oh no, now what....

[J7USS]

Ok then so heres how it goes...(clear throat)

Started my car up, driving normal, warming up nice. Pulls up to set of lights approx 10 mins into my journey.... I go to pull off and its running like its on 3 cylinders....very lumpy pulling away and smells a little, like burning somesort of chemical .


There was No smoke as I automatically thought turbo had blown, managed to get home ok, pulled onto my steep drive and had to give it some revs to get it on. Still sounding rough as **** and like its on 3 cylinders.
I rev it and its lumpy through the revs still, even up to 4000 revs...

No lights have come on the dash, could it still be the MAF? Ill have to unplug it and try it...

Lifted the bonnet and it smells like I explained, Not too bad but the smell is there if you get what I mean, (not normal) sort of a Carbon smell (thats the best I can explain it).

Turned the engine off and it sounds like my heat shield over the turbo was cooking a little, click click click etc..that could be because its freezing outside and my exhaust/turbo is red hot...
It ticks overs but lumpy, dont stall or owt - if it was the turbo wouldnt I had the stalling issue/smoke etc??? (like last time my turbo blew up)

soooooo is it the Coil pack??????
I thought when you rev'd it higher it clears when its coil pack - aint sure where I heard that, sure it was on here though..

Anyone??

How about if I take a coil pack out at a time then hopefully it will identify the faulty one??

Stress stress and more stress, just treated her to the Hids aswell, fitted yesterday..

Come on Folks, help me sleep a little easier tonight!

 

[pav-g]

J7USS sounds like a coil pack. Ive had two go at different times and the symptoms have been different at both times - apart from that I cant think of anything else - good luck anyway, hope its nothing major...

 

[J7USS]

Nice one Pav - Im hoping it is too.
My Cat was playing tunes to me under the bonnet.

When yours went, did you engine management light come on at all??
I ask because ive been reading that the light comes on when they go....

 

[pav-g]

Yep light came on both times and you'l have to get the darn thing reset. As mentioned the symptoms you mentioned sound very familiar....

 

[J7USS]

hmmm, you know when you get all those same symptoms and you start to feel reassured that it is what you thought...(stay with me pav,ha) well now im thinking of other things now because my light didnt come on and everyone elses has - great!

 

[Caesium]

can you get vag com on it? where do you live?

 

[J7USS]

Im in Leicester, Think I can get use of a VAG tomorrow from my specialist but how - is what Ive gotta figure out.
Just been out to have a look but the darkness has defeated me aswell as the cold, gave it a quick turnover and it idles fine, Doesnt sound AS lumpy but its there still!

sleepless night ahead!

 

[pav-g]

It will when you get the faulty coilpack changed

 

[dan_b]

I would first suspect a coil pack as this sounds similar with the symptoms you describe, and it's darned common on your engine. If not, lambda sensor could also be suspect as a blown lambda can cause lumpy running with the engine constantly hunting on a rich/lean mixture spiral. Neither would necessarily throw an ECU alert straight away, but you may find some sort of unusual logging on VAG COM.

Good luck.

 

[NOLOGY]

I have the same issue, started the car everything fine slowed down to go over one bump and as i was revving to change from 2nd to 3rd, 2-3 small kicks and i wondered whats wrong. tel me specialist and said is the on of the coils but when we put it on the machine it showed all 4 were working fine. So my mechanic told me to keep driving it till the light will show up and see which one is faulty.

 

[Blackadder]

Jeez I have a similar problem and it's going into the garage on Tuesday.

It's sounds pretty ruff like a throaty growling which gets louder and louder at high speed. It's not too bad when idling, no stalls, no smells but a very slight loss of power and the growl. Sounds a bit like a blowing exhaust except that its coming from the engine bay.

Like J8uss, I'm scared schitless it's going to be expensive...

 

[casiodan]

I had to replace my coilpacks a couple of weeks ago, your symptoms sound just like mine.

It seemed to idle fairly normally with the odd misfire but as soon as i revved it up there was a permanent misfire.

