[papasuki]

Hey All,
I have an APR 93 Octane chip in my AWP GTI. Had it for over a year now, with no problems. I rarely switch to stock, only for dealership visits, which seem to be occuring more then I'd like. My car has had 2 CEL's since it's ownership. Second time coils in cylinder 1 and 2 were replaced. This visit occuring about 3 days ago and ever since then my car has reset itself in stock mode twice in 2 days.
Coincidence? Maybe, but my technical knowledge limits me from being about to troubleshoot this problem.
Could it have something to do with the dealership visit? Does it sound like I got a bad ECU or sodering job and this problem was just enviable?
Help!

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

Oh, my other mods include TT 2.5" downpipe and Milltek catback.

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

TTT

 

[Bolsen]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

I am not sure what the dilli is, but I have heard of this problem before... and I swear sometimes I think it happens, but I usually blame it on heat soak.

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (Bolsen)

It happened again this evening. I'm driving, suddenly my car feel slower and my boost gauge only spikes at .8 bar. Throw it in chipped mode again and I'm good. WTF?

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

OK, here is an update.. The car remained in chipped mode the entire day, I was hoping the last of my problems were behind me. So, when I decided to end my day by going home the car won't turn over. So I disconnect the battery for a few minutes, reconnected and the car started up again. On my way home the car also seemed a lot stronger.
This is obviously an ECU problem, right? I'm afriad to travel long distances not, not knowing if or when it will occur again. Anyone with a VAG in the Westchester area? I'd be williing to hit them off with a few bucks for their trouble.

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

Hrm.. I guess no one is familiar with this problem.
Well, I e-mail APR and then are convinced that it's NOT the ECU. They said if it were ECU related, re-setting it would not temporarily correct the problem and that it's impossible that ECU switch programs by itself.
I need to get VAG'ed.
Right now though the car seems to be running ok.
Again, just throwing it out there, if anyone in Westchester has a VAG and is willing to help out, please respond. I feel as if I'm having a conversation with myself

.

 

[jeremyAPR]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

I believe that I responded to your email earlier. As i said in my response, if you think it is chip related then send the ECU back to us so that we can check it. This way we will know whether it is ECU related or not. If sending it back is not convenient then you can also visit any of our dealers. the info on dealer location can be found on our web page, http://www.goapr.com I hope this helps.

 

[papasuki]

ok, not that anyone cares, I'm going to use this post more as a personal journal and maybe be useful if anyone else every has this problem. Tyrolkid was kind enough to VAG me this evening. Here is the fault code...
16988 Internal Contr.Module Random Access Memory (RAM) Error
I'm going to give Rapid Parts a call tomorrow, since that is where I got the chip installed. I'm not saying it's the chip, but I think it's safe to say that the ECU is having problems.

 

[Bolsen]

Re: ECU Problems?? (papasuki)

Cool man, let us know what happens.

 

[papasuki]

Re: ECU Problems?? (Bolsen)

I went to Rapid yesterday. Happy to say, they already contacted APR prior to my visit. APR told them just to replace my chip, which was done in a little over 1.5 hours. The mechanic told me that the new chip is a second generation APR chip, supposedly they use different hardware/chip which is less prone to fail. I'm not sure how true what he told me was true, but that's what I was told.
After driving the car the rest of the day and evening, I'm begining to think that maybe I had a bad chip since day one, which just got progressively worse. I'm getting consistently 1.2+ bar in every gear and I'm able to chirp 2nd gear very easily. With the old chip, in 11,000 miles of driving, my boost spike were fairly irregular and I must have chirped 2nd about 4 times. Last night about 6. However, since this is my first manual perhaps my driving skill have just improved.

After this experience, I'm purchasing a VAG. Special thanks to Rapid Parts, Jeremy from APR, and Mike P for all helping me resolve this problem.


[Modified by papasuki, 2:05 PM 9-15-2002]