Hi all, I have a 1996 audi A4 2.8 FWD with 165k on it that I picked up in Oct '09. The car has been great so far, a few small fixes but no big deal. But there is two issues that are bothering me,one of them is on about 8 seperate occasions the engine has run so rough, sputtering and coughing almost total loss of power, to the point that I was surprised that it did not stall out and die. Each time this has happened was right after I started the car after it has been parked overnight or after work. The first hundred yards or so the car ran like crap then everything was fine, like I said this has happened too often for me just to shrug it off. Could this be the coil packs getting ready to crap the bed? And if it is the coil packs why is it only happening intermittently? I would appreciate any input. I will make a post on the other issue in a few. Thanks all.

 

Sounds like it could be a MAF sesnsor problem. Do the rpm's jump around when this happens? Also, make sure the hose coming out of the airbox is on nice and tight.

 

Thanks for the info. cleaned the MAF earlier today and it is running great again. A drastic improvement over how it was running this morning.

 

Cleaning the MAF didn't work cuz it started acting up again today... any other ideas or hints?

 

Do you have a cel? If you don't, You should still reset the ecu after cleaning the MAF sensor. (Speaking from recent experience). If that still doesn't fix the problem, then you might have a sensor that's starting to fail.

 

somtimes cleaning the maf only works for so long which it probably is bad than

 

Well I dont have a reader or anything like that to see if it is giving a cell, or to reset the ECU. Had the battery disconnected for about 1/2 hour, thought that would do the trick as far as resetting. New to the Audi world here so bear with me please . Where would be a good place, as far as pricing, to get a scan tool (vag-com?) I do have the Bentley manual on my thumb drive tho.

spoke to a friend who works at the VW dealer in service, he said it sounds like it could be a vac leak or the throttle body is gummed up. Would bring the car to him but he is about a 5 hour drive away now. Gonna check for those things as soon as the weather clears up a little and i have a day off. thanks again for the replies and the help, keep the ideas coming. This will get fixed

 

disconnecting the battery doesnt do anything on audis you have to reset it with vagcom

 

cool thanks. looks like I'm gonna pick up one of those readers to reset it. I take it this is the kind of reader i need to get?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBD-I...motiveQ5fTools

 

^ Something like that, yeah. My engine was sputtering too. I then realized that the bottom pipe was missing from my intake so I was sucking up a little water. So now I'm making myself a short-ram intake. Anyone want me to post a DIY?