Hello! This is my introduction and first question at one go.

I drive a 2003 (03 Reg) A4 2.0 SE. In the past two months I have replaced the brakes (front & rear), a rear spring, full service (all fluids, filters, etc), plugs, timing belt, etc. Then a spate of problems forced me to swap the blend door motor, fan control relay, and the biggie, the Crank Position sensor after I almost hit a truck/lorry head on when the engine died and everything locked up on me.

When I say I replaced, i mean I physically did the work... turning wrenches is a hobby and a sense of pride on my own cars. My other car is bullet proof, but this Audi is on my last nerve... a lot of little problems have cropped up (mentioned above); however, today another one... driving along and suddenly she started running rough, lurching, and the Check Engine light flashing. Anyhow, I instantly new it was a coil. Nearest part store and no appropriate coil in stock, so I found a "close" match that would at least get me home.

Anyhow, I make it to the Audi parts specialist and he tells me that I have an odd coil-on-plug (COP) coil arrangement... two black and two red. Per him, they should all be one color. Is this a correct assertion? I have a 2.0 manual trans, non-turbo, non-quattro, i.e. it is a 2.0 SE.

Has anyone ever heard of this... different color coils? Note: These are the kind that are long and go down into the block?