does any one knows what might cause a ruff idle and a flashing check engine lite i thought it might be bad gas but i dont think that is the case

 

not sure abt flashing engine light, but if you did not lock your gas cap after filling gas, light will come on. You have to turn till it clicks.

 

DID THAT WASNT IT THANKS ANYWAY STILL RUFF IDLE IS BUGGING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

STOP DRIVING IT IMMEDIATELY!!!!!! A flashing check engine light only means one thing......MISS FIRE. Which means if you keep driving it your probably gonna need a new engine pretty soon.
9 times out of 10 you have a bad ignition coil, they suck and always fail.[:'(]

 

thanks for the heads up is there any way to narrow down to wich one it is

 

Not if you don't have a scan tool, that will tell you exactly which cylinder is missing.

 

it is DEFINITELY a misfire...probably mulitple. If you are in the USA, run to pepboys or autozone or advanced auto and pick up a OBDII reader or if you are planning on keeping the A8 a lil while, go to ross-tech.com and order the VAG-COM software to check your codes. I would definitely not drive it more than you have to. Things to check are spark plugs, coilpacks, power output stages, ECU, compression, and worst - Timing Belt.