As the title states, I'm on my way home from work just now and I drive all hwy...everything was fine for the first 25 miles or so, go to accelerate onto the Interstate at normal acceleration (as you all know I have a '01 2.7T APR 93 chipped), and as I hit about 30-45 mph my car started to sputter, RPM's wouldn't shift down, and CEL came on - first steady, then started flashing. As I hit 50-55mph (cars were behind me, I couldn't stop just yet), the CEL went off, car regained itself and everything felt fine. Pulled off the next exit and when I started to accel again from the stop sign, it started to sputter again (entire car shaking!). I got to a safe place to pull over and shut off the car. Restarted the car fine but idle was rough - sputtering still. CEL started flashing again and by the time I parked it in my driveway (I was only 1 mile from home so I drove her home since CEL went back off), I could smell a sulfur/very bad stench coming into the cabin. Please help, guys! Anybody experience this before or have ANY ideas? Oh god, I'm not really financially stable right now for any big repairs being that it is the day after Christmas lol

 

Don't you know that a car can tell when you are broke? They think to themselves "if he's broke, I can be too!".

Sounds like bad gas. When did you fill it up last?

Bob

 

Have you scanned it, I am guessing that the cats are fouled, as Bob said, could be some crap gas.

Unplug the MAF and go for a little drive, you will be stuck in limp mode, but if it runs without missing, it is telling you that you have an air leak of some sort (boost/vac).

Just wondering if a scan shows that one cylinder in particular is the cause of the misfiring, could be a bad CP

 

Coil packs.

 

See, I was thinking a bad pack or two also - I'm going to try and call autozone about renting their code reader - as I'm afraid of driving her all the way there. I can just take one of the other cars.

Bob - last filled up...2? days ago...? Still have over 3/4 tank - filled up at the BP I always do and only run 93 octane...are you thinking that could've made the horrible smell I smelled? I can't see a misfiring CP cause a smell...

 

Egg smell is almost always a cat, if you have a CP that goes bad, fuel will be dumped into the warm cat and produce the rooten egg smell. Cat's are not designed to deal with raw unburnt fuel. I am going with failed CP.

 

Codes are pulled - Got two of them:

P0302 - Cylinder #2 Misfire (So I DO need new coil packs...?)
I plan on changing all 6 - but which cylinder is #2? Pass or driver side? I want to move them around and make sure the code follows it to the new cylinder.

P0421 -
Quote from Auditech79:
"Here is what i got from the factory repair manual.
P0421= Warm Up Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold Bank 1
Its just a fancy way of saying you need a cat converter on the passenger's side, which on a 3.0L, is beyond a pain in the a**! Plus the cat costs over $1,000 alone.
The good news is you have less than 80 thousand miles so federal emmisions warranty will cover it free of charge so grab a beer and smile."

I think I'm just going to reset code P0421 and see if it comes back as after reading a lot on the forums, some say a bad tank of gas can trigger this code when the cat convert still has a lot of life left. My car has 114k now and so I don't qualify for the fed emissions warranty - and Audi will quote a new one at $1500-1600!!! Gee - what perfect timing - right after christmas when I'm broke! lol Now my question is, I just googled for a cat converter for an 01 2.7T and a lot are coming up as OE replacement and are selling for around $300-500, way cheaper than $1k. Would these be ok to go with if I do need a new cat or should I make sure to say OEM and pay out the ***?

 

I don't like aftermarket cats on an Audi. Too many6 problems. Call Force Five in Concord NH and see what they charge for a new OEM cat.

 

The cat may clear itself once the CP is replaced. I would wait on it until you have the car running and not missing, then put some miles on it and see if it clears up

 

I agree with nothing77 if your coil is bad your dumping fuel into the cat and the cat will be throwing codes too. The cat is the result of the coil pack problem. Replace the coil and clear the codes, The orange coils are junk and need to be replaced every 60K. Don't worry if your cat was bad it's not getting any worse. I have to tell you that they are an absolute nightmare to get to with the heads on.