I have a 1.8T 2000. My car basically lost all power in the middle of the road with a flashing CEL. I got it towed to the mechanic, he checked for vac leaks (as I read online that is a common problem) and told me I needed to replace my coils. OK, so I replaced my coils.

It's now a month later, and it happened again, just complete power loss in the middle of the road. Pushed the car to the side of the road with my friend.. after about 45 mins of not trying to start it, it started again... so I attempted to drive back home... 3/4ths of the way back home, power loss again. Got it towed back to my house.. next day started like normal, but after a while shuts off again...

whats going on here??

 

If you're throwing a CEL when you lose power, you really have to get the code. There's really no point in asking "what's going on here" if you don't have that. Is it still throwing a CEL and do you know what the code(s) is/are?

 

Could be a number of things. It most likely saved the code on your ECU. Get it read or buy a VAGcom cable and do it yourself. If you do not have a VAGcom cable, get one, they are a MUST for these cars. Report back with code.

 

No CEL when power loss. No CEL even after starting car again after cool off period.

 

There could still be a fault code stored. The CEL will only be triggered by certain (urgent) codes, but there could still be something lurking in the background.

 

Is the CEL flashing again?