So I'm driving on the highway and all of a sudden my check engine light comes on and the car seems to have lost all it's power. When I step on the gas, the engine seems to sputter and shakes the car. I can drive it around, but it's crawling along. Has anyone encountered this problem, have an idea of what it might be, or know how to go about fixing it?

 

the car is in limp mode. you need a scanner to see why the CEL is on. post the codes when you get them.

 

I got the scanner, and it came up with 3 codes

P0300
P0304
P0301

 

Don't forget to post up what engine/year/miles you have.

-P0300 - random cylinder misfire
-P0301 - cylinder 1 misfire
-P0304 - cylinder 4 misfire

 

mark off (with tape or something) the coil numbers and replace the coil from cylinder 1 with #2, and cylinder 4 with cylinder 3. Reset the codes, and see if the misfire moves to cylinders 2 and 3. This will rule out the coils themselves if the misfire doesn't move. If it doesn't jump with the coils, next check your spark plugs for correct gap and abnormal wear (especially on cylinder 1 and 4).

If that fails to solve your problem, keep moving up the line - check the ignition control module.

 

before you go replacing coils etc, read this http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/1594531.phtml.

not sure about an 02 but it worked for 99.5.

gluck

 

it was the coils, thanks to everyone for their help. i replaced them, and it worked like a charm.

 

Good to hear it worked out, I actually just had the exact same issue.