The check engine light came on this week in my a3 and I'm wondering if it could be caused by the cold (-20 to -35 Celsius) and huge dumping of snow we've gotten. I do a lot of driving and the day before the light came on I ended up driving about 3 hours in whiteout conditions on the highway and that night the temperature dropped to about -30.

It came on earlier in the week, I figured it was because there was some ice build up or something, the car was shaking violently at about 100kms/hr but once i ran the hell out of it the light went off and i got a carwash and the shaking stopped. However today it's not shaking anymore but the light came back on and I'm wondering if moisture or something could cause the light to go on? It came on thismorning after I hit about 100 kms/hr on the highway... I know it may be hard to tell without hooking it up to the computer to see what code its throwing out but any idea if I may be on the right track? Should I be worried? I'll be getting it hooked up to a reader later this week but for now I am trying to diagnose it myself....

 

Check your throttle valve (recalibrate it) and check your coil packs. Like you said it could be a lot of things, really need a read. If your keeping the car get yourself a rosstech-vagcom. Its about $500. but youll be able to trouble shoot your car or any vw/audi/porsche you ever own. This tool is what your dealer will use to read and reset your cars computer at $100. a shot!!