So, my wife went out this morning to start her car ('99.5 A4 1.8T Quattro) and it turned over but wouldn't start. At lunch I tried and it turned over fine, battery had a full charge (new battery) but it didn't start. I just replaced the ignition control moldule a couple months ago so hopefully that isn't the problem. (When that went out it would still start but was only running on 3 cylinders) So, my thought is either that I'm not getting spark or fuel to the cylinders. I checked all the fuses that I could think of (EFI, timing, etc.) but they were all good. I'm going to verify spark in each cylinder when I get home but if anyone knows what it might be I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks.

 

fault codes mate ( EFI ) is old and now replaced with injection ( ECM/ICM ) so computer controlled

 

Well, I'm sorry to have to admit to this, but the problem was an easy fix. It happened once in my other car, but I didn't think it would happen to the Audi.

On Sunday, I pulled the car out of the garage and shut it off. I think washed it, pulled it back in the garage and shut it off again. My dad always told me not to do this, and again he was right. I believe this caused a flood of gas to enter the engine and not get burnt off. Then, when trying to start the car it just kept dumping more fuel in. So, today after work I came home and tried starting it again. This time I pushed the gas pedal down about half way until the car finally started. I went out and had a nice "spirited" drive and everything running great!

 

Your right not to believe your dad, its impossible to get extra fuel in the motor by just turning the engine on and off a few times on a fuel injected motor. You could actually do it a hundred times and it wouldn't do that. You need to have the fault codes checked, i guarantee it will happen again. Its most likely a bad sensor.

 

Not really, the engines can still load up. That's why EFI systems have ability to put your foot to the floor while cranking to cut the fuel. It was a really common issue on 996/986 Porsches for people who would too often move the car to wax it and then put it back in the garage.

 

No, I do believe my dad. EFI doesn't let you "pump" the gas before starting the car, however, if you don't let it idle for long enough before shutting it down repeatedly then it will flood the engine. The car has absolutely no fault codes so that gives me even more reason to believe that this was the situation with my wifes car.

 

Correct. Pressing the accelerator when starting cuts the fuel on an EFI car.