Spunky

Hello everyone !!
I am new to this forum. I recently purchased an A4 - 1.8T Cabriolet in April 2008. It was purchased from the USA and I imported it to Canada. It is a beautiful car but since I got it, I have had the car towed twice now to an Audi Dealership in BC because of the ignition coils..... It is a 2006 car.... Has anyone experienced issues as I have>?? If so, why is this happening? They will only replace one coil at a time and now I have a fear of the other 2 coils dieing on me one day!!! Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanx.

Chaos

its pretty common and random even a new one can go out quickly and if your car in not on warranty just pick a spare one up from the dealer very easy to change on the road.

02Audi-A4-3.0

Yeah I have an 02 a4 3.0 and for this year the ignition coils were a huge recall. I have not had any go on me in 6 months (knock on wood) but I do want to be prepared. I hear that since it was a recall I can contact audi and get them to replace them. My car is 3000 miles out of warranty. Apparently if they go without me speaking to audi first, it becomes my problem and they wont fix it. Is this true? Also could anyone give a description on how to take them out and replace them yourself...? VERY MUCH APPRECIATED! This is the only thing that worries me about my car. Thanks a lot and good luck with that cabrio. I hear to tell them to replace all of them. All 4 since you have a 4 cylinder. If one goes bad get them all replaced because the others will go bad sooner if there is only one new one.

Chaos

Replacing them is simple open the hood, remove the plastic engine cover held on by 3 plastic screws and then all you do is unhook the harness from the coil and pull it upwards. On older 1.8t i think there are 1 or 2 bolts holding them down to the valve cover but 2001+ should just come out by pullung.

As to the recall question if there is a recall for them go to the dealership they will run your vin and found out if your car was affected by the recall and if they were already changed.

Spunky

Thank you so much "Chaos" for your input and information. My car is a 2006 so I am not sure if Audi will cover the ignition coils under warranty. I will take your advice and get some extra ones because it is a huge inconvienience to have my car towed on a flat bed each time my coil goes. I love this forum!! I am so glad to be part of it because of all the amazing info. you can get. I also appreciate your advice on how simple it is to replace a coil. That will save alot of us "MUCHO" $$$$. Take care.

Ivo

I was told it was a common problem and both RPI Equiped and Scan Automotive (Richmond and North Vancouver respectively) suggested I change them all. They were only $50 bucks each so what the hell. Apearantly the old ones were a known problem and the new ones should last a lot longer - or so they both told me. RPI was kind enough to show me how to swap them and it is just that simple.

Incidentally mines a 2003 1.8t. The coil packs went almost right after I chipped the car.

wailshark

New ones seem to blow pretty much at the same rate as old ones from what i've seen so far.
Usual advice is to keep one in the trunk for just in case, you can change it out on the spot.

Good info from Chaos, on the 2.8 its even easier than the 1.8 cause you don't have to remove the little cover.

Ivo

Good to know - how can you tell which one has gone when you're out there? Do you just keep changing them until she runs properly?

Chaos

If you have a vag com or code scanner its gonna say misfire cyl # so if its cyl#1 swap out the one closest to the front of the car the rest go in order with #4 being closer to the windshield... a misfire wont always mean its the coil that went bad so if u have misfire on #1 swap #2 with #1 recheck the codes if the misfire moved to #2 then its a bad coil. If you dont have a scanner and your pretty sure its a bad coil jus keep swaping the new with the old ones till it works.

Ivo

Cool - i'm considering the purchase of a vag com but until then the trial and error method will have to suffice.