Lol!

Well, just dropped my daughter off at her sisters (40 mile round trip) and this is what I found :-

• No boost stutter / surge in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th .... (so you know what's coming yeah? )
  

• Bad boost stutter in 5th, followed by a MAF indication (ASR light on, and OBDII shows "Mass or Volume Air Circuit Low".
  

.....this makes sense as the car was under greatest load in 5th gear, and also due to high speed greater volume of air passing through MAF and higher level of MAF interrogations from ECU.

I don't think it's the MAF but I seriously think it may be the MAF plug. I am desperate to try out some bielectric silicone grease ("Cage Mod"), but nowhere local has any. :( ... I ordered some from eBay last night but it looks like it hasn't even been dispatched yet, and on closer inspection the free postage means 2nd class, so doubt I'll have it before next week.

My impatience is causing me to want to turn the new N75 adjustment screw clockwise a bit to see if it will resolve the problem, but I know that's not a good idea because (i). it will get rid of the stutter/surge but at the cost of losing a lot of boost, defeating the object of the remap, and (ii) . I have heard today that most N75s won't work back at their original settings, once the screw is turned to the right. Just tested my old N75 (F) back at the original setting and this appeared to be the case: the N75 didn't work at all and thus the car only had 5psi of (passive wastegate) boost!

So ........... revised advice: Don't turn your N75 screw to the right, unless you're prepared that it may be an irreversible change!

What is the view on whether a DIY shop would stock the bielectric silicone grease stuff? (have a Maxwells DIY shop 1 mile from home).

Cheers.

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Unplug the MAF.. that will render the wiring redundant.. open circuit/circuit above threshold will revert to a base setting.

Mine runs barely any different with the MAF unplugged.

When my MAF was on it's way out it first started surging/stuttering in 5th

Thanks Lew. I've tried running with the MAF unplugged (in fact I had it unplugged for a week, while awaiting the MAF from the the dealer). I'm now on a new Bosch OE MAF so it seems unlikely that it's the MAF itself (I suppose it could be a buggered new 'un!).

But saying that, I haven't ran with the MAF unplugged since installing the new N75, and cleaning the actuator and rod.

.....so yep, you're right, worth trying again. I'm doing the same 40 mile run to pick up my daughter at 4pm, so will be a good test

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

WE WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS! :sun:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORGE-VAG-1-8T-20V-VW-GOLF-ALLOY-ADJUSTABLE-ACTUATOR-/320628921396#ht_1849wt_782

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by Lew_VRS

Cheers!

...and yes, it may come to that : replacing the actuator.

I was wondering: If my problems are being caused by a boost spike (which they seem to be), so let's say boost is spiking to 21 or 22psi, then stutter/surging as a result of the spike, then settling at say 16 or 17psi............... if I put a Manual Boost Controller, in serial, after the N75, and set it to 16psi, wouldn't that cure my problem?

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Lol!

Well, just dropped my daughter off at her sisters (40 mile round trip) and this is what I found :-

• No boost stutter / surge in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th .... (so you know what's coming yeah? )
  

• Bad boost stutter in 5th, followed by a MAF indication (ASR light on, and OBDII shows "Mass or Volume Air Circuit Low".
  

.....this makes sense as the car was under greatest load in 5th gear, and also due to high speed greater volume of air passing through MAF and higher level of MAF interrogations from ECU.

I don't think it's the MAF but I seriously think it may be the MAF plug. I am desperate to try out some bielectric silicone grease ("Cage Mod"), but nowhere local has any. :( ... I ordered some from eBay last night but it looks like it hasn't even been dispatched yet, and on closer inspection the free postage means 2nd class, so doubt I'll have it before next week.

My impatience is causing me to want to turn the new N75 adjustment screw clockwise a bit to see if it will resolve the problem, but I know that's not a good idea because (i). it will get rid of the stutter/surge but at the cost of losing a lot of boost, defeating the object of the remap, and (ii) . I have heard today that most N75s won't work back at their original settings, once the screw is turned to the right. Just tested my old N75 (F) back at the original setting and this appeared to be the case: the N75 didn't work at all and thus the car only had 5psi of (passive wastegate) boost!

