Poor idle & rough running need help

macpdm

macpdm

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Morning all

Another rough running problem here that I could do with help with. Last night as I arrived home I noticed the car seemed at times reluctant to pull and as I came to a stop the engine was idling really roughly.When revving it was spitting and missing until above 1000rpm then it revved more cleanly. My car is a 2000 A3 1.8T Sport (AUM engine). The coil packs were replaced by Audi a couple of months ago and there are no warning lights.I started it this morning and it was doing the same thing from cold so I took the engine cover off this morning thinking it could be a vacuum leak but I could see no perished hoses anywhere.Having no choice I decided to drive to work and it was a little rough at first but by the time I was nearing my office the idle seemed normal and the car seemed to be pulling fine ?

Just for your information I have been having cold start problems for the past few weeks with a slow to respond temp guage so I am having a new thermostat & temp sensor fitted.However the symptoms im having now were never as bad as they were where the car would start cleanly but kangaroo if you tried to drive off from cold whilst on auto choke.Driving off after the auto choke had come off was fine.

Any thoughts or ideas are most welcome.
 
Id say get it on vag com as it sounds like a nakerd 02sensor. Try under the inlet manifold for split pipe, also the little braded pipes split aswel. Im having this trouble at the mo but i solved it a few months ago and now its come back with avengance lol.
 
camscockle20vT said:
Id say get it on vag com as it sounds like a nakerd 02sensor. Try under the inlet manifold for split pipe, also the little braded pipes split aswel. Im having this trouble at the mo but i solved it a few months ago and now its come back with avengance lol.
Click to expand...

Cheers buddy its a pain in the *** problem especially when I use the car everyday for work and find it difficult to get to a garage.Would love to get it sorted as when its running well you get a glimpse of how superb this little car is.
 
camscockle20vT, it might be that your lambda keeps popping up with a fault because you may have coolant going into your exhaust, worse case scenario but that's what happened on mine when my head cracked
 
I can relate to this, unsure what my problem is but the car idles awfully on cold start idling around 1100rpm until up temp then drops down to around 850rpm est. It also sends vibrations through the cabin, once warm though, these issues are no longer present...BUT the car is VERY reluctant to pull above 3000rpm, in higher gears 4/5/6 it judders and misfires under load and is difficult to get the car above 60mph, unless I gently cruise up to and above that speed.
 
Seems like solving this problem could make this a popular thread :yes:
 
lol yeah i agree iv now got slight judder now and im wondering if they could be related?
 
sandip said:
camscockle20vT, it might be that your lambda keeps popping up with a fault because you may have coolant going into your exhaust, worse case scenario but that's what happened on mine when my head cracked
Click to expand...

Dont say that as im loosing abit of water aswel :( lol worst case senario and ill just put head weld in and bung it through the auctions lol
 
macpdm said:
Seems like solving this problem could make this a popular thread :yes:
Click to expand...

Correct lol i love my car when its running right, but im gettin disheartend by the constant problems. I keep thinking sell it!!!lol
 
My new green temp sender has arrived so I was going to go out and fit it but I notice it has arrived without a clip or O ring.Will I be able to reuse the parts already in situ ?

I think it has already been replaced once before as the one currently fitted is green too.
 
macpdm said:
My new green temp sender has arrived so I was going to go out and fit it but I notice it has arrived without a clip or O ring.Will I be able to reuse the parts already in situ ?

I think it has already been replaced once before as the one currently fitted is green too.
Click to expand...

Yeah, should be fine to reuse the o ring what's there, just keep an eye on it for a week or 2 :)
 
Interesting vid on the subject of faulty temp sender on an Audi 1.8T as this is what mine has been doing.


 
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Seeing as this only seems to happen when cold, maybe it is something to do with the air pump system.
 
Well I fitted the new temp sender this morning and started the car up it was spitting for a few seconds at first then settled down to what appeared to be a smooth regular idle.I wondered if the spitting was due to me using electrical cleaner on the plug ?

Driving to work the car felt smooth and was pulling fine, could I have fixed the problem ?

We will see later when I leave work for home.
 
Sound like good news. It wouldn't do any harm to disconnect the positive terminal on the battery for ten minutes in order to clear the ECU memory.
 
a3tdi2001 said:
Sound like good news. It wouldn't do any harm to disconnect the positive terminal on the battery for ten minutes in order to clear the ECU memory.
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Thanks and yes I hope so but by leaving off the positive terminal will I have to enter the radio code because I dont have it ?
 
Yes you'd need the code. It should be inside the front page of the Audi stereo manual if you have it.
 
Drove home tonight and the car seems considerably better im cautiously thinking we have a result. Can I just say a very big thankyou to Sandip for his generous & kind offer of help.

Next job is the ****** passenger side window which decided not to work this morning and I had to pull it shut :sob:
 
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macpdm said:
Drove home tonight and the car seems considerably better im cautiously thinking we have a result. Can I just say a very big thankyou to Sandip for his generous & kind offer of help.

Next job is the ****** passenger side window which decided not to work this morning and I had to pull it shut :sob:
Click to expand...

No problem, anytime :icon_thumright:
 
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