its gotta be the maf.. ive washed every car ive ever had.. inside and out i assumed it would be no diffrent doing it to this car.. ive never had a problem out of any other MAF eqquiped car.. but if it is the MAF why is the light only comming on when i get gas??.. there are no boost leakes (its holding boost) runs just fine in limp mode and out of limp mode when i reset the ECU... 4psi in limp 8-10 psi out of limp mode.. it peaks 10 sometimes.. but ive had no other problems..this makes no sence.. i dont get how washing under the hood would cause the light to come on after getting gas... i could see it being on all the time but not only after getting gas.. plus last time i checked all the connections under the hood of all cars are water proof.. it would be stupid to not make them that way.. cuz then every time you go threw a puddle or it rains the car would **** up.. and it wasnt like i sat there with a 3200 psi sprayer blasting everything under the hood it was a light spray just enough to get all the dirt and **** off of most of the plastics.. ( it wasnt like insanely dirty.. it was just a lil (dusty i guess) it was a quick spray off.. ive worked on cars almost all my life.. and have never seen this problem before.. ill take your guys's word on it since ive never worked on an audi... but it still dont make sence.. where is the MAF located? maybe a screen shot? ill try pulling it and cleaning it.. and checking the connection.. thanks again for the input..

 

Yer MAF is inside the airbox. I was a bit wary of the whole "washing the engine bay" thing too, but you're right, the reason I didn't say anything at first is that it wouldn't make sense for this issue to pop up only when you got gas. If you broke something by pressure washing the engine, it would be in no way related to when you get gas.

I'll be honest, this one's got me stumped. There are no other codes or symptoms?

EDIT: Also for the record, all the connections in the engine bay are water *resistant* but I wouldn't go so far as to call them water *proof*. They're designed to stay dry when it rains or when you drive over a puddle like you said, not withstand a direct blast of pressurized water. Just don't do that anymore lol

 

.. nope no other codes.. only one that has ever shown up is just p1128 its the one that came on after the "pressure washing" of the motor and now the one that shows up after getting gas.. ok so you say the maf sensor is in the Air box. im going to assume its whats under the big rubber cover with a wire comming out of it ont he top of the air box.. with that being said.. if im right that would mean the maf sensor is 1 in a covered hole sealed by rubber and 2 under a plastic cover that snaps over the Air box.. that being said.. how the hell would me !lightly! hitting the motor bay real quick with a spray of water from my local car wash which is like what 1500 psi maybe 2500 if im lucky (since the car wash i went to couldnt manage to get dried mud off of my 91 cherokee on High pressure rinse).. cause water to get into the maf senor and or its connections when they are obvisouly sealed and covered..... sorry for the aggervation it just is aggervating lol..

ive never gotten any other codes.. and i havent really had any other symptoms other then LIMP mode from the CEL being on.. the only other thing i can think of is the very first time i un hooked the battery and started it it ran like **** for like 15 sec (kinda sounded like it was spitting and miss fireing) but that hasnt happend again since. and ive un hooked the bat like 6 times...

im just getting aggervated with this already.. lol i just bought the car like 4 days ago.. washed it and now im having the CEL prob it needs a clutch and today the passenger side axel (CV) boot busted and my wheel well has grease all over it.. ugh lol.. i mean i cant honestly complain to much cuz i bought it for 3500 it was a one owner car with all the paper work and manuals in the glove box.. it was taking to AUDI for its 80k tune up.. it has 111k on it now.. and the Axels are the origanal so its about time for them to be changed anyway.. but its just like an all at once type thing lol..

i love the car and wouldnt give it up for the world. i now see why everyone loves driving these cars. they are so fun!. ive never had anything that has handled and takin turns like this thing does.. i just hope i can fix this damn CEL and keep it out of limp mode.. ill try leaving the car on when i get gas and see if that helps.. although i think it will pop up after i shut the car off and get back in it and start driving.. but its worth a shot.. im completely lost..

how the hell do i get to the maf sensor lol?.. i tried to get the AIR box open to check the Filter and i cant even get it open far enough to get the damn filter out...

and i thank you CCA4 for all your help man!

