Ok, this is whats happening, the car turns over and starts but it wont stay on, it turns over and turns off. if i kep the gas pedal down to the floor the car stays on but its really really bad! i did that for awhile last night, and it blew black carbon like stuff out the tailpipe... wtf??? i had to jump it every time because the batery was dead, i dont know if it's just a couincidence or what but i think i might need a new battery too. any help?

 

do you have any check engine lights on? blowing black out the tail pipe is typically an indication that you are running INCREDIBLY rich. next, look at your MAF sensor and ensure that it is plugged in all the way and cleaned up and that all of the hoses are connected under the hood. Do not rev the engine awhole lot since you are running so rich. Unless you can smell what smells burning oil, be careful with that too.

What year and car do you have?

 

if you have to jump your car everytime your start it then you have a bad battery and alternator or just bad connections. the black smoke is just from the excess gas from you cranking it so much. you're lucky it even started because you can flood the engine with gas. get a new battery first though and then see what happens.

 

yeah the check engine light comes on, and yeah im gonna get a new battery today and see what happens, but im worried that if it does start its gonna keep idling so rough and its not going to stay on. i saw today that other than black stuff on the ground it had some sort of liquid that came out too. thanks for the replies

 

could be condensation=water. there shouldnt' be anything like oil or gas coming out of the exhaust lol. when it does start, just let it sit for a while and it should smooth out. if not, you got other problems. check your plugs first, then unplug the maf while the car is running.

 

ok, i kept it running for like 5 mins. i barely pressed the gaspedal downso that the car would stay on, and then while i was in the car i started to see a little smoke coming from the engine, so i quickly turned it off and looked under the hood, the headers were fire red! and thats where the smoke was coming from, that was after i got a new battery, (which didn't do anything) gay!, then i unplugged the maf while the car was running and the car just turned off. so i dont think thats it, i think some cylinders are not runnning at all, but thats just my guess i really dont know!

 

you can see your headers? my car has heatshields so i couldn't tell you if they're supposed to get red. get your codes read and post back. it's hard to pin point the problem at this stage

 

do you have a code reader.. if not i would invest in one asap pull the codes and report back.. there is a pocket scan obd-II at autozone for 60bucks..

 

yeah i dont have anything to plugg it into but, i think im gonna buy one of those things read the codes and then return it! i'll post whenever i do something.

 

Try unplugging your MAF then starting the car. Also check your spark plugs. Possibly bad fuel injector/injectors (If some of your cylinders are not firing). But yes, check codes. I will bet you will have a system rich condition code of some sort. Or maybe lean.... IDK... Get the codes and post back here. When was the last time you changed your plugs? I had a friend with an A4 1.8T who was sort of having the same problems. I changed his plugs and one had a gap of .068!!!! They should be about .032. The closest to the .032 there was was .039 or something like that.

Josh