So sad story short. I bought an 02 Audi TT ALMS with 52000 miles on it. The previous own had intake/exhaust and a chip put on the car. The car seemed to run great, except for a few telling signs that something was amiss. At 58k, the engine blew.

The telling signs:

After I had the car about a month, I was accelerating onto the freeway when all of a sudden the engine shut off. It was in gear and rolling, but not kicking over. I turned the key off and back on, and then it started up again. Shortly after that, the check engine light started going on and off randomly.

I took it to a mechanic who said the computer didn't have any codes other than that the engine was running a little lean. So he reset the computer and said to come back once the light came back on.

A month and a half later, I'm driving the car, and the exact same thing happens. This time I was having a little fun on a tight corner and hopped on it as I was coming out of it. The car died, and I had to turn the key off and restart it. Then the check engine light came on. I called the shop and set up an appointment for the following week.

Two days before I was due to drop my car off, I'm accelerating from a stop light (not gunning it, just going), and my engine detonates. I hear tinkle sounds on the road and smoke starts pouring out from the tail pipe and then from under the hood.

At the shop, the mech identifies a piece of the connecting rod from the bits of metal I picked up in the road. There's a hole through the engine block and oil pan. Cylinder #1.

Everyone I talked to says the same thing. They can't believe that happened to an Audi with such low mileage. Granted I can't know for sure how badly the previous owner pounded this car. But for the 6 months and 6k miles I had it, it seemed to run pretty well for the most part.

So is this something that the chip the previous owner installed could have caused? And if so, when I get a new engine installed, how should I go about removing this chip so it doesn't happen again??