My car is now a garage ornament, pictures with questions...
 

Morning,
I am attempting to get my '03 a4 3.0l (b6) repaired and am needing advice. to start, she is failing emissions and in that issue i'm unsure as to where to start. Then comes the more recent issue in which she (olivia the a4) is running really, REALLY rough... the engine shakes when idling or driving. I believe this issue to be tranny/flywheel related as the car is fine to change gears when off or standing still but damn near impossible to do so once the vehicle is moving at ANY speed. lastly, below are some pics that while diagnosing the car i took and had questions on. Please don't be shy, any advice or input would be grateful.

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Again, any input would be appreciated as i need her back on the road and have no other wheels right now.

It could be lots of things, but none of that will cause anything like what your talking about. Take it to AutoZone and get the codes read (free)..

Does the check engine light flash when the car is shuttering?

Its also not tranny related.. btw

when my car was unable to change gear, my pressure plate broke into three pieces with similar symptoms. i could change gear while the enigne was off, but not while it was running. it was becuase the clutch was always engaged even with the pedal in.

+1 clutch - I guess I read that wrong.. Yes the shifting issue is your clutch plate or pressure plate related.. Typically a clutch plate will make noise well before it goes out though.. Either a squeaking/chirping or it will kinda sound like sandpaper.. Another option could be air in your clutch lines or your master/slave cylinder.. You didn't run low on clutch fluid did you?

That won't cause the emissions problem.. And I kinda doubt it would cause a shimmy - but I guess its possible..

First, thank you for your reply crypto. Now, I have a vagcom cable and software...even went and bought a Lil netbook that I now use for nothing but the vagcom and little windows based projects (my justification to my GF for buying yet ANOTHER computer :-p). Have all the codes and they're the same as before.

I had the emission prob before. Long story short...I bought this car end of April for my birthday, I knew it had high miles but the guy assured me that she ran strong (silly me) and when I test drove it there were no issues. After buying the car I found out I couldn't pass emissions for state inspec. So I was going back and fro getting it checked and know now the emission prob is based on the piston for the intake actuator being broken, hence off pattern. Easy BUT expensive fix.
The shudder and shake (my car's new dance) just started and to be honest I don't know what the clutch fluid levels are at. I was so focused on finding the emission prob I haven't done my full fluid change like I do with every other car...

Thanks to you also redline...

clutch fluid is on the drivers side up where the battery is located.. if you ran low your probably going to have to bleed the air out...

i really dont think the intake actuator would cause you to fail a emissions test.. they're really only there to keep you within the power band for a longer period of time..

if you have a vag, what are the codes?