Engine speed sensor - crankshaft sensor

[JimC64]

Hmmm....I was driving to Stirling today to pick up some mats and a trim insert for the lower sill jack point for my wife's Passat.
Anyway, just left the motorway and came to the roundabout ( nothing coming ) so I carried on, probably going around 25 - 30 when all of a sudden, the car loses power, the dash lights up like a christmas tree and the steering gets extremely heavy. I really had to work to pull it around into a straight line and then jump on the brakes as there was no assist there either.

The ECU light is on and the message " ESP FAULT" see drivers handbook appeared.

I tried several times to restart, with no success......the engine just cranked over but would not catch. I removed the key, re inserted and tried again....the engine caught but immediately stopped.

I again removed and re inserted the key and tried again......she fired up, but the ECU light stayed on, but she seemed to drive ok!

As the Audi garage is situated right next to the VW garage I popped in there first and explained and asked them to have a look.

They managed to put her on the diagnostics machine more or less straight away and the "engine speed sensor or crankshaft sensor" was diagnosed.
They have one in stock ( fairly common fault or common replaceable part I'd guess ) and want £298 to supply + fit incl 2 hours labour as its in a difficult position to reach.

It all seems fairly plausible as I've had issues with my sons Renault Clio and that same fault seems to be rife causing the same type of issues. I'm guessing I could probably buy the part and get a local mechanic to fix for around £100 or so ( could be wrong ) but I've got a cortesy car and asked them to get on with it......small discount promised taking the total to £250.

Not what I was expecting to have to shell out today but if it fixes the problem I'll be happy enough.
I've asked them for the code and hope to get it when I go in and will repost here any findings for future reference.

NOTE - I've done fairly extensive searching but found no real definitve explanation or how to for this? I'm just thinking if Crasher / PeterD / A8Tech or one of the other technical gurus from this fabulous site might be able to help? I'm thinking a picture showing location, maybe a how to change etc would be really helpful for others in the future?
Hopefully I'm sorted ( time will tell ) but trying to think of others.
Thanks to all of the aforementioned tech gurus and any other tech minded individuals who may chime in

Thanks

Jim

[timdave25]

Ouch! That's not how you want to spend your Monday. I hope the fix works.

As for talking about the price, and I know you were not complaining but one thing that went through my mind was...

Available to accept car without booking in advance = £0.00
Imediate diagnostics = £0.00
Explaining the issue in a way you could understand and providing you with the fault code = £0.00
I am sure you would have been offered a drink as my local dealer don't seem to let you leave the door until you have had something = £0.00
The correct OEM part available for fitment that day = £0.00
Cortesy Car = £0.00
Valet of your car = £0.00
Then a 16% discount for being friendly.

The reason I point this out is that I know Audi main dealers are expensive and people often go on about them but when you consider the service sometimes you get what you pay for.

I used to have a company car which I had to take to National Auto centres. It was cheap and you knew it, the cortecy car had to be booked 2 months in advance and was a dirty (oil on seats) 1.0l shoe box.
Last time I had some work done at Audi they gave me a brand new convertable TT (I know not that manly but haven't you been curious what they are like to drive). They said that if they needed my car for longer I could take it back in a swap it for a A4 Avant so I had something bigger for the weekend (family).

[JimC64]

Hey Dave, you're right, I wasn't necessarily complaining although it probably was a little on the high side, but I agree with ALL your comments and am a supporter of the dealerships rather than one who trashes them constantly.

Sometime ago I myself worked for an OEM ( Original Equipment Manufacturer ) of Asphalt plants that were sold for £1M - 3£M and I sold the service / backup to the end users. These guys frequently complained about costs saying that the "pirate" companies were always much cheaper........Of course they were, they didn't have design costs, large overheads etc and simply copied what was put in front of them.......rant over!!

I do reckon that I could have bought the part and had it installed for around £100, probably less, but the diagnostic was done at the dealers and they did the job very quickly for me, had a coffee etc and took home a New A6 with 700+ miles on the clock........maybe a little expensive for that I guess but the issue seems to have been fixed, so all good.

[Peter D]

G28 Engine speed sensor and G40 Hall effect sensor does not cost that much. However if the ESP sensor has failed then the centre console has to come out to access the unit and it is expensive compared to the others and the labour would be higher. The Fault code numbers are required as the ESP unit does not kick up the descriptions you detailed. Having said all that a faulty ESP sensor does not shut the engine down but a Crankshaft Sensor would, I'm suprised it restarted. What exactly did the dealer tell you when you collected it. Changing the crank sensor does not take 2 hrs. Regards Peter

[JimC64]

Hey Peter,
thanks so much for the reply. As stated if it was just the crankshaft sensor then it was expensive as I thought myself. Just got the receipt and here's what it says.......
carried out investigation to engine cutting out
removed oil filter and oil cooler housing
replaced crankshaft sender G28. Built up
Cleared faults, roadtested all ok
sender unit is A036 433 E at £44.41 each

TIA

[Peter D]

If this is a BRE engine then yes the oil filter bracket and cooler has to be removed for access. They may have also partially drained the coolant or clamped it off. Yep all that to change a small two pin sensor. Good that it is fixed. Regards Peter

[JimC64]

Hi Peter, yes, it is a BRE engine, so it would seem to make sense?

TBH - I was at the point yesterday where I just wanted it fixed and got that with some great service to boot, so all's good.

The service agent I usually deal with has moved so it was a new agent I dealt with. I did know him but just not as well as the one I usually deal with. He knew my car, me and the history so tended to really jump through hoops for me.
Thanks again for your input, appreciated as always Peter