I have a 97 a4 1.8t w/130k on it... recently i had problems starting up my car. There was a clicking sound each time i tryed starting her up, so i changed the battery. After that it would miss fire like crazy.... finally on, it has this hard shake and if i run the car it only goes about 30mph. Moreover, after about 30min running, the catalytic converter (or what i think is the catalytic converter) starts glowing red hot. Whats going on and what can i do??? Please help!!!

 

running reach, the extra fuel goes into the exhaust manifold, what is glowing red probably is the turbo. cat is too far.

 

Yea, you are running rich. You need to find out what is causing this.

Since you say the car shakes, is it under acceleration? You might have a clogged cat.

You may also have a boost leak.

1. Look for any boost leaks.
2. Find out if the cat is clogged
3. Change out your spark plugs

 

if your glowing red hot ur running LEAN not enough fuel it would cause the car to shake to cause its running outta fuel

 

It sounds like you have a clogged cat. Are you throwing any codes?

 

This happened to me too its definately a clogged cat. i took mine out and popped out the honeycombs so i'm runnnin straight pipes now and it runs great. If its shaking u might have a fuel filter/pump problem too try changing the spark plugs and fuel filter first then the pump if that doesnt help. most of ur problems should be solved with a new or stripped cat.