s3 210 bhp rough running

[amorgan]

good evening guys.
i developed a problem on the way home tonight. when accelerating all of a sudden the car was running very rough like it was only working on 3 cylinders and the alternator warning light started to flash on the dashboard. Could this be a coilpack gone and if so can the car be driven any distance once this has happened (as currently at a friends house and need to drive home 3 miles). Any advise would be very much appreciated.
Adrian

 

[S3 Paul]

It could well be a coil pack,
If it is... you can maybe drive it that far but do it when roads are quiet.
Idealy you need vag com to check for fault codes

 

[amorgan]

would it be safe to drive it to a specialist (5 miles) or will it damage the engine?

 

[S3 Paul]

where are you?
It will just run realy shat. will run but you have to concider what you do when running a poorly car... slipping clutch to get it moving... do only the trip you need to. 5 miles would be about most i would do.
Also... before you drive it... check the obvious... oil in water... water in oil... lack of water. maybe head gasket? hope not though. Also... just breafly unplug the MAF sensor and see if it runns any diffrent. ( if this makes the car run "better" the MAF may have failed)

 

[leshkin]

I wouldn't drive it at all... Catalytic converter is quite expensive to replace, see if anyone on here has a Vagcom and do some diagnosis without driving the car too much. Saying that, a guy at work drove his A3 quattro like that for two weeks, but I'm not sure if his cat will pass the MOT now

 

[S3 Paul]

This will not be enough to kill the cat.
mine coil pack went about a year ago... did 25miles to get new one. no problems with ANY other part of car as a result. mot time or otherwise

 

[S3Rossco]

i would say it's most likely the coilpack.

If it's hard to start could be the MAF, but i say Coilpack.

 

[ianysm]

I would say coil pack too, its the most common issue from those symptoms. Even a new one can sometimes fail very soon after fitting!

Just had all of mine replaced along with new plugs. Miles better!

 

[amorgan]

the car starting fine and was running for for 5 minutes. this happened when i put the gas down on the slip road to the motorway in 4th gear. does the alternator warning light normally come on when this happens.
thanks ever so much for all the help. really appreciated

 

[ianysm]

Supprised about the alternator light. Perhaps you have an earth or electrical problem. Did it start ok or sound like battery was running down?

Normally i'd say coil pack or leaky turbo pipe of some sort etc etc, but doubt any of those would cause alternator light illuminate?

 

[S3 Paul]

er,
only time i saw my alternator light was on 3 cylinder tick over ( trying to stall) so im not sure. Does it sound like a scooby under load?
is it just when on boost? Have you tried unplugging the maf?

 

[amorgan]

s3 paul. yes the car started fine and yes it does sound like a scooby under load. prob being daft here with the coil gone that would mean it would only be running on 3 cylinders would it not? apologies as not that mechanically minded

 

[S3 Paul]

Yes. A freind of mine has a golf 1.8t that did this last week. I told him coil pack... he was sure it was worse. I unplug'd one coil pack from the loom at a time and restarted it. one made no difrence to how the car ran ( obviously the cylinder not firing) I then swap'd this coil pack with another on the engine and repeated the test...
The misfire followed the coil pack. Problem found ! I think the new coil pack was about £27 pounds

That said and i dont wish to scare you... I also know of a car this kind of misfire happened on and it turned out to be the head/turbo and exhaust manifold that had died. Thats why i asked about if it had lost any water or anything?

I realy expect it to be the coil pack though matie

 

[Nilz]

Sounds like a coilpack, i drove mine for abut 5 miles when it was like this on mine, changed the coilpacks and everything is ok now....would defo be worth getting it on VAGCOM tho' or if you are a member or a mate is on RAC, get them out as they have a diag tool which will identify the issue if thats what it is...Easy to change and pretty cheap fix as well, well compared to a worse outcome anyway.

Hope that helps.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[amorgan]

cheers guys.
got a mobile diagnostics guy coming out with a tool and a coil pack in case. he believes it is this

 

[Nilz]

Make sure its a genuine coilpack, and also be aware of the cost, as brand new from dealers they cost just under £30 all in.

 

[amorgan]

was a coil pack. thanks for the advise guys

 

[S3 Paul]

Glad it was this mate.
Keep your fingers crossed for the other three now !