Need Audi A4 help

[jhadleyh]

K I was going to trade a member here on IA for his 99 Audi A4. It's a awd 1.8T

This is what he sent me in a PM I'm not sure what could be wrong because im not an Audi guy. So I was hoping I could get some help here.



PM


There it is... 190k on the body (never tell it), 110k on the new motor with receipts... New timing belt, water pump, etc when the new motor was put in 20k ago


It's having an odd issue right now, the headlight switch was screwy (happens on these cars) took the steering wheel off to fix it, ever since then it's had a bad skip? Never skipped before I pulled the wheel off, battery was off for a few hours was told it may need to be reflashed... idk I'm not an Audi guy. Either way it should be a simple fix I just don't have time to mess with it. Has brand new (less than 1k miles) Cooper tires, and a nearly fresh oil change.
I wouldn't try to drive it... It runs fine above 3,000 rpms but down low it has a weird skip, and above 3,000 from time to time it shuts down... almost like it loses fuel or spark for a few..



any help will be appreciated guys reps will be given.

[jhadleyh]

damn i thought someone would know lol

[Elbow]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeromain?id=61

[Tech5]

sounds like someone has a POS

[jhadleyh]

sounds like someone has a POS

Yeah thanks for the help.

[Tech5]

Yeah thanks for the help.

Glad I could tell you the truth, hope you have a merry christmas

[jhadleyh]

Glad I could tell you the truth, hope you have a merry christmas

It's not a piece of shit....I'm not sure if you have a problem with VW's/Audi's but the car is in immaculate shape. The car hasn't been dogged on or anything. Like it states when he took the wheel off to fix the headlight problem it started skipping. The headlight problem is fixed now BTW he just texted me and told me that.

[Tech5]

Sorry to bust your little bubble, but taking the steering wheel off has NOT one thing to do with the engine skipping...

Start with

Plugs,coil packs I have replaced these coil packs many manyy timesssss

unplug each one while its running an see which one doesnt change any idle or surging.... If you unplugg and the motor boggs, go to the next the one that does nothing that is the cylinder that is skipping, try plug, then coil...Most likely a coil man.,...

and yes I hate these cars, I work on them all the time and are some bigg POS.... Yes I said that due to all the time they are in the shop even at 50k miles...and they smell like crayons!

[jhadleyh]

Sorry to bust your little bubble, but taking the steering wheel off has NOT one thing to do with the engine skipping...

Start with

Plugs,coil packs I have replaced these coil packs many manyy timesssss

unplug each one while its running an see which one doesnt change any idle or surging.... If you unplugg and the motor boggs, go to the next the one that does nothing that is the cylinder that is skipping, try plug, then coil...Most likely a coil man.,...

and yes I hate these cars, I work on them all the time and are some bigg POS.... Yes I said that due to all the time they are in the shop even at 50k miles...and they smell like crayons!

ok anyway. Im just giving you the info I was given bro. Like I said he took the wheel of to fuck with a headlight switch or some shit and when he put it back on that's when the problem occurred. Your not busting my bubble, I'm just looking for suggestions on what is wrong with the car not opinions on what people think about Audi/VW. But yeah thanks I'll check the coil and plugs and see if that's what it is.

[Tech5]

Well he is either not telling you the truth, or at the same time his coil pack went out, or fauled plug, or timing issue, or headgaskt/warped head Not all the times it runs hot, could be leaking into that one cylinder...

Also had a problem with a bad ECU but it was with 2 cylinders though...... also could be a injector but these don't go out that bad but could....


I work on these for a living as most our customers own audii and volks and from me working on about 4,000+ of these cars i can tell you first hand they are crap , hope you think about a better car next time though....... I have seen some run really well and last alittle while, but rare... They have a lot of problems

tranny,axles,wiring,coil packs,maf,turbo,cats,etc you name it I fixed it before on these cars...

Only thing I can nOT seem to fix is the beetles crayon smell ! lololol


Hope some of my info will help you , but I can also tell you the parts are not cheap either

[jhadleyh]

Well he is either not telling you the truth, or at the same time his coil pack went out, or fauled plug, or timing issue, or headgaskt/warped head Not all the times it runs hot, could be leaking into that one cylinder...

Also had a problem with a bad ECU but it was with 2 cylinders though...... also could be a injector but these don't go out that bad but could....


I work on these for a living as most our customers own audii and volks and from me working on about 4,000+ of these cars i can tell you first hand they are crap , hope you think about a better car next time though....... I have seen some run really well and last alittle while, but rare... They have a lot of problems

tranny,axles,wiring,coil packs,maf,turbo,cats,etc you name it I fixed it before on these cars...

Only thing I can nOT seem to fix is the beetles crayon smell ! lololol


Hope some of my info will help you , but I can also tell you the parts are not cheap either

Yeah this is just gonna be a toy so I don't mind little problems here and there. If it tears up I will just build the shit out of it when i get back from Iraq.

[Tech5]

thanks for serving

[jhadleyh]

thanks for serving

Thank You for appreciating it.

[Tech5]

My Freedom speaks enough but I need to tell it !!!

[nsany(atl)]

a poorley maintained 1.8 is othing but trouble. All starts with the turbo and an owner who didn't do regular maintence

[Elbow]

Even a well maintained Audi is nothing but trouble lol.

[HotSauce]

OP, if you want, I have a VAG-COM and can scan the car. As big a PITA they can be, they usually tell you what's wrong.

I'd bet a ton of money he doesn't have the updated coilpacks installed. That said, there are a number of other items I would check, most importantly timing belt and control arms.

*edit* After re-reading it, I'd put even more money on the coil packs. Car is probably in limp mode. Check engine light flashing?

[envision]

the worse thing with these cars is once they start having problems they never seem to stop having them.