 

Here's the thing. This cars are very tempermental...something small can really ruin alot or cause alot to go wrong. Don't make any assumptions. Actually check for a boost leaks and everytime, read the code, cause it may come up different. Also, it doesn't take much to mess up a MAF...even touching it can give ya screwy readings. Dot every i and cross every t and just go down the list lol...

 

I'm putting $ on with the pressure washer he blew a vac line off...

 

Here's a pic of my engine:


If you pull up the plastic cover on the left there, and disconnect the snorkel that funnels into the air box, you should be able to see the turbo inlet pipe. Thats where the filtered air heads for the cold side of the turbo. If you pop that off the front of the airbox, thats where your MAF is. To get to it, you gotta move a bunch of other **** out of the way and take the airbox lid off and flip it over, and you should see this:



What are you reading for vacuum at idle?

 

ill have to double check but im pretty sure its right around 20 on my sunpro boost/vacume gauge.. and i know there are no leaks.. it runs like **** when it leaks.. even a small leak makes it run like ****.. and it runs fine.. and i run the code every time the light comes on and its always the same one.. i just installed and ran the wires for my Sunpro Air fule guage.. i ran it to the black wire on the O2 sensor right after the turbo.. so ill keep watching it and see if it stays in the red after i get gas.. right now it never sits in the red for long.. most of the time its right in the middle of the gauge in teh yellow or (IDEAL)mark.. im thinking its not the MAF.. due to it only being when i get gas now.. cuz after i get gas and reset the UCU it doesnt come back on at all till after i get gas... so i need to find something else.. but we will see after i get some readings from the AIr fuel gauge and im gonna order the VAG com stuff soon.just waiting on some money.. if its got to do with the fuel cap the only thing i can think of is the seal is shot.. but if it was wouldnt that mean it would come on all the time? not just after stoping at the gas station shutting the car off pumping gas putting the cap back on and starting it up and driving away to about 4.5 miles then the light comes on?.. i would think it would come on no mater what.. even after reseting the ECU.. i dunno tho.. again ill say i dont know AUDI like i do say Honda.. so im relying on you guys.. and thank you for the pics man that helped me get a good look at what im looking for.. and to the guy who thinks i blew off a vac line.. again i did not stand there with a high pressure sprayer and blast the whole bay. all i sprayed was the plastic covers on the motor.. and it was like a 3 sec spray.. and ive checked all lines (when i hooked up my boost guage) and nothing is unhooked broke cracked and so on.. and like i said when i tried to start the car when i was moving my boost guage around and it was unhooked it ran like **** at idle with that tiny *** hose un hooked.. so ill stick with the no leaks..

 

ok guys here we go again.. ok so right after i got done posting the last reply i got out of class jumped in the Audi and started it up (ok now read closely) at idle the Sunpro Boost/vac Gauge says 20 pretty much dead on 20 on vac side.. so i look at the Air Fuel Gauge its in the red and doesnt come out (if i remember correctly) so i drive down the road and i notice that im not comming above 5psi boost.. so i get a lil more down the road and the Air Fuel gauge doesnt come really come out of red (lean) then bam CEL.. LIMP mode and the only time it runs IDEAL is when im barely holding the gas down (cruzing speed).. well thats all i know right now.. i cant really give you any more info due to no VAG com.. and i dont have a programmer.. i really hope this helps and we can narrow things down.

 

but this time you didn't get gas...

 

right this time i didnt get gas... ok new thing i found.. in a rush to find answeres to my problems i tore into that air box to get the MAF out.. well i pulled it checked it and everything is clean and dry. so i put it all back in and i noticed something as i was putting the Air box back together.. there are clips under that Aluminum Sheild that clip the Air box down.. now i didnt have to unclip them to pull the Air box apart so they have been un cliped this whole time.. could this possibly cause the MAF to think its getting to much Air IE running to lean due to to much air from the Un sealed Air Box?.. i un screwed the sheild and cliped the clips and thats where i am at as of right now.. i have the battery unhooked and its reseting as i type this...