Looking for a mechanic in fairfield county area in CT for my 2000 audi a4 1.8t.

problem: car just shuts down randomly, usually when it's hot outside. sometimes starts immediately after powering down and sometimes does not. I took it to my local shell/mechanic; said something is wrong with the computer but they aren't able to fix it and told me to take it to the dealer... which I don't really want to do...

so if someone can help me out, i would appreciate it.

thanks

 

One potential solution: replace coolant temperature sensor that sits in the coolant flange at the back of the engine head. Also use a new O-ring and clip. Shouldn't cost more than $35 at the Audi dealer for those parts.

 

Hey MetalMan, I did what you said and I still have the same problem. Mechanic did it for $100 with parts so not too crazy. And the mechanic still can't figure out what the problem is as no CEL is firing, etc.

 

You need to scan the car with VCDS, the generic code reader that I assume the Shell mechanic has may not read all of the codes.

Without any codes to go off you're just going to be throwing money at a problem you haven't diagnosed yet. It could very well be a bad ECU, happened to my car. The cheap way to test this is to find someone local with the same ECU and try theirs out.

 

Interesting how you mentioned that sensor. I've had my engine light on because of that for over a month now. Everything runs fine but if I turn the car off and run into a store for about 5 minutes and then come back out it has real trouble starting on the first try. It will start on the 2nd try no problem though. This only happens when the car sits for short periods of times before starts. In the morning starts perfect, after work also perfect.

 

You have had an 'engine light' on for months? and you have a problem? wow. scan, clear, drive, scan again, replace part.

 

I'm just going to replace the part. It's not vital at the moment. K? Good. Now move along.

 

Wish it was that simple.. no CEL light. Took it to dealer, will update late if/when I find out what exactly is the problem.

 

-_- ... dealer says it's my engine input sensor.. wants to charge $1,300... kinda crazy

 

Engine input sensor? That's incredibly vague; there are lots of "input" sensors.