hey everybody.. im new to all of this and I just bought a 98 A4. there is a few questions I have... lets start with when I test drove the car the clutch seemed like the engage point was really high.. does the exhaust on these tend to build a lot of condensation? ive noticed that after I take the car for a quick ride it will kinda smoke.. it's not the head cause Ive checked the oil and antifreeze.. neither of them are discolored.. the smoke/steam wasn't like billowing white.. it seemd like steam, there was water coming out of the tailpipe but it wasn't smelling sweet... I could be wrong.. can anybody help me? oh also sometimes it won't start.. it will keep turning like like it's trying to start.. it's happend twice in two days... like it's almost flooding itself.. it will keep turning over and slowly try to start.. eventually it does but it seems like the fuel has no pressure to it.. help me.. I am taking it to the shop tomorrow or friday so a little insight for when I do go will help a lot..

 

most b5's oem clutch has a high engadge point mine does
is it cold where you live not trying to make you sound dumb but
i have a friend who has a mustang and if it is even a little chilly
his car will drip water out of the exhaust and he keeps that thing insane
he washes it every 2 days litereally and all maintanence is done exactly one time
so yeah that kinda explains your exhaust problem sorry if i didnt help much

 

Water is a product of combustion, when the exhaust is cold it condenses and drips out the end. Get the engine and exhaust hot and it will not drip. As for the other problems, if the yellow check engine light comes on you can have the code read, if it doesn't ignore it like I do. Mine does odd things once in a while but still runs fine. B.

 

what about the crappy idling? and I live in vermont so it is kinda cool out.. I just bought it so all suggestions will be welcomed

 

not starting could maybe be a fuel pump or ignition coil (just a guess) if it is the fuel pump that could also be why its idling rough because its not getting enough fuel... or it could be something as little as spark plugs. id start by checking those (you have to unscrew the coolant reservior and move it to one side to get to the back left one)

 

that could be the cause of not starting as well... I will have them checked out.. any other ideas?

 

I would say the hard starting concern is a faulty coolant temp sensor, if it still has a black top then i would say its for sure a bad CTS sensor. Its behind the motor by the way on the rear coolant cross over pipe.
Our exhausts do make a lot of condensation but the sweet smell is coolant. My guess is sense you just bought it someone topped off the coolant and spilled some on the exhaust. Drive it around for a couple of weeks, if it still smeels sweet then you need to diagnose a coolant leak.

 

the CTS is under the joint of the intake pipe where the hard piece meets the flex piece. my car smokes a bit too but i burn 1 qt of oil every 2500 miles or so. try some engine stop leak with seal conditioner. my car is from vermont so i understand the roughness it's been through but take care of it and it'll take care of you really well.