Re: A3 TDI Servicing

> Hi all, I've not posted here before but am after some advice, our car
> is a 2000 A3 1.9TDI s****t 110 with 118000 miles and it's due a
> service, which i'll be doing myself.
>
> In the 10 months that we've had the car I think it's become a little
> smokier under accelleration and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be
> quite as good as it used to be, i'm sure we used to easily get 500+
> miles from a tank (mostly commuter miles in traffic) whereas now we
> seem to get around 400 miles. A month or so ago I ran a bottle of
> injector cleaner through the fuel which might have improved the soot
> issue a bit but I might have imagined that. I did wonder whether my
> driving style of keeping the revs very low and just using the torque
> could allow soot to build up in the exhaust, which then gets blown out
> when I do occasionally accellerate more enthusiastically?
>
> The question is are there any service parts/procedures which can
> affect the economy? I was intending to change oil and filters, but are
> there any sensors i should be checking etc? I'm well used to working
> on petrol cars but this is the first diesel we've had.
>
> Thanks for any advice!

MAF sensor in the air intake after the filter? Coolant temp sender? Both
are 
known to go bad and give poorer running.

You EGR and turbo may also be clogged up. There are online guides on 
cleaning both.

Not sure how long the injectors last on these but they may be due for 
renewal.

How well does the car run otherwise i.e. same power as before or down a
bit?

This won't affect the sooting but when was your timing belt last changed? 
Audi are now recommending every 60k or 4/5 years so yours could be due
very 
soon.

HTH
Dave