I am new to the forum and I have a question about my 2003 Audi A4 1.8 T, manual trans.

Last night when I started my car, i felt a knock as it was turning over. I immediatley went to restart the car and it was as if the battery was dying, kind of a weak sluggish turn-over, maybe 3 cranks and it started fine. It idled perfectly for a couple seconds, but i decided to turn it off anyways and when i went to restart it, it turned over fine, no problem. I decided to drive it around the block after about 3 minutes, i heard what sounded like a whiny gear ( i was in 3rd) and the car died. I restarted it and the sound of my motor sounded as if there was no oil in the motor (like an un-lubricated motor) and i had lost a little power. There was no vibration (ive already had the coil pack problem, so i know what that would have sounded like) I left it parked and the next morning had a mechanic out who said it sounded fine. The oil was perfect. The car now drives with normal power, however, it just doesnt sound the same. It sounds "dry"

This morning, I had an oil job and "X-Treme Flush" done from Jiffy Lube, but im a little concerned. Incidentaly, I did notice that my motor cover (black Audi logo cover over the coils) is missing, exposing my coil packs, do you think this may cause the motor to sound different? My main concern is my timing belt, which based on some posts here, scares the heck out of me. Could anyone help me figure out what I should do, where I should take it?? im not very mechanically sound...any info helps. Im considering purchasing a code reader..would this help?

Thanks, D