Hi, Im fairly new to the forum and became an A4 owner in the last week.
(2004 1.8t S-line 190bhp).

I know most people only really come on here if they have a problem, but who hasnt had any real problems with their car? Has anyone's coil packs not failed?

I love my car, but sadly, im waiting for something to happen to it after reading everyone's stories.

Can members put a bit of confidence back in my A4 ownership.

Russ

 

good luck with that

 

Russ, be assured you won't have to wait long. Even if you are going to invest in diagnostic equipment and the proper repair manual as well as the special tools (as I have done) it is going to be an expensive car to maintain. If I were you I'd return that car and get one from a manufacturer that has "truth in engineering" but also has some durability and longevity to match all that truth. Lexus is a good example. IS's are pretty sweet.

 

Not one problem. Nadda. You can't really call the coilpacks an issue. Switch to Hitachi E's and you'll never worry about them again.

 

I call the coil packs a huge issuse when at least one goes out every week...

 

up to 105k miles an no major issues at all...

 

Having one go out every week is not the norm. There are plenty of people out there running very high demand high boost applications with no problems at all. Those with problems usually don't see it repeated that often.

The issue is replacing crap with crap. OE coilpacks suck. The R revision is slightly better, however the rule of thumb that no dealer will ever adhere to is:

Swap out all four when one gives. That will delay the onset of the next going out and ultimately save money on the back end. It's rare when you are replacing the same cylinder over and over. But it's common to only replace one and have another go out soon after. So, replace all four at once. Then, keep the ones you'd removed in the swap that are known to work in your trunk as a "just in case". It's like a Murphy's Law thing that if you have spares readily available, nothing breaks, lol.

But honestly, if you replace all four with bolt down Hitachi E's, which were used on practicaly the same engine in the B5's with no problems, then your coilpack problems will go away. Dealers won't do that, but honestly, if you are buying these things from a dealer or even having them installed by a dealer, there is the issue.

Yes, it can be a problem more have faced than they should, but fixing it the "right" way with the "right" part will solve this problem.

Find out how many with E's have problems, and you'll see.... there aren't any.

 

Alright so my car is basically stock. All I have is an Eisenmann Sport Exhaust. But as far as coil packs go I had to pull over and change cylinder 2 and then 10 minutes later get out and change out #3. When they first went out i changed the only the bad one because NAPA only had one in stock. I had 3 ordered from my autobody shop and changed those out the next day.. Since then I have changed them 7 other times. I will look into getting theHitachi E's as you said now? but are they much different from the ones NAPA would give me because I get a huge discount there??

 

Yes, the Hitachi E's are much better. I put them on my car after I had 2 coilpacks go out on me this last time. Its the second time they're being replaced (the first time they were still under warranty and were covered free of $.) This time, since I was paying for them, I went with the Hitachi's so that I won't have to change them again anytime soon.

Bustanut is right, if you have one go out and you only change that one, another is bound to go out fairly soon. It only makes since to change them all at once.

 

I googled them and cannot find them? Where did you guys buy from?