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Old 27th May 2014, 08:26 AM
A8 Adie A8 Adie is offline
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Default Water Water everywhere!

Hello fellow members

I’m a newbie to this forum though I have been following some threads for a couple of months now.
I have a 2004 3.0 V6 A8L multitronic with only 44.5k miles on it – no sun roof.
I read gninnam’s recent thread ‘Testing the water’ with much empathy and I must share my sorry story with you as concisely as possible – which is still ongoing.
My plenum drain holes were clogged up such that the drivers and nsr foot wells were very wet.
The electronic handbrake fault light lit up as did the PRNDS lights. Car would not start. Called out a local auto electrical garage who has a VAG-com they reset all the fault registers and the car fired up – Hooray!
Not knowing where the drain holes are (then) I took the car to local Audi dealer and instructed them to clear them for me. They charged me a very reasonable £65.
Three weeks later I soak tested the front of the car before planning to replace the now dry carpets. This I did with a hosepipe directed at mains pressure only at the top of the windscreen and sure enough the water was draining under the car at the correct places. QED the plenum drains were clear. I then took the car for a brisk 2/3-mile drive with the AC fan on full. On parking up no water had been drawn through the heating vents at floor level…Nearly there.
2 hours later on returning to the car the original fault was on (handbrake and PRNDS lights; car would not start). Called out the same garage and the fault reported was ‘park/neutral switch intermittent short to ground’ and a fault code 17xxxx something reported on the F125 multi-function switch. After clearing the faults the car fired up.
Thinking I had been a little heavy with the water I did nothing else. The car has been OK for 3-4 weeks even though we have had one or two heavy downpours. On Tuesday 20th the same fault happened even though the previous 7 days had been gloriously fine, dry and hot.
The local Audi dealer is quoting me £989.50 incl vat for the TCU (J217) which together with 4/5 hours labour, replacement oil seals, gasket and fixing bolts – maybe replace the ATF whilst we are at it -is going to cost me somewhere in the region of £1600-1800! Is there a better way? Has anyone experience of ECU repair services? I’ve found a site quoting c£250 on a 5-day turn around. What about a second-user unit from A8 Parts? Or following gninnam’s inclinations do I get rid of the car?
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Old 27th May 2014, 09:01 AM
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Delboy Delboy is offline
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That's sounds like your at your wits end, feel for you.

It was my understanding from reading about someone else's car with multitronic that the module you mention is attached to the gearbox and not inside the car, if thats is true then the gearbox fault should be unfortunate but not related.

Unless the scuttle drains are leaking down over the gearbox ecu, but like I said I don't know about the multitronics so don't know where the ecu is on the gearbox or where it is in relation to sources of water.

I remember reading on a forum somewhere that the multitronic ecu has a weak point on a connector inside the case that goes intermittent like a dry solder joint, and can be repaired reasonably easy if you have the tools and soldering skills, I think that's what the chaps on eBay are offering when the repair your ecu.

If I can find the forum I will post a link

Might be worthwhile checking the harness to the gearbox too before you go further and spend lots of money.

I hope you get it sorted out.

Found this site, it shows what I was talking about, on the a4 multitronic ecu picture with the broken wire.
http://multitronic-box.com/tag/gearbox-ecu
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Last edited by Delboy; 27th May 2014 at 11:10 AM.
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Old 27th May 2014, 01:30 PM
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I would assume the gearbox ECU is located 'wet' inside the gearbox if it's the same as other multichronic boxes. These guys should be able to resolve the fault if it is circuitry based and return the same unit to you - obviously it requires another garage to remove the box and fish the unit out! Given they're due oil changes every 40k if memory serves I would hope it's been done, if not then the clutch pack will probably be past its best.

http://www.bba-reman.com/UK/

I would stay away from the main dealer and find a local specialist who will be more familiar with slightly more senior aged cars and more inclined to fault find than to throw new parts at it in hope!

I suspect as Delboy has said you may have more than 1 fault lurking. The F125 switch is external on the box (at least it is on the ZF box) so that could be causing some of the issues - it will light all the gear selector lights for a start. I suspect the interlock preventing you starting the car in anything other than park or neutral is what's stopping it turning over, so that's by design rather than a symptom. These may be entirely unrelated to the water ingress, but it depends if it's got into any electrics elsewhere and is causing the short
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Old 28th May 2014, 07:33 AM
A8 Adie A8 Adie is offline
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Hi Guys

Thanks for your responses. Yes the TCU (J217) is externally attached to the top/rear of the gearbox and looks like the left hand photo at http://www.ecutesting.com/vw_and_aud...arbox_ecu.html

This module includes, among other components, the multifunction switch - F125, and yes you've guessed it you cannot buy this separately.

These are the guys that quoted me the c£250.00, and with 2 years warranty is probably a better deal than a new one from Audi.

It could be co-incidental that this all kicked off at the same time as the water ingress issue, but take I take your advice about inspecting the wiring harness, before spending big bucks.

It is clear that the start authorisation module is getting unclear signals and is (correctly) blocking the engine start.

Later today I will get the diagnostic report and recommendation from Audi, then I will decide what course of action to take. I have located an independent Audi Specialist about 5 miles from me. It seems likely that I will be giving them a visit tomorrow.

On top of all this I have just remembered that the MOT is due on June 2nd.

I will keep you updated as things progress
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Old 28th May 2014, 08:52 AM
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Architex_mA8tey Architex_mA8tey is offline
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welcome along Adie
Glad to see you can finally post!
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Old 24th June 2014, 10:02 AM
A8 Adie A8 Adie is offline
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Default Nothing to do with water as it turns out!

After considering all my options, I decided to take the car to the Auto electrical garage and asked them to carry out an MOT in preparation for possible sale (passed with 2 advisories). Whilst they had the car the fault went solid, as the guys from ECU testing (www.ecutesting.com) suggested it always does. So I had the TCU removed, which requires the gearbox to be drained as it is wet as correctly suggested by Adrian E and sent it away for a rebuild. The unit was returned within 5 working days as promised and refitted to the car. I have had the car back for 10 days now and it has started OK 4/5 times each day, but I was still V. cautious of washing it. The laws of nature helped me here as we had a rainstorm of biblical proportions yesterday afternoon (only thing missing was animals appearing in pairs). The car still starts OK.

Total bill for MOT; Service and repair £780.
Much happier now - will post a photo of the car once I have polished it.

Thanks again for your comments
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