Help! Engine light flashing 3.0 V6 Quat Sport

[russgt]

I cleaned the engine friday using degreaser & hosepipe, after I was done I took the car out for a quick drive to help dry off the engine, it drove perfect at that point
Then, last night took car out for a drive, started perfect, drove approx 20 miles, parked up for 10 mins, when I started the engine again it started perfect, went to pull away from junction & it started to missfire , felt like it was running on 5 or less? very sluggish & then the engine warning light on the dash started flashing.
I pulled over as soon as poss & turned off the engine, opened the bonnet & kind of fiddled around with HT leads restarted again & all was fine?
Returning home after 10 mins of driving, approached a roundabout & the problem was back

Car was fine before, but cant understand why this is happening? I know the obvious water around the the plugs, but wouldn't that be all the time?
Any help would be appreciated :icon_thumright:

 

[Mcgough]

Looks like you need to get the hairdryer and the wd40 out. works every time!

 

[J7USS]

Yeah still some water floating about mate, Needs a good dry out.

When I worked for ford yrs ago we used to jet wash (not steam) the engines and that did the job but when the jetwash packed up one day we used a hose pipe for few days and nearly ever car we had to dry the the engines leads out, really time consuming and annoying especially when your on a bonus.

The hose seemed to drench the engines whereas the jet was a fine mist - not enough to drown it.

 

[Sinny71]

I made the mistake of jetwashing my XR3i many moon ago and spent a further hour at the garage trying to dry it. Eventually solved when I took off the distributer cap and water poured out..!!

Plenty WD40 should do the trick.

 

[dan_b]

If it's not the water (although it probably is as it happened after cleaning engine), the coilpacks on the 3.0l have a habit of expiring - they will give you a missfire.

 

[bikefright]

I second the coil pack theory as a 3.0L V6 Quattro owner having had this problem many times.

 

[russgt]

I second the coil pack theory as a 3.0L V6 Quattro owner having had this problem many times.

Many times?!!! whats the cost of theses coil packs, are there two of em?
My 3.0 Quattro seems to have a flat spot/missfire when engine revs are low pulling away from junctions etc.. it's really annoying, could the coil pack be at fault here? also feels quite hesitant on light throttle at times? car has only done 45k

 

[bikefright]

I have a '51 plate car with roughly 78K on the clock.
Had all six coil packs replaced under warranty in Jan 2004.
Had a further three go about 8 weeks ago.....
Had a further one go as we were approaching the ferry after a week on the Isle of Wight at half term........decided to replace the other two as a matter of course.....

You would know if it was a coil pack as the engine is VERY unbalanced at low speed. Particularly if you put the car in reverse (I have Tiptronic, so this may be different for you if you have manual). Literally, it feels like the car is going to shake itself apart - if you have a tomtom or other suction mounted device on the windscreen, it will be shaking around in a frightening manner!

You have two options to prove this is a coil pack problem.

1) find someone with a diagnostic cable and a copy of vag-com that you can go round and use....

2) do it the "bikefright" way.....

a) Start the engine - ensure the engine managment light is on and that you "feel" it is missfiring - this will only work if the problem is apparent, i.e. if the problem is intermittent and NOT currently present, the EM light on the DIS might still be on, but you will not be able to find the faulty coil pack with this method.
b) Lift the bonnet.
c) Starting with the front left coil pack (each sparkplug is piggy-backed by a coil pack) GENTLY (these things are v.tempremental) prize it out using a large flat bladed screwdriver or other such implement until you can "hear" the spark jumping from the coil pack to the spark plug. Use the motto "if i am over zealous with my screwdriver, I will cost myself £28-->£30 a pop" when easing the coil packs up!!! I can't stress this enough.
d) if you cannot hear a spark jumping - this is most likely the faulty coil pack! Dig out your service booklet and phone for a replacement using the codes inside the front page.
e) if you hear a spark, push it back and move to the next coil pack.
f) repeat step e) until you find a coil pack without a spark.

Things to bear in mind about the "bikefright" method.......

1) if you pull a coilpack too far, and disrupt a healthy spark, most likely the ECU will log a fault and that coil pack will be temporarily disabled until you stop the engine, remove the keys, reinsert and start her up again.
2) I guess there might be a "special" VAG tool to remove coil packs - using the screwdriver method carries a risk that a previously healthy coil pack is rendered inoperable.
3) when I replaced the last three coil packs, I had to buy one locally and go pick up another two from 100miles away. The part was on back order within VAG and I was told by Basingstoke Audi that it would not be available to the general public until 15th May or thereabouts. The point is, make sure you can get some replacements before you even start. Your car currently runs and you are mobile - breaking a further coil could render the car undrivable, if only for the reason of not wanting unburnt fuel ruining one or both catalytic converters!!!!

Hope this helps,

Rowland.