Potential project: How to get more performance on AFN

[defever]

Hello everyone,

Some might recognise my regular posting about my car for the past couple of years. I'm really lucky to have a good working AFN engine and I intend to keep it as long as I can. I'm now contemplating on looking into performance rather than just maintaining it. It's a quite a jump from routine old parts repair/replacement, so I wanted to create a thread on what can be done on AFN engines to improve its performance from factory set up.

The aim is to see what I can do to improve my car's 1) efficiency (MPG), and 2) power (BHP).
My aim isn't to create displeasing noise, pollution or gamble with the law. I want to understand the potential of AFN.

Besides the routine interim and major servicing, the car so far had the following done in the last year:

• Cleaned MAF sensor
• Vacuum line replaced to silicone tubes
• Fuel return line replaced
• Inlet / exhaust manifold physically cleaned
• EGR cleaned
• Stock turbo (VNT15 028145702H) physically cleaned
• Catalytic converter and downpipe cleaned
• Breather assembly renewed
• Experimenting with premium diesel fuels and adding two stroke oil (premium gives better MPG, two stroke no effect so far)

I managed to do all these and I'm quite confident in DIY now. I think I can take it to the next level.

What I think the next steps are probably upgrading the following:

• Injector pump
• Injector nozzles
• Turbo
• Front mount air cooler
• ECU (physical chip swap and sold, I believe?)
• Modification via VCDS?

Engine overhaul would be desirable but frankly that is not going to happen due to how much I think it'll cost and take for someone to do it for me.

I am thinking of looking into fuel system (injector pump and nozzles) but I'm not sure where to start.

Am I on the right track and what would be the next logical step?
Any advise or stories on AFN project will be very helpful for me.

Many thanks as always, and happy motoring!

[zollaf]

AUDI A4 1.9 TDI , !!! Chiptuning !!! Performance chip | eBay


buy one of these. this will give you more fuel and more turbo. you will find more black smoke, so fit the biggest front mount intercooler you can find. that should reduce the black smoke when you floor it. the chip made a good difference to my 80 even on my standard intercooler. if it still makes black smoke when you floor it then the engine is getting enough fuel so you need more air before going for bigger injectors or pump head. you already have the bigger pump head so some race nozzles would be next. VW/AUDI/SEAT TDI RACE Injector Nozzles0.210 / 0.220,0.280 / 0.320 / 0.360 /0.460 | eBay

[Gazwould]

Considering the value of the vehicle and costs involved can spiral .

Ideally get an Avant with an AWX or AVF and remap it to 180 bhp .

[zollaf]

pd offers more potential, but at a cost. they are simply not reliable enough and parts can add up. sure you can throw 2k at one and get 250 bhp, but if you need a head or injectors then its silly money. and afn, like my 1z is as reliable as a very expensive iron frying pan. they can take any amount of abuse. everything is cheap for them. throw the same money at one and you can also get 200 bhp. also, a b5 a4 is a lot more reliable than a b6 with the pd engine. b6 wheel bearings, £120 for a good one. b5 wheel bearing, 20 quid. say no more.

[Gazwould]

AWX and AVF PD not reliable ??

They sure are .

[zollaf]

they are, upto a point. but take one thats done 350,000 miles and needs an overhaul, well, a pump rebuild, 4 new injectors and all the bits for an afn including a turbo, will set you back a good chunk of money, enough to buy 4 new injectors for an awx, then there are the head issues if the injector bores are worn, so theres 2500 for a head from vw. then they have a dmf which the afn doesn't. don't get me wrong, i love pd engines, they earn me plenty of money. all you ever do to an afn or 1z etc is service them.. i have thought about doing a pd, dropping an awx in my 80, its an easy enough conversion, but why the heck would i want that responsibility when my 344,000 mile 1z is as reliable as my villager stove.

[defever]

Thanks very much both,

My aim is to keep my afn engine as long as I can so swapping with another car is not an uption. Although I'm already thinking about what I want to get for the next car when the time comes to part with afn. So knowing little bit more about PD engines (are these the facelist B5s or the B6s?) is very helpful, thank you Gazwould.

Zollaf, it makes sense to chip and increase airflow before increasing fuel injection. Few questions:

• ECU chip swap: what does the chip swap actually do? change the quantity of fuel per injection and air compression?
• ECU swap vs chip swap & solder: Each has its room for doubts. A) ECU plug play swap from eBay, I would never know if it's actually chipped correclty unless I get dyno'd and I'm anxious about immobiliser off mod that seems to come with for a straight swap. B) Buying just the chip and asking a local electrician to solder the chip (is it an easy job for those who knows how to solder fine computer parts?) is equally worrying. What if it's soldered incorrectly? I'd end up with a big problem.
• Front mount intercooler (FMIC): I found a DIY for 1.8T (:: a4mods.com :: - The Premiere Audi A4 Modification Guide and Pictures Library). Doesn't look too difficult but time consuming. Darkside does one for £360.00 (Darkside Developments - Darkside Front Mount Intercooler Kit (FMIC) for VW Passat / Audi A4 1.9 TDi PD130 AVF / AWX). Is there a FMIC from factory bigger engine models that can be used?
• Intercooler size: I quickly read that "bigger doesn't mean better": Bigger the hose diameter / intercooler, more turbo lag. Is there an optimum size for afn?

I'll look further into ECU chip for now and see how the car behaves. If too much smoke then, I'll search more on FMIC.

[Gazwould]

Yeah try a remaped chip first , or complete ecu , you won't need an uprated intercooler , I don't even with 50 horses more !

[zollaf]

to change the chip, you remove the ecu, undo the cover, pull the chip out of its holder, push the new one and and replace the cover. no soldering to mess about with. this is the same as manually playing with a manual pump. you give more fuel from less revs. this brings the turbo in quicker. it also keeps the turbo on more, increasing the boost preesure and adjusting the point at which the ecu will drop it into limp due to too much pressure. sure you don't need a bigger intercooler, but it will help if you want to do more to it. mine smokes when i put my foot down, so a bigger fmic would help stop this and allow me to add even more fuel. yes it does increase lag slightly, but you don't get anything for nothing. if you remove the cooler then you will decrease lag but increase smoke.

[defever]

to change the chip, you remove the ecu, undo the cover, pull the chip out of its holder, push the new one and and replace the cover. no soldering to mess about with.

Zollaf, is like chancing a memory card on a computer? Easy clip-on and no soldering?! I didn't realise the chip is removable from factory.

I'll check what my ECU is like inside to see the set up of the chip (and which chip to swap). If it is as you say, then I'm definitely getting that £42 chip on eBay you posted the link!

Google search "AFN ECU tuning chip" shows similar images like this:

CA_07181410104485-L.jpg

There are two chips on "holders" at top left of the image, which I guess the tuning chip will be either of the two.

Also, there seems to be a common problem with the MAF sensor tube (blue tube at the bottom of the image) splitting and spraying engine oil into ECU box so I'll look into that when I have the chance to remove the ECU and check inside.

This chip tuning business is getting realistic so that's promising!