I was driving to work (1.5miles) this morning and while sitting at a light, my car started to shake (as if I was experiencing a 3 or 4.0 earthquake.) My water temp was normal, and oil was just changed last week. The tachometer started to fluctuate from 700-900rpm's for the first couple seconds (normally at 800). Then the shaking began. The check engine light came on, but flashed on and off consistently for the 2 minutes more it took to get to work and park. It seemed like I may have lost some power as well. I let it sit for an hour, went out to my car but the same was going on. I haven't attempted to drive it since, but must pick it up today.

I was wanting to have it towed by AAA to my local Audi/VW Shop today but they're closed for a 4-day weekend.

Anyone have any ideas on what this may be? My Dad thinks maybe a spark plug or two; A guy @ work said maybe a head gasket, but I wasn't overheating. All I know is the engine is shaking (from inside the cabin) and when I popped the hood.

This is an '04 A4 3.0Quattro with 57k miles. Any help is appreciated!!

 

Flashing CEL is misfires....coil packs is the first guess.

Stay away from Mr Doom and Gloom head gasket

 

I ended up picking up the car earlier tonight and drove home with my Dad following, just in case we needed to tow. It started off okay (but not great) but as soon as I pulled out of the lot and such, it started shaking a little, and the CEL came on. The CEL began flashing after a couple blocks and continued to until I got home (1.5 miles or so @ 25-30mph most of the way.)

I could smell gas/Carbon monoxide coming from the tailpipes (and even the tailpipes were vibrating). I've never had a coil pack or spark plug issue, but maybe it's one of those two things.

I'm alright with cars but not great..how extensive of a fix is a coil pack? And how expensive?

 

Had the same problem when I first bought my car a few months ago. Actually, the day I got it this happened. I thought, wow, I really bought a terrible used car and I'm screwed.

Good thing it was just the coil packs. It's about a 40 dollar expense, but it's recalled from Audi, therefore it is free!

 

If you smell gas then it is almost for sure an ignition problem.

Check all the coil pack connectors first to make sure they are tight.

A cheap $30 OBDII scanner will tell you which cylinder is misfiring. Take the coil pack and move it to one that is not misfiring and see if it moves with it.

Change the coil pack(s) and then immediately change the oil. You've put gasoline into the oil and washed down the cylinder. A few miles isn't the end of the world but you want to get fresh oil in ASAP.

You could have it towed to a dealer...if its a coil pack then Audi will cover it 100 percent. If its not then your stuck with a big bill. You can buy the coil packs and turn the bill into Audi and in about 6-8 weeks get your money back, that is what I did.

That way you avoid the possible huge $ bill if by chance it is anything besides a coil pack.