My buddies A4's engine started cutting out when he was driving on the highway, outve nowhere(had no issues with this prior). he pulled off onto a side road and it shut off and would not start. It turns over slowly but wont fire, most likely because the oil pressure is lost. Im not sure if thats the correct diagnosis, just what his limited mechanical knowledge tells him. been told it could be a spun bearing or a timing belt issue. any ideas what it could be? its a 96 A4 2.8 quattro has 145K on it

 

I have a 96 2.8 w/ 133k on it soon to do the timing belt and water pump. I am not exactly sure why it does that but it sounds like a good place to start, by replacing the timing belt n water pump. Does he know when the plugs were changed and or a general tune on it was done. This would be a newb answer but could it be caused by the riase in the motor temp?? I would try and do a complete tune on it see if the car runs a little better + it never hurts.

 

Was his CEL flashing??? If so its a misfire. Check your the spark plugs.

Josh