Audi A4 2.0 TFSI Cold Starting Problems

[Robbo73]

Hi,

New to the forum, so apologies if I have done this incorrectly!!
Just bought an A4 2.0tfsi (55 plate) drove it round all day yesterday and started fine every time (even after 4 hours sitting in cold). Went to start it first thing this morning and it just turns over without firing.
I can hear the fuel pump priming when the key is turned to the first position.
Any ideas as to what the fault could be, strange that it was fine yesterday and no warnings or running rough!!

Any help appreciated, as you can imagine pretty jarred off at the moment.

 

[NHN]

Cold weather, battery old, check voltage with a meter mate, if its original battery, its now 7-8 years old so would be due for new.

 

[Robbo73]

Strange that it was fine all day yesterday though. Novice when it comes to car maintenance but it turns over fine, could it still be the battery!
Have seen similar posts with regards to coil packs and recalls!

 

[NHN]

Does it turn over as though its tired or is it spritely?

Check fuses, check connections, I cant imagine all packs would fail.

I would try & find a friendly neighbour or mate who has a meter & check voltage 1st.

 

[Robbo73]

Have own multimeter and have checked battery voltage, was 12.3Volts. Battery looks new ish! When turning over it does not sound tired or slow. I imagine it will do if I keep trying it though!

 

[NHN]

Yeah thats a good voltage if you've already been turning over aswell & its been a cold night, so not battery, check fuses mate as its not firing maybe due to no power to the packs, ideally need to get vcds on it to check whats happening, could try disconnecting battery for 5 minutes incase somethings throwing a hissy fit, remote but no harm really.

 

[Robbo73]

Checked fuses and all fine, no fuse directly related to engine firing though. On closer inspection I did notice that the coil pack closest to the bulk head was slightly lifted. I removed all 4 coils and that one looks damaged (melted slightly) and the resistance across the terminals is different on that one and the next one down is different compared to other 2. Any idea what sort of readings I should get across the terminals.

posts 1&4 on the melted one is showing short cct (open cct on the other 3) basically 2 of them give the same readings accross all posts, 1 is lower and the melted one looks shagged.
I imagine that this could cause the starting problems? Would this show itself more in cold weather?

 

[hades-]

should still start even with to packs gone
but if ones melted it needs replaceing
any of your mates got a fault code reader or vcds ?

 

[NHN]

Logic suggests all should read the same given the same part number, I wonder if its covered by the recall, was the recall due to possibility of fire, I would call audi tomorrow morning 1st thing tbh.

 

[Robbo73]

I think I will check about the recall. Surprised though that the car would start normally yesterday and not today! I think I will disconnect a battery terminal and leave it for a bit, as you said it may have got a bit confused.

 

[NHN]

Things can go anytime mate, so not unheard of.

 

[Robbo73]

Just disconnected the battery for 5-10mins and re-connected, re-set key fob and still no joy. AA homestart tomorrow me thinks, do you they they will be able to read any fault codes?

 

[NHN]

They will be able to login, but whether there's fault codes is down to the car, I suspect there will be anyway, from a minimum the battery disconnect, also there will be others imho.

 

[hades-]

the recall was cos there **** and dont last long
iv herd of a few melting tho.

 

[NHN]

Is that the TPI's official line "swap out because they're ****" lmao

 

[hades-]

thats what they should say

 

[Robbo73]

Have just checked with Audi Ipswich and the car is booked in for coil pack re-call on Thursday (happy days). Now just one problem getting the effing thing started so I can get it up there!!!
AA man needs to hurry up!

 

[NHN]

I know some AA guys actually carry spare coilpacks because its so often needed, so you may be in luck.

 

[Robbo73]

Ok, update. AA chap came round, did the checks I did and a few more. No spark coming from plugs although power is getting to the coils. No.1 coil is shagged but he said it should still start on 3. Checked fuses again but also checked fuses next to ECU unit (under housing). Found evidence that someone has been in there before as the lid was snapped (the last guy prob could not be ***** taking off the wipers to get to the last torx screw!). Yellow 20A fuse blown, replaced fuse and car started first time, although sounding lumpy cos of the misfire. AA chap said it may be that the fuse blow could have been caused by the misfire, I don't know enough to confirm or deny but what I do know is that fuses don't generally blow for no reason.
Anyway car driven to Audi to have them do the re-call for the coil packs. Still a bit concerned about the fuse blow though!! To be honest a bit worried about the ECU now.

Hopefully this might help other people in the same situation.

 

[NHN]

Nice to see a member coming back with the end result, thanks.

 

[hades-]

dont worry about the ecu
the fuse will have blown cos the pack melted
it wont normaly blow when a pack goes down.
thats 20amp get alot of ppl and id get the lib and seal replaced asap as thats a weak spot for it to get flooded.
see that happen on quite a few audis and thats with a lid intact.

 

[Robbo73]

Will get that done as well.

Cheers for all the posts, I am hoping that I will not be on here discussing a fault anytime soon!!

 

[Robbo73]

Ok, got car back today and all 4 coils changed under warranty, trouble is now I have the EPC and ESP lights up on the dash! I have read somewhere that this is common after a battery disconnect but want to be sure. Will they re-set after a period of driving (how far, as it has already done about 5 miles) Or should I get back in touch with Audi as these lights were not up before they had it!!

 

[Robbo73]

I hope all this stuff is just all about me getting to know the in's and out's of this car! Went for a longer drive and car seemed to driving in what others have called safe mode! Lacking power, stopped the car after 10 mins or so at 70ish mph and turned off, re-started and both ESP and EPC lights went out and car drove normally again with no lack of power.
Getting a bit concerned now, is this just the car gathering information after maintenance and battery disconnect? Or is it something more serious?

 

[NHN]

Drive again tomorrow, see if it comes back, if so take back to dealer.

 

[NHN]

Update?

 

[edirance]

​my car is really driving me mad... i disconnected my battery to replace with new one and since then car wont start, all it does is start first time and cut off immediately...i put my leg down the pedal to hold it but it wont hold and jst goes off. i notice that there is a safe mode on dash close to the mileage ... just bought this car 2 weeks ago and dont know much abt it.. car is Audi a3 2.0fsi 04 model..
and also i did buy a new key fob from ebay but to be honest this problem already start before the key fob arrive and also i notice that my windows are not working aswell.. the battery is fine, as have tested it and has more than 12v on it.. please can some help me

 

[NHN]

Wrong forum area for a start mate, also lose the bold text as thats considered shouting.

If it says safe, then there's an immo issue.

 

[edirance]

ok sorry abt that as am new on here.. but really wah have i gat to do abt dis problem and how can i get it fix

 

[NHN]

With respect, start a thread in the A3 8P section & lose the text speak please, we speak proper english on this forum & this is a friendly bit of advice before others get on your case

 

[edirance]

ok thank

 

[Robbo73]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. So I took car back to Audi dealer and explained that the ESP and EPC lights had come up and car was in limp mode, explained that this was not the case when I dropped the car off. They plugged it in to get error codes and said that moisture could have got into the ECU housing while the cover was split! Said they would need it back to strip down the wiring loom and check for corrosion. I asked them to reset all the codes and I would get back to them. Since then I have had no problems and car is behaving. I might take the car into and Audi specialist (not dealer) in a couple of weeks to see if any error codes are standing since the reset. There were various codes logged but most they said were due to the original non-start and misfire (coil pack fault). They said that the error causing the limp mode was P2122 (Throttle/pedal position sensor) and that moisture could have got into the wiring loom at the ECU.
Sorry to waffle on!!