Hi guys I put up a thread yesterday saying my engine oil light was blinking. But actually it was the malfunction indicator lamp that was blinking. My car is 2001 A4 1.8TQ tiptronic and I got it chipped (GIAC 91 octane program) about a week ago. I have been flooring my car a lot (since it is fun to floor it when you feel the upgraded boost) andlast night, when i got to about 4000 rpm, my car started rattling back and forth (I don't know how to put it. You guys know the feeling you get on your break pedal when ABS is activated? It was like my whole car was vibrating like that.) for like 2 seconds. And my malfunction indicator lamp started blinking. So I changed the gear and it did the same again round 4000 rpm in the 2nd gear.

The same thing happened today and I looked up the owner's manual, which said:

If the lamp does not go out after the engine is started, or if it comes on while you are driving, there is a malfunction in the engine system. If the lamp starts blinking, the catalytic converter could be damaged.

Does anybody know what exactly is wrong with my car? Since the owner's manual talks about stock-condition cars, I want to hear from people who have chipped their car before (chipping and getting 18" wheels are the only modsI have done so far) and had a similar problem.

If there is something wrong with my cat, what should I do? If it needs to be replaced, should I get a hfc instead? and if yes, which brand would you suggest? Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.

 

If your CEL is blinking then you are misfiring. Check your plugs and make sure they're gapped at .028 for chipped cars and .032 for nonchipped. If those are good check your coil packs, you'll need a code scanner or VAG-Com to do this. You'll need to see which cylinder the code is indicating, then switch that pack to a different cylinder and if the misfire follows to the new cylinder then you've found your bad pack. These going out is pretty common on the B5s and they are not all that expensive.I had 2 go out at once but I just replaced all 4 for lessthan $100.

 

thanks man. i'm gonna take my car in tomorrow morning. hopefully it's nothing big...

 

Np, gl.