A3 1.8 T Sport 2001 - turbo & unexpected noise from dashboard problems

[Antony 171008]

Good afternoon all!

I bought my first A3 last Friday and unfortunately it appears to have a couple of problems. As this is my first car fitted with a turbo, I hope you'll forgive my ignorance of not knowing something which is blindingly obvious .
There are no warning lights on the dashboard (other than for the rear brake light bulb).

1. When accelerating to the point the turbo comes in, the car begins to surge intermittently. When driven with gradual acceleration, i.e. no turbo requirement, the car drives fine. Incidentally I put £10 of regular unleaded (91RON) to bring the car home and have since noticed that I should have put in super unleaded (95RON) - hopefully ignorance was bliss... .

2. When the ignition is turned on, more often than not there is a sound coming from behind the dashboard (by the lhs of the steering wheel) that sounds like a computer drive scanning a CD \ a stepper motor actuating - this happens both when the engine is or isn't running and nothing is moving or being moved (the car has a CD changer in the boot so it's not the audio equipment).
Whilst this noise isn't causing any adverse effect I'd like to be sure that nothing's about to fail that I could have done something about .

Although it's had a full Audi service history, last serviced in June last year and not due for another for 8k miles, I hope to fix any interim problems myself -I'm awaiting delivery of the A3 1996 - 2003 Haynes manual which is due to land on my doorstep tomorrow.

Any advice about the above problems and their causes & solutions will be greatly appreciated - I won't be able to really enjoy my 'new' A3 until I get the first problem fixed and put my mind to rest about the second noise 'problem'.

Many thanks in advance.

Antony

[SEMKY]

Worth getting it hooked up to diagnostics (VAGCOM or similar) to establish any faults with your acceleration issue...at least it would give you a starting point.
In fact, if you intend on working on your motor yourself, you can download a free version for yourself...just buy a lead to connect to the car, and bingo!
Take a look in the VAGCOM section of the site for pointers!
HTH

[Antony 171008]

Thanks for the reply SEMKY - I've had a look on the Ross-Tech website and tomorrow I'll be downloading the appropriate VAG-COM (after determining which interface I need).

In the meantime, if anyone else has any ideas re: possible causes & solutions for my turbo problem I'd really appreciate it.

Antony

[Antony 171008]

Could anyone advise me which VAG-COM interface I need so I can download the correct version of VAG-COM - the 805 or the 409\311.
I'm assuming the lilac connector (see attached pic) located above the bonnet release is the interface connector but there isn't any visible text that identifies it - seeRoss-Tech web page http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/download/index.html).

Thanks in advance.

Antony

[omegadirective]

Could anyone advise me which VAG-COM interface I need so I can download the correct version of VAG-COM - the 805 or the 409\311.
I'm assuming the lilac connector (see attached pic) located above the bonnet release is the interface connector but there isn't any visible text that identifies it - seeRoss-Tech web page http://www.ross-tech.com/vcds/download/index.html).

Thanks in advance.

Antony

805 software. You really need a fault code readout before you can do anything. The surge you speakof, is it a consistent surge, or more of a throbbing pulse with the turbo?

If it's a throbbing pulse it could be losing boost pressure somehow. Maybe a hose leak or something?

[Antony 171008]

Thanks for the reply omegadirective.

The surge is more of a throbbing pulse. I’d checked for loose/damaged hoses/components and everything seemed fine.

I’ve since received the ‘A3 1996 - 2003 Haynes manual’ so I just need pointing in the right direction!