A few days ago I bought a car I have wanted since it was new. I bought the '99 A4 1.8T. It has about 64,000 miles on it and it is beautiful. I have driven it about 600 miles and just changed the oil yesterday. I have only put 93 octane gas in it and when the oil was changed I told them to use synthetic.

This morning I ran a few errands and enjoyed every second of the drive. I was at home for less than 30 minutes when I needed to run one more errand. I started my car and it ran rougher than any car I have ever been in. The check engine light cam on immediatley and scared the crap out of me.

I called to used car dealer I bought the car from, but he told me to ask the people that changed my oil. I have spen the last hour and a half looking through old threads trying to diagnose my problem. So far, I think it may be the coil packs or spark plugs. Would you suggest takeing it to the local Audi dealer, or is there something stupid I am overlooking in my state of shock?

Thank you for any advice. This car looked and drove perfectly before today. I am not under warranty so I hope I can fix this for a reasonable price. I did just drop a bunch of money buying it in the first place. I hope to have many more upbeat threads in the future.

 

Well if you really bought it a few days ago the dealer is probably responsable for anything thats not dirrectly your fault

first check thats theres oil in it...

 

There was an ignition coil recall. Check with your local dealer.

 

I noticed you mentioned sparkplugs as a possible problem. I had a problem with my Boss 429 when I cleaned the engine once because the plugs got wet and then they weren't firing when I started the engine (and actually missed the show that I was cleaning the car for in the first place!!). The next day I was kicking myself cuz all I had to do was take an air hose, blow the water out, and dry the plugs off, then it ran fine. Don't know if this necessarily applies to what you are talking about but I know that rough feeling you are talking about and hope that I helped.

 

same boat... my oil light came on 3 days after buying the car...

audi has a waiting list till the 23rd, and i cant not drive the car... there is good oil, and good pressure, and good temps, so maybe its just a fluke that the lights going off, i had them at least look to make sure i could drive the car untill they could fix the problem and they said yes.

 

I started it up a little while ago and it seems to be running fine now though. I am weary to drive it to work tomorrow, but what is the use of a car I am scared to drive? I think I should take it to the Audi dealer and let them check it out. How much do you think they are going to charge me to check it out? I guess peace of mind is worth whatever they charge me. Thanks for the support guys.

 

Well, there's a lot to cover here. First, when you say and engine light came on, which one? The Check Engine Light (yellow picture of an engine in the instrument cluster) or a warning in the information display in between the tach and the speedometer? Either way, the best thing for you to do is to take it to a capable service center that can use a scantool to determine what error code your car produced when the light came on. If it was the CEL (the yellow one) that narrows it down a bit, if it was the information display one, tell us which warning and what color it was and that will help narrow it down too. Give some more details if you can.

 

Is the car running really rough, kinda rocking too?
Either a dead coilpack over the plug, or a dead ignition amplifier on top of the airbox.

 

i actually just got a letter from audi about a warranty extension for the 1997-2004 1.8T's. There is a condition called "oil sludge" that happens when old, dirty engine oil thickens and cannot provide adequate engine lubrication. this would probably make your check engine light come on. i would check with your audi dealer and see if this could be the problem. good luck and hope your audi owning experience goes better than it has. these cars last for lots and lots of miles....trust me!!!

 

OK, I got the car back from the Audi service department. The code was POWER OUTPUT STAGE MODULE ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION. They replaced the power output stage module and the car runs fine now. There was also a couple of worn vaccuum hoses. I got lucky and the car was still under the previous owner's warranty. Instead of $850 it only costed me $200. They also replaced the spark plugs for good measures. There was not a recall on my car, but I thought this might help the next guy with the same problem.