I was hoping to get some expert opinions on my Audi's situation before I shell out more dough for my aging A4. Keep in mind I have a 2000 Audi A4 1.8T which has about 116K miles on it at this point. The car is in decent condition, runs OK for the most part, but definitely shows it signs of age. As a result, I have probably put about 2-3K into this car to keep it running in the last 3 years or so.

So here is the situation, I dont use my car a lot since I take the train (subway) to work now and live in downtown Chicago. I use it about 2-3 days a month for errands, go golfing, or get to my parents house in burbs, so investing serious money in this car at this point is probably illogical.

Im driving on the highway the other day and accelerating from about 60MPH I feel these hesitations and slight jerks coming from the engine. The check engine lights starts blinking then it goes away. Then from cruising on the highway I accelerate again, and again the car hesitates and jerks a bit, but still accelerates fine, and the check engine light starts blinking. Now the check engine light just stays on permanently when I start the car and I get the hesitation/jerks pretty randomly, usually when accelerating at higher speeds, above 55 MPH.

Obviously without taking it in to get the codes we cant know for sure, but does anyone have an opinion or had a similar situation. Could it be Oxygen Sensors ( I have had this code readout in the past), is this a cylinder misfire?? Thanks friends!!

 

Without pulling the codes, my first guess is coil pack(s). Flashing CEL means misfires, so I'm sure you'll have at least one code regarding that.

 

What are coil packs? And is this problem something that could cause my car to break down on the side of the road if i took it on a 2 or 3 hour drive?

 

Take the Engine cover off of your engine, and on top there should be 4 black squares, those are your coil packs those go down to your spark plugs, i would check all of that, check if there's water or oil in the packs. When was the last time the plugs were changed?
And they may need to be regapped.

 

First thing I would do is get the codes. They'll give you a better idea of the source of the problem. Take your car to auto zone or someplace and have them pull all the codes. Write them down and post them up.

Coil packs are what provide the energy that allows your spark plugs to spark. You can think of it sort of like an electronic ignition box, just split up into for little boxes that live right on top of your spark plugs.

And your motor isn't going to blow up or anything but i certainly wouldn't drive 3 hours with the car this way, but thats just me.

 

I had the car checked out by a friend of mine who worked at Audi/VW mechanic about 1.5 years ago. There were a series of issues and code readouts, we addressed most of those issues with repairs. We replaced coil springs, rear O2 sensor, CV Boot, Brakes/Rotors, ABS Control Module, Flex Pipe Repair, etc. He told me that eventually I would need to replace the other O2 sensor (front) as it would fail sometime soon, but there was no mention of coil packs, or spark plugs or anything like that. But I will look into it now.

 

Will AutoZone or whoever give me the code readout for free? I know a guy who would, a neighborhood mechanic my dad uses, but thats in the burbs and 25 miles away from me.

 

They'll give you the codes for free, but in most states its illegal for them to clear the codes, so you'll have to live with the CEL until you fix the problem and can make it out to see your buddy

 

Cool thanks

 

Just a heads up, I did some more research and believe my car problem is the ignition coil pack. It seems to be fairly well documented issue with Audi/VW for this model series. Frankly, after reading a lot I am surprised they haven't failed before now, 116K miles. Anyway, I am taking it to my guy this weekend to pull the codes and be 100% sure, but assuming its the ignition coils I found this on ebay. Do you think buying parts like this from Ebay Motors is safe and the parts are good. Its like $90, problem is if I buy a new pack from Audi its gonna be like $250. Also if it is the coils, do u know how many of hours of labor that should be so I can compare that to his estimate. Thanks

4 Ignition Coil Coils Pack Packs AUDI A4 VW Passat 1.8T | eBay