I've got an a4 1.8 naturally aspirated with about 147k miles on it. It splutters when accellerating, not badly but enough to drive me mad. It also doesnt seem to pull very well (not had it that long though so dont know if this is normal or not). 1 other little thing is that its returning crap fuel consumption of about 28mpg when driving at a constant 60mph. any help would be much appreciated.

thanks guys

 

if you've got a 1.8 it isnt naturally aspirated, its turbo... sounds like you might need a fuel filter

 

thanks, ill give that a try. My engine is definatly the naturally aspirated one though, its a 96 n plate.

 

Thats about right. What kind of mileage were you expecting? Its not a hybrid after all!
Try cleaning the throttle body. Is the car showing any codes?

 

My guess would be the MAF.. Get your car scanned for codes dont fix whats not broken..

 

sorry, im a complete novice mechanically. whats a MAF? thanks

 

Mass air flow sensor.

In the air intake.

 

I have 2001 A4 1.8T and it had splutter problem. A mechanic told me to unplug the wore to the MAF. (its located over the wheel well - passenger sice) I just did this today and the car now accelerates like a rocket. However it also stalls at the traffic light. You should not drive it for long periods without the MAF connected. But at least it identified the problem for me.

The plug is located under a thick round rubber seal theou which the wires feed to the MAF.