To bad they usually look so nice

[03RCode]

OP, if you want, I have a VAG-COM and can scan the car. As big a PITA they can be, they usually tell you what's wrong.

I'd bet a ton of money he doesn't have the updated coilpacks installed. That said, there are a number of other items I would check, most importantly timing belt and control arms.

*edit* After re-reading it, I'd put even more money on the coil packs. Car is probably in limp mode. Check engine light flashing?

Updated coil packs were installed when the new motor was installed. Timing belt is brand new, new spark plugs. I haven't checked the coil packs yet as I haven't had time to mess with it, but when the car misses it acts like you cut the switch off for about a full second then it picks back up... didn't really seem like a coil pack issue to me, then again I've never messed with these cars. Car ran excellent until the day I pulled the steering wheel off to fix the headlight switch, battery stayed unhooked for a full day as I kept getting distracted while working on it, the next day as soon as it fired it wasn't running right.

[03RCode]

Well he is either not telling you the truth, or at the same time his coil pack went out, or fauled plug, or timing issue, or headgaskt/warped head Not all the times it runs hot, could be leaking into that one cylinder...

Also had a problem with a bad ECU but it was with 2 cylinders though...... also could be a injector but these don't go out that bad but could....


I work on these for a living as most our customers own audii and volks and from me working on about 4,000+ of these cars i can tell you first hand they are crap , hope you think about a better car next time though....... I have seen some run really well and last alittle while, but rare... They have a lot of problems

tranny,axles,wiring,coil packs,maf,turbo,cats,etc you name it I fixed it before on these cars...

Only thing I can nOT seem to fix is the beetles crayon smell ! lololol


Hope some of my info will help you , but I can also tell you the parts are not cheap either

No loss of coolant, runs cool as can be. Put in brand new plugs, and they all still look good. Did the throttle body alignment before I fired the car up. I'm totally clueless on these cars, all I know is that it was running great one minute, after I fixed the headlight switch it started running rough.

[Tech5]

I still bet its a coil pack

[Tech5]

Unless 2 cylinders are missing then it would be the ignition control module its on the passenger side fender

[HotSauce]

Unless 2 cylinders are missing then it would be the ignition control module its on the passenger side fender

This is another good guess as well. What year is the A4? I still think pulling codes on this thing is by far the easiest way out.

Also, is the CEL on? If so, is it solid or flashing?

[Tech5]

This is another good guess as well. What year is the A4? I still think pulling codes on this thing is by far the easiest way out.

Also, is the CEL on? If so, is it solid or flashing?

my guess is that its flashing, also I have seen this happen to this same car, that it will throw a misfire codes and come to find out someone installed the timing belt gear on backwards causing it to be off time there for going into limp mode... talking about a mad customer after they paid a show 800 bucks, but now they have to pay me as I am not that shop...But I only charged them 200 bucks the whole front end has to come off

[jhadleyh]

my guess is that its flashing, also I have seen this happen to this same car, that it will throw a misfire codes and come to find out someone installed the timing belt gear on backwards causing it to be off time there for going into limp mode... talking about a mad customer after they paid a show 800 bucks, but now they have to pay me as I am not that shop...But I only charged them 200 bucks the whole front end has to come off

Holy shit I hope the timing belt gear isn't on backwards. I will be aggravated.

[jhadleyh]

This is another good guess as well. What year is the A4? I still think pulling codes on this thing is by far the easiest way out.

Also, is the CEL on? If so, is it solid or flashing?

it's a 99

[Tech5]

Holy shit I hope the timing belt gear isn't on backwards. I will be aggravated.

I have seen this before as it looks it could go on both ways

[jhadleyh]

I have seen this before as it looks it could go on both ways

I will cry if I have to do something as simple yet so aggravating since you say you have to remove the whole fucking front end.

[Tech5]

Yup sure do....and if it was me I would take this to a shop , that can diagnos it for you

[HotSauce]

it's a 99

Is it an early or late build 99? Are the headlights one or two piece?

[jhadleyh]

hell i don't know here's the pics of the car no front shot though.

[Tech5]

On the inside of the door is the VIN tag... If its before built meaning

1/99 then its a 98 after 6/99 its a 99 makes sense>?

[jhadleyh]

On the inside of the door is the VIN tag... If its before built meaning

1/99 then its a 98 after 6/99 its a 99 makes sense>?

yeah that makes sense but im not around the car to look at it. It's 2 hours away from me.

[VTECking]

ok anyway. Im just giving you the info I was given bro. Like I said he took the wheel of to fuck with a headlight switch or some shit and when he put it back on that's when the problem occurred. Your not busting my bubble, I'm just looking for suggestions on what is wrong with the car not opinions on what people think about Audi/VW. But yeah thanks I'll check the coil and plugs and see if that's what it is.

If you want a German car your better off with a E30 or a E36 BMW. They are built nice and their motors are damn near industructible.

[jhadleyh]

If you want a German car your better off with a E30 or a E36 BMW. They are built nice and their motors are damn near industructible.

right......I don't want a e30 or e36 Im trading this car straight up for another vehicle so yeah

[Tech5]

If you want a German car your better off with a E30 or a E36 BMW. They are built nice and their motors are damn near industructible.

True story but if parts fail still cost a lot

[VTECking]

right......I don't want a e30 or e36 Im trading this car straight up for another vehicle so yeah

Then Id rocomend finding a new car that you can trade straight up with because Audi and VW are absolute nightmares with all their electrical and motor issues.

[Tech5]

another true story

[VTECking]

Im just saying if you trade this guy for his Audi you will most likely regret it in the NEAR future.

[Tech5]

Im just saying if you trade this guy for his Audi you will most likely regret it in the NEAR future.

You mean now!