My mate took his 225 TT to Engine Advantages for a power run a few weeks ago, it only made 181 BHP and wouldn't rev. past 5000. It was like it was hitting a brick wall, Paul (From EA) thought that there was something restricting the air flow, which was why the car was not allowing it to be revved over 5000. They're clever these Audi's.

Well it went back to EA on Wednesday, and basically Paul discovered that it needs a new Catalytic Converter. This is about £1000 from Audi!

My question is, should the cat. have gone so soon on a car like this? iI's on a Y plate, 2001, I think, and has only done 22K. This doesn't seem right to me.

Opinions please.

Thanks

 

no it shouldn't. has it been chipped at all, or had misfiring problems? as this can lead to unburnt fuel going down the downpipe to the hot cat which then burns it and the cat structure can melt together and restrict the air flow.

 

Thanks for the reply, the car is chipped so it sounds like you're probably right.

Below is the original post regarding chips on TT's.

https://passionford.com/forum/viewto...437&highlight=

 

sounds likely that you've found the problem then.

i had a calibra (or rather the missus did, i would rather chew my own testicles off than own an opel) that had a misfire from the king lead being a little loose on the dizzy cap. it happened coming home from the airport late one night so i put the lead back in and held it in place with a cable tie and it was ok for the rest of the way home. replaced the dizzy cap and lead and she drove it about for a while and we didn't think no more of it. a couple of weeks later it spluttered to a stop on the motorway on her way home from work. i went out to her and checked it out and it had a good spark at the right time and fuel was being injected so i couldn't work out why it wouldn't run. the aa bloke came out and he couldn't work it out either. it was only after he called his colleague who had dealt with a similar breakdown in the morning that he said to check the cat. got it home and removed the cat and sure enough it had melted solid, completely blocking the pipe.

so i cut the box open and removed the molten mess and welded the box back up and bolted it back up again and went to fire it up expecting it to run now. how wrong i was. removed the head and 2 exhaust valves had big holes in them, a couple of pistons were melted, the combustion chambers were melted - big mess.

and that was a 2.01 16V, not even a turbo engine.

so your mate better hope that it is just the cat and that he has caught it early. no need to buy a genuine audi cat, get a universal one that can be welded in, or better still, get one of the metal maxtrix 'performance' ones that are freer flowing. and have the lambda sensor checked before driving, as a knackered one will just melt the new cat.

bit of an essay, but hope the story behind it helps someone prevent major engine damage.

 

Tuned turbo'd engines and cats are not friends...

too much heat and its bye bye cat.

alex

 

Thanks for the replies.

Not looking good for my mate then.

Before a new Cat is fitted what should he have looked at to ensure no damage has been done elsewhere?

 

compression test at the least.

 

I'll let him know.

I've already e-mailed him all of your replies.

 

Nothing more for me to add here really. Some good accurate advice

 

thank you stu, much appreciated. it's nice to know that i've maybe helped someone and that my own bad experiences might come to some good.

 

Thanks for looking at this for me Stu. CheeRS

And thanks to foreigneRS, for all your advice. You've been a great help.

I'll let you know what happens.

Thanks again guys.

 

Would you advise removing the chip before proceeding with the compression test and fitting of new CAT?

 

Not unless you suspect its faulty or has had some problems?

Welcome to teh world of high performance cars in the emission strict age... The cat is just another potential expense im afraid.