PwrDriftr

Hi guys,

My Audi is (once again) causing me problems. This morning the engine seems rough, with a bit of vibration. Vibration increases with RPM. Being in gear seems to have no affect so I don't think it's a clutch issue.

Also, I had all my coil packs replaced last year under recall. I also had my timing belt done around 10K's ago. Could it be something simple like a spark plug?

Any ideas? Thanks guys.

nickjays

I've had a similar problem to this once. The engine was vibrating like crazy and I had to drive home in 3rd gear at 30-40km/h so the RPMs wouldn't climb.

What my problem was was that my Audi was running on 3 cylinders instead of 4.

WARNING: Electrocution Hazard. The AMP (strength) of the electricity is not enough to hurt you but the shock will be... Quite a shock.

Take out each spark plug, one after the other, with the coil attached, hold it up to the engine block (as a source of mass) and get someone to start the car. If there's a spark, the cylinder, coil, cables and battery aren't the problem. If one of them isn't igniting then exchange the spark plugs. If it works then, it's a spark plug problem. If not, exchange the coils (ontop of the sparkplug, transforms 12v battery energy into about 10,000v). If it works, then it's the coil you need to replace. If it still doesn't work, it could be (but highly unlikely) that your wiring is damaged and since the your car apparently starts, it can't be the battery.

If you still haven't found the problem and it is running on less cylinders than usually (less cylinders cause vibration because there is no equality between the rotation of the cylinders) it may be that you have an internal engine problem. At this point you should get a mechanic to check it out.



Hope all goes well,
Nick

PwrDriftr

I took it into my mechanic. They looked at all the ignition coils (thanks nickjays) and other stuff and the engine itself is running fine. They say it's either a flywheel issue or some kind of bearing (I don't remember what he called the bearing). Either way I'm looking at $1000. That's back to back $1000 repair bills for me. Bummer.....

nickjays

That is a bummer. I was hoping you had the same problem as I did: one of my coils gave up. The part cost me 50 bucks from Lordco.

PwrDriftr

I haven't driven my car in a few days. This morning I started it up and the vibration is gone. Isn't that the strangest thing. How could a flywheel/bearing issue correct itself. Maybe my car realized that it's days in my garage may be numbered so it decided to behave itself.

Xeon

Guys,

I did have the same problem yesterday. After reading this forum, I finally replaced four ignition coils today myself; however, after I turned on the engine, the check engine light was still on, but my car didn't vibrate anymore like yesterday.

I am still worried about the check engine light still on. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

G-rae

Undo one of your battery cables for a couple of minutes and see if the computer resets. You will have to reset your time etc, but that should reset the computer. If not you may have to get someone with a VAG-COM program to reset the code.

Xeon

Hi G,

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I also noticed some sparkling sound when I turned on the ignition. I was sure that I had secured all the coils in place. Why there is that kind of sound? I did turn on the engine for 5 minutes, and there was nothing happen except for that check engine light.

Could it be possible that I got a different type of coils from the store where I bought them? I did tell them my car's model and VIN#.

Please advise on this. Thankss

G-rae

Doubt that the coils are wrong as the wiring connection would probably not hook up. The coils sit down tight onto the valve cover, connections pointing directly to the exhaust side. You may have a wiring problem, but if the engine is running smooth.....not likely. Without hearing it, hard to say what the "sparkling" sound is. If you bought the car recently and the coils have not been changed by the dealership already, it should be under the recall that happened about a year or so ago.

Xeon

I did call Audi dealership today, and they said that my car is still under the recall. However the nearest Audi dealership is about 130km away from my place. They wouldn't reimburse for towing my car to their place. SO I figured that I just changed the coils myself.

About five minutes ago, I unplugged the battery for a couple of minutes and turned on the engine afterwards. The check engine light went off, but now the ESP warning light comes on. Also the sparkling sound still occurs when I turn on the ignition.

Do you have any idea of what I should do next?

Thanks Gerry