so it comes in handy for making visits nice and chip. Also my lasses car is a bmw so it likes so go sideways in winter and if the weather is bad with snow or ice, she can leave her car and take my Audi to work as I'm in my work van.

Gaz I would love a turbo MR2 or s13/s14 but both are out of my price range at the moment, I'll have a £1000 at the very most. Early 90s non turbo MR2s can be had from £500 upwards.

Defever I will follow your afn thread and see how you get on, good luck.

[SteveA4Avant]

After a long time I finally got my car chipped. I scoured a chip mail order via eBay from the Czech Republic. Then I found a guy about one hour from me who said he was happy to open my Ecu and solder it in for me. I had the day off today so went and got it done. Performance wise it makes a noticeable difference. It's cold and slightly damp today and the car is wheel spinning like crazy when I floor it in 2nd gear, and it never did that before. It's worked out good value too, the total price for the chip and the soldering work came in at £55. I just need to use it over the next few weeks and see what difference it makes to fuel economy, it claims to give better mpg under normal driving conditions.

[Brownieaj]

Steve, appreciate this is an old post but i am looking to do the same thing to my A4. Do you mind sharing where this guy was based please? Many thanks.


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[Gazwould]

He's not been on here since December 2016 .

[SteveA4Avant]

Hello indeed as Gaz said I havent been on here for ages and the car was sold a couple of years ago. I'm Currently on the isle of man for the TT races and checking my emails and its notified me about the reply.

From what I can remember you'll need to open up your ECU and find out which exact one it is, then order a chip from abroad if you can find one. Not long after doing mine, someone else wanted to do the same and the place selling the chips didn't have any more. The company that fitted mine was Form Automotive, located in Sowerby Bridge west Yorkshire. To be honest, if you can find the chip, any local electronic auto specialist local to you should be able to fit it in under half an hour.

I miss my a4, I've had a lot of cars and ot was probably the best all round car I've ever owned. I only sold it as I got the chance to buy an old BMW e30 that belonged to my wife's dad.

[Brownieaj]

Thanks Steve, appreciate you taking the time to get back. Don't let me distract you from the TT either - a fantastic experience! I agree, i have had lots of cars, many being much newer, higher spec etc but there is something about the rugged simplicity which just appeals to the engineer in me i guess. Shame they have just messed up the VED pricing but i guess you cant have everything!

Enjoy and thanks again.


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