Yesterday I got into my Audi a4 wagon and turned the car on, I noticed a clicking noise coming from the left side of my dash. I thought that noise was odd since if didn't stop for a long time, and I thought maybe I might be having a issue with one of my relays. I started to get on the onramp of the freeway and I noticed everytime it accelerated the car would shake, kind of like it was not getting enough gas/oxygen or something. The CHECK engine light immediately came on and so I exited the freeway and took the back streets home. The next day I started up the car and now both the check engine light and also the EPC light is on (the clicking behind the dash continues). DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT COULD BE WRONG? Thank You.

 

Not a mechanicl but it does sound like a potential coil pack problem. I say this because of the loss of power and shaking you are experiencing. Wait to hear from some other members who might have a different opinion or have had a similar problem.

 

Hi Manny,

I am in the same boat as you. Today I replaced my coils due to the same issue. After replacing the four coils, I started the engine and noticed that the car was not shaking anymore. However, the check engine light was still on.

Another fellow suggested that I unplugged the battery for a couple of minutes just to reset the computer. After unplugging that, the check engine light did come off; however, now the ABS light comes on instead. Also I heard sparkling sound every time I turned on the ignition.

Has anyone ever experienced the same issue before?

 

Hi all,

I had two different experiences with the EPC light coming on in my 2002 A4 and neither time was it related to the coil packs. One time it was the crank position sensor (located just above the oil pan in the engine block) and the other time it was the cam position sensor (located in the top fron tof the engine in the head). The engine would run really bad and even cut off intermittently but then after restarting it would run fine for a while. Neither sensor was very expensive and both were easy to replace. I found replacement parts on ebay for around $30 US dollars each. Of course the check engine light can be anything but in my case I also got the check engine light with the EPC light and the sensors corrected all of the problem. The best way to know for sure what your problem is - get someone with Vag com to read your trouble codes, it will tell you exactly whats wrong in most cases.

 

Xeon - in your case it may have been the coil packs and you may have indeed fixed the problem but your car will continue to display the check engine light until you have the trouble codes cleared (Vag Com) or until you drive your car for a while (not sure exactly how long), but the computer will eventually turn off the light if no problem is detected after several miles/days of driving.

 

oh about the clicking - if its coming from inside your dash and not the engine, it is probably one of the flap position motors for the climate control system. I also had this problem and I do recall it happened about the same time as the EPC issues popped up, but it is completely unrelated to that and will not affect the driving of your car. I paid a dealer to fix my flap motor and it was about $400.00 US dollars. I have since read on these forums that they are not all that difficult to change yourself, located behind the glove box...

 

Thanks guys. My car is running fine now. The light never came on after I unplugged the battery. I also brought my car to a mechanic. He said that the clicking sound comes from the ABS console which is normal when the ignition is switched on. I have been driving the car for a few days now, and it seems okay.

 

mine did that one time, the coil pack blew, but when i turned the car off for a minute and turned it back on the coil started working again, and these are brand new coils...