culaslucas

Hey guys, I know it's tough to diagnose this without a VAG-COM but I just ordered mine and it won't be here until Friday so I thought I'd run this by you.

Car is 2001 1.8t Quattro, Manual Tranny. 150k miles.

Problems begin:
7/24. Conditions: 95 degrees, very steep mountain road with very tight turns.

Driving up Magnolia rd in Boulder – fueled up 8 miles ago. EPC & Traction Control light came on. Car started sputtering but was able to make it up. Stopped at a flat spot, restarted, warning lights were off but problem remained for another 30 miles or so. Car sat for 2 days, started it up and it had the same issues going back down. Finally got better and noticed no issues for the next 300 miles – until next fillup. I did notice it was jerking a bit when I let off of the gas every now and then…


8/5. Conditions: 80 – in town traffic. Pulled out onto the road, revved it too high (started in 2nd gear on accident), EPC light went on, slight stutter – seemed fine after a minute.


8/8. Conditions: 90 degrees. Filled up, driving to Denver, about 25 miles in it started sputtering again. No lights came on. Continued to sputter a bit.


8/9. Conditions: 95 degrees. In town traffic. 50 miles since fillup. Started car just fine, went about .5 miles, revs dropped to 0 when slowing down for a stop light and the car shut off and the battery light came on. Took 30 seconds of cranking - finally had to tap the throttle to restart. Pulled over for a bit. Restarted and it was idling roughly. Continued sputtering. Pulled off TB – found a little oil but didn’t appear to be sticking or dirty.


8/9 – 50.8 miles since fillup. restarted after letting sit for 5 hours. Ran fine for a few minutes, then started getting very jerky. CEL started blinking. Noticed an odd smell – running rich – unburned fuel? Unplugged MAF – wouldn’t start up.


All other gauges looked normal. Have never put in anything besides premium. Have oil changed at correct intervals - synthetic. Checked oil level, is normal - a little dirty for only 1000 miles on the change though... Checked air filter, a little dirty but normal.

Possibilities?

Pull OBD/VAG-COM Codes. Check for boost leaks. Pull plugs – detonation?, check compression.

Because the problem is occurring after I fill up – could be the Carbon Canister??

Coilpacks?

MAF?

O2 sensor?

Ignition Control Module?

Catalytic Converter?

Camshaft Position Sensor?


There’s a connection loose under the Intake at the front passenger side of the engine bay. Can’t get it to stay – no idea what it’s for. Ran car and held it on, seemed to make no difference.

Thoughts?

Nate (ETKA+Scumbag)

Start with coil packs and spark plugs.

the_n

If the coil packs aren't the issue, next time it happens, take a look under the hood where the cat converter is. If it's glowing, there's your problem. Had the same issue about a year ago. Hope that helps.

culaslucas

Thanks man. I haven't had this car more than a few months - not sure exactly where the cats are off of my head. I'll look for a glowing mass of doom unless someone can point me in the right direction.

culaslucas

Okay, checked existing Codes:

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P0135 - 02 Heater Circuit, Bank 1, Sensor 1
P0300 - Random Misfire Detected
P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire
P0304 - Cylinder 4 Misfire

--------------------------------------------

Erased the codes, restarted, drove around for about 30 seconds before I got the blinking CEL. Stopped car, checked codes again:

--------------------------------------------
P0300 - Random Misfire Detected
P0303 - Cylinder 3 Misfire
P0304 - Cylinder 4 Misfire
--------------------------------------------

This probably means either bad spark plug or Coilpacks right? Which are cylinders 3 & 4?

Thanks!

culaslucas

Okay, I swapped my plugs as they were very fouled. Swapped with BKR6E's.

I'm still getting a little sputtering and cutting out - but it's pretty random. I haven't had any new codes though. It's definitely not running like it's supposed to.

What do I do next?

Kessler

Italian tune-up.

culaslucas

This just turned out to be spark plugs. After a few miles on the new plugs, everything is fine.

I did order the Hitachi 'e' coilpacks as a preventative measure.

bnr32_coupe

What does that compose of?

culaslucas

AFAIK, that basically means to run the car hard to burn of built up carbon.