Intake spacers, flap removal & Stuck flap faults

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

I had the broken intake manual flaps completely removed, intake spacers are out, and JHM intake spacers installed. Now that everything is back together I’m getting a intake manifold flap stuck open or closed fault. Has anyone else seen this?

#2

The times I have seen this the wires were swaped on the flap and motor pickups.

If you can take a picture of the front that would help. Also get the code for us. That will help in getting you a better direction in whats wrong and what you need to do to fix it.

#3

I will check for that. Is there a link to the correct wiring diagram?

#4

Here are the codes

#5

We found the problem. There is a black bracket that sits above the bank 2 intake flap sensor. With the JHM intake spacers installed there is a clearance problem - the flap sensor arm sits higher and hits the bracket in closed position. Our solution was to mount the bracket only at the IM mount point and let it float at the cylinder head mount point. I’ll add pics later.

#6

Good to know! I just finished installing my spacers (and a brand new manifold (GRR)) and was getting the same code. I’ll go check and see if that bracket is interfering with the sensor.

#7

I’m looking forward to seeing these pictures.
Bank 2 is on the driver’s side correct?

#8

When you install the spacers there are 3 brackets.

One bracket on the passenger side front
One bracket on the driver side front of the heads. This one holds a solinoid and a few vac lines. This bracket is bulky and makes getting the intake manifold off hard.
One bracket that is under the intake manifold that holds onto the knock sensor wires.

All three of these brackets SHOULD be removed. The one bracket that holds on the knock sensors that is under the intake take out the wires and from there zip tie the wires together and then zip tie them to the block as you will see an available fuel line to attach them to.

The brackets on the front of the motor connecting to the cylinder heads do the same. Remove the wires from the brackets. These brackets are bulky and used more for assembly line then anything. Now that the motor is in the car you dont need them. Remove the brackets and wires and zip tie them to the front core support.

I snapped some pictures of a finished spacer install. Ill post them. They were taken at night so you cant see much. By moving the brakets and zip tieing the wires it frees up space and helps in future servace work. Ill post pictures later tonight

#9

perfect, I’ll be waiting for the pictures

#10

Here’s a pic, the bracket in question is the 2nd of the 3 mentioned by justincredible. I had originally added a nut to the stud on the cylinder head hoping to raise it a little higher, but it still wasn’t high enough. Now it’s just attached at the IM as you see in the photo. the right side is free. It seems to work fine.

http://i.imgur.com/M7aptJn.jpg

#11

yes.

#12

Yes just remove those brackets. There is no need for them. I found its much better to just remove and zip tie the wires

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/636961326.jpg

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/118627192.jpg

http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/396820308.jpg

#13

Removing the brackets makes for a much cleaner install. I pulled off the zip ties to show how the wires are collected. You can see the cleaner aspects of the install without the brackets.

#14

Ok, moved my bracket last night and no codes for the flappers.

On a side note, was also getting another code, which I tracked down to a crack in the crossover hose (from one valve cover to the other and up to the oil separator). I just replaced the old brittle hose by cutting it off at the pinch fittings for the valve covers and threw a 3/4 inch hose on it.

Seems like with age/heat the plastic hose becomes REALLY brittle and will crack easily when removed for the intake manifold service.

#15

How was the performance with the flaps out? im having to go through this with my car right now…

#16

You will loose all your low end TQ and it will be noticeable. You can search but one member actually dyno’d his car and found a 50/50 loss with the flaps removed.

Some see misfires with the flaps fully removed and issues with low speed driving. If possible I would highly suggest trying to epoxy the flaps in and on the long runner.

#17

I read your post. That sucks, but it was basically the same story for me. I feel for you.

I’ve been running without the intake flaps for over 18 mos—long enough to not remember what it was before. Honestly, the car still feels like there is a lot of low end torque, but it doesn’t push too hard in the upper RPMs. Had plenty of power to pass on 2 lane windy roads in the countryside.

I saw on the JHM site that there is a new revision for the IM coming out in October. I had also spoken to them about the possibility of joining a beta program later this year to test their own upgraded IM. We’ll just have to wait and see.

But carbon clean, new plugs & packs, cleaned injectors, new oil separator, new gaskets everywhere, AC compressor, water pump & thermostat, coolant expansion tank, and cable-tied throttle body connectors seemed to get me to the point where it’s clear sailing with the car. Don’t know for sure because the last fixes were done in June and the car has been on a boat since then. If I were to do it all over again, I would have done everything up front so I could have avoided the hassle of dealing with CEL lights for so long. (I was fortunate to do the work in a country with low labor costs)

The only question is whether I roll the dice again to get another 2-stage IM along with the JHM tune. We’ll see.

#18

Yeah roger that - I dont have alot of choice really, I have owned the car for 2 weeks, been able to drive it for 3 days… The parts that were left in mine were not “whole enough” by the sounds of it to glue them in etc…

Looks like even the newer Audi part wont be bullet proof, has anyone looked at something more structurally sound, even though the 2 stage inlet produces wicked results - it appears that it fails 100% of the time, as in not if but when. im hoping someone could look at welding something up or creating a new metal based flapper.

#19

Here’s the post with dyno results. From the looks of things, a working 2-stage intake is the best value vs other performance mods. That’s why I’m waiting to see what JHM delivers. As long as it holds up…

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=27031&share_tid=3541&share_pid=122515&url=http%3A%2F%2Faudirevolution.net%2Fforum%2Findex.php%3Ftopic%3D3541.msg122515%23msg122515&share_type=t

#20

Yeah right - its a tough pill to swallow, the inlet manifold replacement is about a 1/4 of what I paid for the car total…