So ........... revised advice: Don't turn your N75 screw to the right, unless you're prepared that it may be an irreversible change!

What is the view on whether a DIY shop would stock the bielectric silicone grease stuff? (have a Maxwells DIY shop 1 mile from home).

Cheers.

Maplins. Code: RE90X.

Maplins. Code: RE90X.

Got no Maplins anywhere within reach. But thanks anyway.

I've got some ordered from eBay so just have to defy my impatience and wait til it comes!

Edited 7 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

I read the full thread about it, Shark_90, and I think you guys got a rough deal over that, because I've heard of post-remap surging happening with lot's of vendor's remaps, certainly not just Shark users. It was also clear from that thread that you were working tirelessly to address the surging within the map. Sometimes it just comes down to personal budget though - I'd love to use a STS as it would be more convenient that travelling 100s of miles for the remap, but at this point, your product is just out of my budget, although I do not doubt for one moment that you could give me a fantastic, surge-free map If I had a newer car, I would jump for it, but it has to be borne in mind that a Shark Remap + STS would cost more than 1/4 of what my car is worth on a good day

I know what you're saying, but you don't need to have an STS, you could just come here for the map, or to one of our dealers (and there will be one closer to you than us at HQ very shortly).

Update: just driven another 40 mile round trip : car is surging in every gear, as bad as ever. :(

No difference with MAF unplugged.

It seems that any action I take to replace, clean or adjust a component (whether N75, MAF, or even just cleaning electrical contacts) leads to a modest improvement, followed by the car seeming to 'adapt' and the return of the stutter/surge cycle.

With this latest deterioration of the problem, I can only reach one conclusion :-

It has to be the remap itself. (Or at least it's application on my specific car).

Perhaps commanding too much boost for the car, or bringing boost on too quickly/suddenly. But it has to be the remap. I'm not suggesting every Elite Remaps map for these cars is crap, but the map certainly has not worked well on my set up. To be fair, what I did find out after having had my remap, is that my car has had a N249 bypass done on it, along with all new upgraded blue pipework. So perhaps the remap has not sat well because it was a generic map and would not have accounted for the N249 bypass ...... it's a longshot, but maybe.

All I can conclude is that the car exhibited absolutely no stutter or surge prior to the remap .......... so my 'experiments' and messing around is finished now. I will obviously still fit the new OE DV when it arrives, and still treat the electrical contacts with the bielectric silicone grease, but apart from that, I won't be messing any more, and the remap will be removed on Saturday, and the car put back to the stock map.

Before you go, let me keep you on the edge of your seat with these exciting (rhetorical) questions! :-

• Would a N75 'J' valve have resolved the stutter/surge, as it did for some members on here, on a similar thread?
  

• The fundamental question remains unanswered by this 'fail' of a thread; is the stutter/surge nightmare experienced by us minority of 1.8T owners caused by a component weakness, or is it really always related to remap?
  

• Those that don't report any stutter/surge .... is your boost delivery really that smooth though? ..... I've been in a remapped TT 180, remapped to 210 and although there was no stutter, boost delivery was still far from smooth and too off/on for my liking. Are these 1.8T engines as mapable and tunable as we think? (not slating them, just asking 'interesting' questions, arising from my experiments, work, and frustrations within this thread).
  

For me, it's a disappointing end to this man's saga of 1.8T boost stutter, mainly because I've enjoyed 4 absolutely bulletproof remaps in the past (all different vendors, all PD130), and this experience as well as having cost me a wasted £210, has also pretty much put me off petrol remaps. That's probably a knee-jerk reaction, and my loss, but we all take as we find. We all act on our experiences. Would I recommend the 1.8T engine to others. Yes, but probably only in 210 or 225 guises, on stock map. Would I recommend a remap on this engine. No. Because I think there's a degree of Russian Roulette as to whether this awful issue will ruin someone elses car (and fun) after a remap.

