when i take my 96 a4 2.8l automatic for a drive it starts to sputter and downshift drastically when slowing down. when i get back and its idleing or trying to it sounds like its starving for air or something. When i wiggle the harness attached it jumps back to normal or completely die, depending on how i wiggle it. Any thoughts?



its the connector to the left of the Fuel Pressure Regulator.

 

well i cant tell you what it is, but if it gets better/worse when you wiggle it then you have a bad connection. try cleaning out the terminals really well and make sure theres no corrosion. also make sure the contact points are not bent or misaligned in anyway.

 

I'm going to guess idle air control valve. That would explain why it sputters at idle and gets better or dies when you wiggle the connector.

 

There's a bunch of **** going on in that picture, what exactly are you talking about? The rat's nest of black tubes at the top are vac lines, the corrugated tube with a hose clamp on it is your intake which is clamped to the throttle body. The connectors to the left of it in the pic go to your ECU, the smaller round silver thing with a clip on it up and to the right of it is your FPR. Which connector were you wiggling?

 

i bet if we gave chris a B5 coloring book he would knock this **** out of the park!

it would help if you took the original picture and used paint or what have you to circle the problem area

 

It's the only electrical connection to the left of the FPR attached to a black cylinder

 

he means the one directly to the left of the FPR. in the picture it appears to be touching the FPR. that connector.

 

Looks like idle control valve, had to replace one on a 97 2.8... Might want to clean/reseat connector first, also check for frayed or burnt wires.. Valve cost me $180, cheapest I could find...

 

I spy with my little eye ..... original vacuum lines haha. I'd replace those puppies while you're under the hood, super cheap to do !

 

if you wiggle it and it fixes the problem, clean it. if that doesn't help replace it. def look at those vac lines though... and by look at them, i mean replace them.