Ok guys I need some serious help. Let me start this off by saying I am not a mechanic and do not know that much about cars. I have a 2002 Audi A4 3.0L with about 110,000 miles and it breaks down about every 4 months. The last time I had to replace all the coils ($400). My girlfriend was driving it a couple days ago and said the car started shuttering and check engine light started flashing. When I got there and started the car, it definitely resembled the syptoms of the coil problems I just had 4 months ago. My check engine light has continually been on for the last 6 months ago due to a bad catalytic converter (which I suspect is related to the coil issue.) Anyway we got it towed to a shop that worked on it last time, but the shop isn't open until next monday. Is there anything I can do? I don't have the money to buy six coils every 4 months to replace them. Does anyone else have this issue? It is seriously ridiculous that this car has this many problems. I know this is an Audi forum and people are here because they love the Audi brand, but I have had nothing but bad luck with this car.

Please HELP!

 

I have a very similar issue, with the same symptoms. I have a 2002 A4 3.0L. My CEL frequently comes up about a bad catalytic converter (Warm-Up Below Efficiency, bank 1, P0421 if I remember correctly) and I experience the same misfires from time to time, especially under heavy acceleration (> ~4800rpm).

My coils were changed last year under the Audi coil recall at the dealership, so they *should* be good, but since I've had these issues ever since I'm starting to think they might not be as good as new ones should be...

I'm not sure if the bad cat' is the source of the problem, or if the misfires caused the cat to eventually start failing too. But given the price of these damn things here in California, I'd like to avoid changing the cat if the misfires are going to keep killing it.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. The car runs great 99% of the time with the exception of the occasional CEL coming up and some misfires. The fact that after a severe misfire problem the car doesn't start (cranks, but doesn't start) leaves me believing this could be the coils indeed.

The 120k maintenance is coming up soon (at 118.5k now), should I have the coils changed again and maybe the spark plugs too?

 

I've had similar problems and just had my 2002 audi A4/B6 (120k miles) in the shop to repair the issue. My mechanic found that the wiring harness to the coils was brittle and had cracks. They were probably shorting out causing mis-fires. He replaced the wiring as far back as he could reach and replaced all four coils. (To the tune of about $700US) I've been driving for a month and it hasnt run better since new.

One note: I had a sludging problem at about 50k miles where the engine heated badly. Every piece of plastic under the hood became very brittle and I've been replacing a lot of plastic parts for the last four years.

 

audi should replace your coils for free under warranty. U can always go the route of hitachi e coils. I had replaced mine when i first bought the car. i think that was 3 or 4 years ago. . .Home Page > Search > Audi Coil Pack - ECS Tuning Inc