It's also a shame because a Stage 1 remap is really the start of a tinkering, modding journey. I had plans to look at air intake, exhaust, and other areas next, but I would never consider spending hundreds on the car, with a stock map. It just doesn't make sense trying to untap the odd 5-8bhp here and there, when running with the stock map.

Will I keep the car? Well I had certainly planned for the car to be a long term (3yr) proposition but I'm not sure: I'm a logical person not an emotional person, so there's no sense of being 'let down by the car' as such, but whether it will hold my interest enough as a stock standard car, I'm not sure.

Just one man's experience.

Edited 12 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

ive been living with a surge-y Shark map (flashed at home via STS). Didnt do too much about it, but slowly upgraded bits and pieces - DV, N75, boost and breather pipework etc etc. Nothing made much difference & I lived with the on/off nature of the boost. (This was most apparent in higher gears, for example in 5th accelerating hard from 60-70mph - the surge was very very noticeable).

However, after a few tentative emails to Shark - Ben got back to me today with a different map. Now I've only taken the car around for a 10min drive - but at the moment boost delivery is much smoother - even looks 'cleaner' on my Liquid Gauge.

I think you probably know this - but whatever you change - a different map will more than likely fix your issues....

Hope that helps!

Cheers, yes I'm absolutely sure that my surge is in the remap now. Back to the stock map on Saturday, so I can drive stock for a while and assure myself that there is no surge in the stock map (I am sure there was absolutely no surge, prior to the remap). Then I suspect I will either sell the car and get a PD130 Octavia or maybe a BMW 6 cyl yikes! or otherwise get my faith back in remaps and go for a R-Tech or Shark "anti-surge" remap.

im going to settle for my adjusted n75 valve for now.. the car is almost 80 percent better.. still a small stutter /surge after 3000rpm,,but i will live with it... the power decrease after turning the wee screw in the valve is noticable but nothing major...i guess this problem is the map after all,,, i think i will hold out and get some coins together and get a proper remap done,,then slap in my new n75 and take it from there

PS ..this problem should be renamed the LONGYEAR STUTTER ,,hahaha

PS ..this problem should be renamed the LONGYEAR STUTTER ,,hahaha

W-w-w-w-w-hat do you mean? Lol!

I think you've got the right idea and that's exactly my plan too. The only difference is I'm going straight back to the standard stock map as of tomorrow, because to stop my surging, I actually had to turn the N75 screw so much to the right that the car is now only running on 6-7psi of boost, so slower than the stock map would actually command.

I would also re-iterate to people that once you adjust the N75 screw to the right to bleed off some of the air straight to the wastegate, you will almost certainly not be able to set it back to it's original position. The screw will physically move back but the valve will probably not retighten and you won't get the default level of boost back. I have to admit that I am a complete idiot and I 'screwed' my new N75 (E) valve yesterday, to stop the surging and leak some boost, which it did ......... but it will not now reset to it's factory position. So in short, it's dead, and I need another new N75, ready for getting my stock map back.

Expensive business this messing around, but I put up my hands and say that it was my own impatience and idiocy screwing this second valve.

So for someone being driven mad by constant surging after a remap, who just wants to revert to a smooth drive, I would not now advise messing with the N75 screw unless you understand that there is probably no turning back with regards to that particular N75 unit.

Instead, if you're going insane with serious stutter/surge, just unplug the electrical plug into the N75. This will not harm the N75 and it will not harm the car. It just means that the wastegate will be controlled purely by passive pressure opening it at 5psi. Your car will be a lot slower, but smooth as Ross Kemp's slapper.

