Intercooler icing/water

langer

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Location
Bawlmer
TDI
'12 a3 & '07 gasser gti
I'm almost positive I had a recent hard start issue due to intercooler icing/water in the charge piping. Anyone else run into this with their a3? Symptoms were a cold start and then immediate stall. Dead battery symptoms until it finally turned over and then ran real rough for 5 seconds or so. Then smoothed out completely. Pretty much ticked all the symptom boxes for intercooler icing. Had a cold snap here in Maryland a few weeks ago and then a warm up. Guess I had some ice formation and then it melted, the engine took a nice big gulp of it.
 
Last edited:

langer

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Location
Bawlmer
TDI
'12 a3 & '07 gasser gti
Funny how this is the car's fourth winter and first time it's happened. Must've been the right mix of conditions.
 

beyondwind

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2016
Location
DE
TDI
2010 A3 TDI
Well, the same happened to me yesterday, rough idle at start.
Delaware, the same weather change.
 

Matatk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2013
Location
SW Chicago Burbs
TDI
2011 A3 TDI Wagon
I've had a few times where I had a rough idle after start up and just assumed it was fuel related. I'll be pulling the intercooler hose to check it.
 

langer

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Location
Bawlmer
TDI
'12 a3 & '07 gasser gti
I would love to delete some emissions equipment, but the 120k hpfp warranty scares me if I were ever to have an issue with it. That's a hella expensive repair if I were denied warranty.
I went through a warranty denial on my gti due to a tune and I don't want to run into that again.
 

Matatk

Veteran Member
Joined
May 27, 2013
Location
SW Chicago Burbs
TDI
2011 A3 TDI Wagon
I had a chance tonight to use the lift at my buddy's shop. Racked the car and removed the skid plate (should be 8 t25 and 3 t30 screws off the top of my head). Look up on the passenger side near the center of the motor, there is a plastic tube coming down that connects to a rubber hose. There is a standard hose clamp connecting the two. Loosen the hose clamp and pull the rubber hose back to inspect for ice/water/debris.
I was glad there was no blockage in mine. I did find a small amount of frozen water/oil mixed clumps along the bottom of the hose. I cleaned those out and reattached everything.
The peace of mind of knowing what is or isn't in there is worth the short amount of time it takes to check it out.
 
Top