after dropping about 2000 dollars into my car 2 weeks ago, i just got to california from colorado, and im driving tonight and my car starts shaking, under 3000 rpm's in any gear it shakes pretty bad, (kinda like if you were to try to start going froma stop in 3rd gear). My engine light is flashing, and it is just shaking and a loss of power, my boost guages is saying i'm spiking at about 4 or 5 of boost, when i usually spike at 13 or 14. when i stopped my car, the engine was shaking bad and with gas it gets worse. and my first catalyc converter (what i think it is) right near the engine, is glowing red, really bright red. any ideas? PLEASE HELP? thanks

 

My guess is you have a coil pack gone bad. Can cause misfires and "bucking" of the car, even at idle. If thats the case, then it's not the end of the word. About 50 bucks and you can install it yourself.

I suggest getting the car scanned for codes.

 

that is what my initian thought was, and that has happened to me before, yea it was 50 bucks and i just popped my new one on, the thing that sucks is finding which one it is. now is it causing no spark in a cylinder and causing gas to be burned in the cat, is that why it's turning red?

 

Typically the way to diagnose which cylinder it is, is to switch around the coil packs while reading the codes with a VAG. Change one coil pack at a time, and when the code finally changes to a new cylinder you know it is that coil pack that you just moved.

Cat is turning red because you have uncontrolled combustion and hot gases are not being ejected through the exhaust valves correctly.

 

Or the car is running really, really lean which spikes the exhaust temps..

 

i dont understand. your first cat was glowing? sorry, but that isnt right. your car only has one cat (unless you have a boosted 30v). i think your talking about your turbo, i have never actually seen a glowing cat. if it is a glowing cat, your are getting way too much gas in it, and the coil pack (my first reaction) would be a likely culprit.
if it is the turbo glowing (which i think it is), it could be a wastgate problem.

 

Sorry I was under the impression audis had 2 cats, it's not my turbo though, it's coming off the left side of engine (looking at it from the front of the car) off the exaust manifold

 

Pics?

 

Are you sure that it's not your turbo? I'm asking b/c the exhaust manifold feeds the turbo and are bolted together. If you are sure it's not your turbo then I'd say misfiring is your problem.

 

It was for sure misfire, I figures it was bit wanted to make sure, the codes said one and three were mosfiring. Replaced ignition coils and no problems, the cat was glowing due to gas not being burned in the cylinder and it got dumped in the cat. Now my check engine light is still on, do I just need to plug it into a code reader again to clear the light? Or does it go off automatically?