I had to change all the coilpacks to fix it as i couldn't narrow it down to 1 pack. I got them from Audi and they cost me about £30 each but you can get them cheaper from GSF etc, i was just in a rush to sort it cos like you i would have had sleepless nights thinking about it and i have an audi dealer next to my work.

The engine management light didn't come on to start with but it did whilst i was swapping the packs round trying pinpoint which one it was.

I'm no mechanic but from what i read when mine went iffy i reckon there is a fairly good chance its just the coilpacks.

Good luck mate. lol. I know how you feel, I shat myself especially as my oil pump had packed in a couple of weeks before.

Dan

 

[scottyjohn]

Hi all,
Is there not some danger in running the car when its like this due to unburnt fuel causing the CAT to self destruct? Im not entirely sure if this is the case, but just thought I would throw it in the ring in case it helped prevent further damage?

 

[Caesium]

that's correct, unburnt fuel will end up in the cat, it will combust there due to the really high temperature then bits of platinum honeycomb will spit out of the tailpipe as the cat falls to pieces.

 

[Blackadder]

Oh balls that sounds expensive..

Mines been running like this for a couple of weeks now maybe longer, booked it in with the dealer as soon as I could. In the mean time I have had to use it every day.

I first noticed it when I had to turn the radio up cos it seemed quieter but it was the engine noise at cruising speed making it less audible.

CATS aren't cheap, hopefully if mine is the coilpack it hasn't gone yet.

 

[Blackadder]

ahhh but mines a TDI so it wouldn't have a coil pack. Diesels don't do they?

 

[J7USS]

Firstly thanks all you guys for your input, appreciate it!!

Well after a twitchy night (not because the Mrs fancied it ) I got straight on it, I checked each coil, taking them out in turn and fireing it up each time and managed to narrow it down to 1 (top). the visual was ok, nothing noticable but the Smell I was on about was present in this one Coil, its stunk. So rang Euro but out of stock - the guy was telling me how they have had to order a load of these in at their depots as it seems to be very common. So I rang the stealers and they were just under £30 a pop so I bought 4 anyway just for piece of mind.

Praying it was the coil which I was 99% sure after the little test, I got home and swapped the damaged one and hey presto, did the trick, then changed the rest and put the 3 old ones in my boot just in case.

The Cat lastnight was singing to me so its right about the potential damage it can cause, just glad I was close to home at the time it went.

It makes me wonder because you get them feelings that your car just aint performing like it usually does and I noticed this for 4-5 weeks now that the Idle was gradually getting lower, not loads but just enough to notice.
Now I have it back to where it should be idle and response wise.

So chaps, cheers again for the help and advice!

 

[NOLOGY]

J7USS I have the same issue also with the smell. Something smells burned now you think i have the same issue? bear in mind i had also before the smell some kicks while revving without the engine light turn on.

 

[Caesium]

ahhh but mines a TDI so it wouldn't have a coil pack. Diesels don't do they?

No, but if you have a dodgy injector thats £££

 

[Blackadder]

No, but if you have a dodgy injector thats £££

When you say £££ do you mean 3 pounds?

Thought not, how much do you reckon? I have an engine judder when idle which the dealer suspected maybe an injector but then thought it maybe a clutch flywheel issue. An injector could cure both issues.

So how much for a new injector and more importantly would a 3rd party warrantly normally cover this kind of issue?

 

[Slinger]

I bet your looking around £50 minimum for an injector. Theyre £65 inc vat at this place http://www.uniteddiesel.co.uk/diesel_injectors/audi/

 

[Blackadder]

Yeah cheers I saw that website.

It's going to cost a fair bit for labor too. When I spoke to the garage about the idling problem they told me if they suspected an injector problem they take them out and send them off to somewhere else for investigation.

That sounds expensive too.

 

[Caesium]

I'd do it myself if I were you. Changing injectors isn't massively difficult.

 

[chris_20]

so to get something correct- diesels dont have these cursed coilpacks??

 

[jase0851]

nope only petrol chris

 

[chris_20]

cheers jase

 

[Broken Byzan]

I have heard of more diesels with faulty flywheels etc than injectors.

OP glad you fixed it,the coilpacks are an aparent weak spot on the later (after 98/99) A4's