My A4 1998 model has just recently started to play up. When I'm driving with my foot on the gas the engine will suddenly cut off and then start again making the car jump along like a kangaroo. This happens quite frequently but with different intensities. It feels almost like the engine is choking or being starved of fuel. Can anyone point me in the right direction so I can get this fixed ?

 

The first thing you need to check is the spark plugs. A couple of years ago I fought this battle with my A8. I was convinced it was the fuel pump or the transmission and spent about $500 on a fuel pump and transmission fluid change (needed to do it anyway) and it did not fix the problem. Pull the plugs and if ANY of them look like they are brand new (clean white ceramic around the electrodes) they are glazed. It only takes one or two to be a problem. A glazed plug will put out a very weak spark that can be effectively extinguished by the fuel/air flowing back into the cylinder under acceleration of any kind. On second thought, just go ahead and replace them and be done with it since you're pulling them out anyway. I had similar issue with my old 87 Audi 5000SQ about 10 years before that and just totally forgot about it. You'd be going down the road just fine, barely give it some gas to speed up and the damned thing would buck and jerk just like you describe. New plugs, problem went away.....

If your Check Engine light is on and you are getting codes about lean running condition, you need to find the air leak in the intake, PCV, or EGR systems. A bad O2 sensor was the issue with mine. The thing was not working correctly and the ECU would lean out the mix on bank 2 and causing the combustion temps to go up and this will glaze the spark plugs with a conductive material that renders them too weak to light the fuel/air mix. Any lean condition will almost certainly cause glazed plugs if it goes on for long enough.