I am getting ready to replace the fuel pump so I stopped by the dealer to get the Oetiker clamps. I wanted to get the right size and same type. I priced a fuel pump, it was $250, which is not too crazy as other pumps are in the $170 to $220 range. But the parts guy said let me check with tech who came back and said he has not seem a pump fail intermittently, ie they tend to work or go bad. So I held off on buying the pump.

Do fuel pumps fail intermittently? Or shoud I just take it to a german focused repair shop?

 

hi,
yes I would agree fuel pumps wouldn't fail intermittently.. as you say they tend to either work or just go bad. Reading through your post again - you could be experiencing a engine vacuum leak with one or more of your pipes. When the engine is cold, the pipes are ok, and thus engine fires up ok.

Once the engine is warmed up, the vacuum pipes expand ever so slightly, and the slightest hairline crack or tear potentially expands and thus you will experience issues such as the engine cutting out at red lights - as too much air is being drawn into the engine, with not enough fuel to provide combustion, especially at idle. - I have experienced exactly the same issue.

So, rather than purchasing a fuel pump, I would first replace ALL your vacuum pipes with silicone to eliminate this potential issue, especially as they as very cheap and easy to replace, and also as your Audi has done 220k !

Then have a look at doing some other 'maintenance' work on your Audi, as I have just done myself.

I would recommend ALL Audi 2.8 owners to have a look at these threads, and take appropriate action.

Hope this helps. Good Luck

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Nice work man. I gotta admit you had me a little worried when I first read your post. In the first two paragraphs I was thinking timing belt. Im glad you got it all worked out.

 

Finally got my car running again. Took it to the dealer. It turns out the first mechanic replaced the vehicle speed sensor not the crankshaft position sensor as he thought. But was odd as I had dealer look for that and they said crankshaft position sensor was new, but was still showing error. Then I told them to look at it again, then they said oh, it is the original and not replaced, so they replaced the crankshaft position sensor. And now car is running fine for last two days. Thanks for all the help on this.