Edited 8 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Seriously dude how many sleepless nights are you going to lose with this stutter/boost issue ? Get off to Shark and get it sorted. I know you think it may be a 1/4 of your cars worth but for the grin factor and drivability alone it has to be worth it. It will then give you confidence to keep your car for as you say another 3 years plus. They are fantastic cars as standard but with a stage one map that's working properly the difference is like night and day.

Seriously dude how many sleepless nights are you going to lose with this stutter/boost issue ? Get off to Shark and get it sorted. I know you think it may be a 1/4 of your cars worth but for the grin factor and drivability alone it has to be worth it. It will then give you confidence to keep your car for as you say another 3 years plus. They are fantastic cars as standard but with a stage one map that's working properly the difference is like night and day.

Yeah I hear you bro, and that's the course I'd like to take, but the funds just aren't there at the moment to pay for another map. So with the car running so badly with the current crap remap, the only logical thing is to return to standard for now, until I have the cash for either a new R-Tech or Shark remap.

Could you not just demand your money back for the initial remap and put that towards getting a map elsewhere?

Just a thought.

Others have suggested going the refund route too Chris, but the problem is that the remapper is a friend of a friend so I'm not going to raise or pursue the refund avenue. I know of 2 other applications he's done to the same AUQ engine as mine that had absolutely no problems. Hence how weird this issue of post-remap stutter/surge is. One of the cars he did had really old tired N75, DV and MAF components but still didn't exhibit the stutter/surge. It was down on expected power post-remap which it got back after new N75, DV and MAF were fitted... but it didn't have boost stutter and surge. Hence I think there are just some ECUs out there that have a version of software that is just somehow incompatible with remaps (unless a custom map is done by someone like R-Tech, that works around the stutter range).

I've noticed that the vast majority of people who've experienced the same as I have, own pre-05 cars. I've not heard of any 1.8T owners with newer than a 54 plate, report the issue. So it may be something that effected cars in that age bracket that was then resolved.

Edited 8 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Friend of a friend or not... I'd still be having words. If they can't supply you with a service that works, you should expect a return to stock and a refund.

The current strategy is that my priority is to get the car back to stock, and running properly again. If he suggests a refund, we'll talk but I've taken the decision not to push for it. That's my own choice and I know some would not agree with it. Some of the parties involved are going through a very tough time with some serious issues and I don't want to cause any conflict or further stress. I know it's crap, but the money spent is effectively written off and that's that.

It shouldn't take too long to secretly stash another £200 aside without the wife noticing, and heading down to R-Tech....

"I'm just off out for some milk love, I might be a while...."

Edited 8 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Hahaha!

Don't worry - I did similar the other week.

"Just off out to halfords - won't be long"

Came back 6 hours later with a new set of speakers and some new seats. Lol!

The look on her face was not impressed.

New speakers and new seats! ....... Man, that's impressive for a covert 'milk run' !

Yep. And that was only the beginning of the slippery slope for the Octy!

To be fair, she does know what i'm like... The MPI was taken apart and changed mechanically well beyond stock, right down to porting the head and inlet/exhaust manifolds. Hahaha!

So far the Octy has been barely touched yet

I should really get around to posting up a build thread.

But back to the point - hope you get it sorted when it returns to stock... Then lets hope you can tinker as soon as possible to get back to where you want to be without getting rid of the car!

Car scheduled to get stock map back on on Tuesday.

Edited 12 June, 201214 yr by Longyear

Another small update:

I called Pulman VW/Skoda Dealers in Durham to get a price for a full factory ECU reflash on the car. After speaking to a helpful lady, followed by a helpful technician who promised it was 'a straightforward job' and that he just needed to get me a price as it's normally done as part of other work, I was then called back and told "sorry this is something we don't do".

At the start of this thread I told you that I'd fired an email enquiry to R-Tech; well even the reply to that email was "you'll need to get your stock map back on then call us for a remap" ..... so bear in mind, your stock map is precious! ........ it came with your car and when you entrust your car with a remapper you are also entrusting them with that important ability to revert to your stock map. :beer:

Edited 12 June, 201214 yr by Longyear