Hello all-

I have an 2002 audi TT, with $65K miles, 1.8T and am having problems at startup where the car immediately dies one or more times. Once warm, its good to go and drives just fine.

I took it to the mechanic today and he just told me that the battery ground has been corroded which caused two ignition coils and plugs to go bad. This seems bizarre to me as the car is fine, once warmed up.

Any thoughts on what the actual problem might be, and could there be truth to what the mechanic said? Additionally, the starter is fairly new. Any help whatsoever would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan

k battery seems logical... maybe coolant temp sensor too? most likely battery... is it the original?

It is the original battery, though how would that cause dying problems upon start up?

What would the coolant temp sensor have to do with this too? Thanks.

the coolant temp sensor is a little TT gremlin... the black temp sensor sometimes causes problems for TT owners on cold starts...

also, you do need the battery to start your car.. so if you have a bad battery your car will tell you (ie not start so well)

with 65k miles on the original battery my guess would be the battery... my 2 cents.. wait to see what other people say

Gotcha, the battery seems to have plenty of juice but I will be sure to test it when I take it out to look for corrosion.

I'll wait to see what anyone else might provide before changing coils and plugs.

mhmm... cincy hopefully will have good input

Check the battery with everythng off, you should have a mininum of 12.5VDC. Anything less than that, the electronics in the car will act strangely.

The 1.8t's are pretty picky little engines. I know they aren't fond of the cold and are hard to start in cooler climates, but seeing as it's late summer and you're not living in Antarctica... I'de blame the battery or your spark-plugs. Make sure you're gapped right and that the sparks are snug. Sometimes failing packs will put out a weak charge also...

...just some things to look over...