Slightly higher revs and acceleration pause

[jbw]

I have searched but all I can find is about DSG and pauses when pulling away??
I drive a 1.6 '99 A3 w/ 74k on the clock.
When idle the car normally reads 0.9k on the rev meter but recently it's up at 1.2k? When this happens I seem to get an occasional pause in acceleration when changing gear and accelerating, normally up hill.

Example: Drive along, turn left into a slight incline so drop from 4th to 2nd and bring foot off clutch and press down on gas. Car doesn't acclerate then suddenly springs into life and starts up incline. I change into third and the same thing happens, a pause then acceleration kicks in. Once I've cleared the incline the change into 4th and 5th are fine.

For a while now the car has sounded a little louder when accelerating in 2nd gear.
I have very limited mechanical knowledge so I'm open to suggestions of what this might be (my local garage isn't open today).

ta,
jbw

 

[jbw]

No replies and it's getting worse. Yesterday driving home it stalled twice. Idling revs were over 2k at times and it had no juice for a second or two when pulling away in first or after changing to 2nd.

I've already booked it into the local stealers but I've just noticed something on my last service reciept... coolant sensor faulty.
I didn't mention this on the phone. Does anyone know if this coolant sensor could cause this sort of behaviour?

ta,
jbw

 

[Ed]

Not an expert but if it looses power at 70mph+ then it could be that the air mass meter. Its basically an electronic device that delivers a message to control the amount of air being provided.

Have a look at this link

I think its a common problem with audi a3's, especially petrol models - i read it somewhere but can't find where now

 

[jojo]

A faulty coolant sensor would cause your car to stall, as for the hesitation, it might be linked to the coolant sensor, but if you are experiencing uneven power delivery and flat spots, then a change of MAF(Air-Flow sensor) is needed.

 

[jbw]

Is the MAF the chuffing massive box thing to the right of the engine and above/behind the battery? If it is I took this off 8 months ago when running a power cable from the battery for my amplifier. Perhaps I didn't plug it back in properly, or perhaps I damaged the pipe that runs to it? I do recall having issues with that stupid metal clip that holds it to the pipe.
Just out of interest... are flat-spots the correct term for the hesitation in power?

ta,
jbw

 

[s3shabs]

Maybe it could be a faulty fuel pump?

 

[jojo]

Is the MAF the chuffing massive box thing to the right of the engine and above/behind the battery? If it is I took this off 8 months ago when running a power cable from the battery for my amplifier. Perhaps I didn't plug it back in properly, or perhaps I damaged the pipe that runs to it? I do recall having issues with that stupid metal clip that holds it to the pipe.
Just out of interest... are flat-spots the correct term for the hesitation in power?

ta,
jbw

The MAF is the sensor part right after the airbox, it's like a plastic cylinder with a sensor bolted onto it and a wire connected to it.
I was reffering to your hesitation as flat spots through the rev range HTH.