I recently replaced the alternator in my A4 2.8. Jumpstarted it, it was fine kept running, idled a bit rough, but I step on the gas, and the acceleration is hesitant? I tried pressing down on the gas with the car off as others have posted to reset the TBA, is this correct? Is there something else?

 

Hesitation under acceleration can be a number of issues ranging from a TBA as you have mentioned to an air leak anywhere in the intake, vacuum lines,can also be coils, spark etc. Best is to eliminate each potential problem one by one. Check all the hosing vacuum lines are in order. Make sure your plugs are good and slowly eliminate a potential one by one until you will eventually find one. Do a vag scan as well to see if any codes are up.

 

Thank you so much for your advice...
Do you think a blown head or gasket would cause this problem? After starting the car today, white smoke came out of the exhaust when the accelerated was pressed.

 

Yes unfortunately that could be a sign of a blown head gasket. Also check for bubbles in radiator or coolant tank. If the coolant is milky or you have a big drop in coolant with no visible leak than you will need to get the head off and check the head gasket. Make sure you check for symptoms as mentioned above before pulling the head off, you don't want to be pulling it off unless you have no other options left and you have ruled out other possibilities.

 

Thank you again.. I will definitely be looking into all of the things that you mentioned