4500rpm cutout and boost in neutral. Codes 2223 and 2342

Wed Apr 4 21:06:58 PDT 2012

The rotor alignment is only critical relative to the body of the  
distributor, distributor orientation relative to the engine is only a  
matter wiring convenience.

On Apr 4, 2012, at 4:28 PM, Dan Bozga wrote:

> Mike,
>
> Are you kidding me?? HAHA! I feel like you just read my mind. You  
> are spot on!
>
> I was talking to my girlfriend a few days ago and I was telling her  
> that my car making boost in neutral and that severe misfiring it  
> has at 4500 rpm sounds exactly like the rally cars etc. which have  
> this system where you keep the turbo spooled up before take-off. I  
> just couldn't remember the name of it for the life of me.
>
> So yes, I haven't even watched the video yet but I know what you  
> mean. It has the same behavior.
>
> My timing I am completely confident in. I know the cams are lined  
> up with eachother and in turn lined up with the crank. That I know  
> is good for sure.
>
> Now the distributor portion is where I think the issue may be.  
> Before I replaced the head gasket, I marked where the body of the  
> distributor was sitting in relation to the head, but this may have  
> been wrong to begin with from someone else working on the car  
> before I purchased it. The inside marks of it I did line up for  
> sure. I do know that the rotor is supposed to face the front of the  
> engine at TDC, but that's all I have to go by, which is rather vague.
>
> Do you know of a sure way to check that the actual distributor  
> housing is properly lined up with the head? Of course assuming the  
> insides are lined up and the engine is at TDC (those are easy to  
> figure out).
>
> I am also working on picking up a new cap (rotor I already  
> replaced), wires and plugs. I was thinking of maybe buying a whole  
> new distributor but it seems that they are extremely hard to come  
> by. Does anyone have a line on these? I know 7A with filed down(or  
> replaced) rotor will work as well.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Dan
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Mike Claire <mike.claire at gmail.com>
> To: Dan Bozga <audisport44 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "200q20v at audifans.com" <200q20v at audifans.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 4, 2012 9:06 AM
> Subject: Re: 4500rpm cutout and boost in neutral. Codes 2223 and 2342
>
>
> Dan - I see that you checked all the
> timing references, and you're confident in the distributor.  But  
> your symptoms remind me of VEMS Launch
> Control, which works by severely retarding ignition timing:
>
> http://www.efiexpress.com/catalog/article_info.php?articles_id=12
>
> Check out this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28cRtFDeBYY   
> - sound familiar?
>
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 9:01 PM, Dan Bozga <audisport44 at yahoo.com>  
> wrote:
>
>     Hello everyone,
>>
>>     I haven't been part of the list for some time now but I'd like  
>> to revisit an issue I've had with my 200. I didn't have time to  
>> mess with the car due to other priorities but I'd like to see if I  
>> can figure out the problem this time around.
>>
>>    The car is a sedan with almost 200k on the odometer.
>>
>>    My main concern is that I cannot rev the engine past about 4500  
>> rpm. It gets stuck at that point and the tach needle bounces as if  
>> it's hitting a rev limiter. While this happens you can hear the  
>> car misfiring severely. The car acts this way wether it is in  
>> neutral or under load. Also easing onto the gas is the only way  
>> you can even get it up to 4500. If you try to give it too much  
>> it'll choke right away and start misfiring. The weirdest part is  
>> that it actually builds boost in neutral. I know I've said this  
>> before and nobody on here believed me so I'm including a video of   
>> the phenomenon. The digital gauge in the car says it's building  
>> boost and so is the mechanical one I temporarily hooked up(this is  
>> a verified good gauge that I used in my B5 S4). The video shows  
>> vacuum at idle and boost when it hits that cutoff. Also you can  
>> see the tach and where it stops when you rev the car. It will  
>> never go past that no matter what you do and what the
>>  condition is.
>>
>>    Here's a list of things I've done to try and track this down:
>>
>> -Pressure test (all good and held at least 20psi from what I recall)
>> -Replaced ecu with another good unit
>> -I did a fresh headgasket, valve job and timing belt (timing is on  
>> 100%), I can attest there is nothing physically wrong with the engine
>> -Cams were checked for alignment at tdc and the Os line up as they  
>> should
>> -Replaced O2 sensor with original bosch unit
>> -Replaced altitude sensor with good unit
>> -New fuel filter
>> -New line from bypass valve to intake manifold
>> -Took bypass valve, spark plugs and wastegate frequency valve from  
>> my B5 S4. None of them made a difference
>> -Checked wastegate and it moved freely, not stuck. The diaphragm  
>> is also free of holes
>> -The car has no cats, they were gutted by previous owner
>> -I also disconnected the catback just to be sure so I can say the  
>> car isn't choking from clogged exhaust
>> -Took apart throttle position sensor, all contacts were good. I  
>> also measured it and it checked out
>> -Tested hall sensor and it checked out
>> -Tested RPM sensor and also replaced it with known good unit,  
>> which didn't help
>> -Checked all teeth and timing reference sensors on flywheel,  
>> nothing was amiss
>> -I believe I replaced the timing sensor too, which of course  
>> didn't make a difference either
>> -Maf was tested by someone and was told it checked out
>> -Checked pretty much every connector under the hood to make sure  
>> it had the right values and no faulty wiring
>> -Checked wiring leading to ecu, relays and fuse panel as best as I  
>> could. Didn't see anything odd
>> -Did output test, everything was normal. I don't think the carbon  
>> canister solenoid(or whatever it's called) was getting a signal  
>> though
>> -It makes no difference if the car is hot or cold. It always runs  
>> the same, sometimes it will start to idle very rough too and not  
>> really want to move at all
>> -Cleaned idle stabilizer valve
>> -Tested air temp sensor, which was fine
>> -All fuses are there and not broken
>> -Distributor has metal gear, no teeth cracked or broken on it or  
>> the camshaft
>> -I noticed some arcing from the distributor area one night while  
>> the car was idling, if I remember correctly it was around the hall  
>> sender
>> -The temperature gauge isn't always receiving a signal
>>
>>    My brother was in front of me driving the car one night and it  
>> just wouldn't go anywhere(worse than before), then he said all of  
>> a sudden(and I saw this), the car took off as if something  
>> unclogged and it just pulled to 80mph. After that it started  
>> bucking again and never got "un-stuck" again. While I was behind  
>> him I saw a few little bright red pieces comming out the exhaust.  
>> They looked a lot like bright burning ash.
>>
>>    When the car hits that 4.5k limit, you can hear a clicking in  
>> the ecu, like a relay. And the wastegate frequency valve will  
>> frantically start clicking away too once you've let the gas go.  
>> I've heard it under the hood quite a few times.
>>
>>    Anyways, I'm not sure what else I can say about all this....I'm  
>> sure there are things I did which I forget. If I recall something  
>> else I will post it on here. Or if you have any questions about a  
>> particular part you didn't see checked, let me know.
>>
>>
>>     Do our cars have this issue at all? This is something about a  
>> 4k cutoff due to faulty brake light on intended acceleration:
>>
>> http://www.intendedacceleration.com/tip_2.html
>>
>>
>>
>>    And lastly, here is the video I recorded. It shows exactly what  
>> my car is doing:
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STydKk6Ja28
>>
>>
>> Thanks and sorry about the long e-mail. I just tried to include  
>> everything before I'm asked what I've done to diagnose this :)
>>
>> Dan
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