I recently purchased a 1998 A4 with 93,000 Miles. Took delivery and on the way home about 20 miles from the dealer cruising on the interstate about 70mph the car surged a few times and then started loosing power. Just made it off the exit ramp to a gas station and turned the car off and back on and it ran fine. A couple of days later (sat all night) started the car and made it 100 yards out the driveway and it started with a rough idle and no power like it did on the interstate. No check engine light! Turned it off then back on and parked it for the day. Returned to dealer and he said it wasn't throwing any codes and sent me on my way. 1/4 mile down the road from the dealer I stopped to get gas and once filled went to pull out and same thing... rough idle, NO Power at all. So I throw the flashers on and head for the dealer. Foot smashed to the floor just to keep it running and all of a sudden the car launches/takes off and is running fine. Pull in the dealer again and "no codes" he drives it for 10 minutes and it runs fine. Now 3 weeks later and it's been just fine and last night it started again. Rough idle, stalled, no power. Dealer doesn't want to replace parts "guessing" but I need answers here my wife and kids ride in the car and it's not safe this way. Anyone with direction on this? I want to try some of the basics like cleaning the MAF Sensor, and maybe the Vehicle Speed Sensor. Thoughts from those who may have had similar issues? Another thing is the transmission seems to not know when the best time to shift up to the next gear. Related ??

 

Start with cleaning the MAF. That's an easy thing to try.
Maybe also try replacing the spark plugs?
I wonder if the fuel filter may also need to be replaced. If the car is FWD then it's easy to do.
Another common problem is the coolant temperature sensor at the back of the head. It's a pretty cheap part, even from the dealer.

 

I'll try those ideas this weekend. My a4 is the Quattro is that much harder to do the fuel filter? I'm also interested in how you did the Nexus 7 HU sounds cool... any pics?

 

dude, why in hell didn't you drop that **** back off to the deal and get your money back?

The dealer should fix the issue on his there dime, if not then drop it off and get a refund. You got suckered as that B5 is a lemon!

 

It's very easy on the FWD. And from everywhere I've read, it sounds like a PITA on the Quattro. I plan to tackle it on my Quattro car tomorrow, actually. Here's a DIY guide that might help:
AudiWorld Tech Articles

That was a loooonngg project... spent lots of time improving on software functions, beta testing a ROM, generally figuring this out, making a function mount...
Quite challenging to fit a Nexus 7 (2012 model) in a pre-facelift car, as it requires relocating the HVAC controls to where the cigarette lighter is, modifying the radio cage, customizing the faceplate, etc. I made my mount so that the N7 required no modifications and could be removed from the car in less than 10seconds. Here's some info on it, starting on post #104:
https://www.audiforums.com/forum/nit...177020/page11/

 

+100000000

 

I really, really disagree. The car is throwing no codes, and the dealer can't reproduce the symptom. What part(s) did you want the dealer to replace? He admitted he doesn't know what's going on. That's what reputable people do.

 

So by your logic, just because the car doesn't throw any codes and the salesman that sold him the car, can't reproduce it, he should just deal with it and keep it? Yea, that makes a lot of sense.

The fact that this dealership sold him this car, knowing full well that it was a lemon, says a lot of how shady this dealership is. There is no way, that they didn't know it does this as they normally take cars for test drives in addition to running a scan on them.

"He admitted he doesn't know what's going on." This alone is enough reason to drop this car like a hot potato, the salesman says, "he doesn't know what wrong with it" if this isn't a reason to run far away from this Audi A4 b5, i don't know what the hell is...

"That's what reputable people do" uumm no, that isn't what reputable people do, they don't sell you a car that looses power at random times and is barley drivable.

Reputable salesmen, thoroughly check out a car, before its to be sold to the public. This dealer is nothing short of shady...

Sorry, i never give car dealership's the benefit of the doubt, they make a living off of ripping people off by selling cars with mechanical and electronical problems.

The car is a lemon, if the OP has an opportunity to return it and get a refund, he had better take it or he faces, huge diagnostic and repair costs when it comes to these Audi B5's

 

Well, if that's what i had said, it would be pretty stupid. Unfortunately for you, that's not what I said, particularly the part about how he should just "deal with it". What i said was:

And because you felt threatened by someone disagreeing with you, you made up some stupid stuff and tried to cram it into my mouth and make me defend that instead.

Now, are you going to answer my question, "What part(s) did you want the dealer to replace?" or will you just pretend I said something else stupid because you don't have an answer?

 

The only point that actually matters is that a car should never be sold by a dealer with known issues, and if issues arise the first day you buy a car, a reputable dealer should be more than willing to take the car back. End of story.

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