Audi A4 - Cutting Out

noojam55

Had a similiar experience with same ages VW Passat. Just out of interest, if you want to stick to dealers, take it to one of Seat, Skoda or VW dealers who can all work on the car, they share the parts etc. In particular, share the VW Passat B5 parts, and VW although expensive, will be cheaper than Audi.

My car didn't cut out, but it did have unstable idling. Got some throttle spray and took it to my local independent. Total cost: £10. It's not a big job and I have the same car (although VW badge).

Just as a comparison to DealWithIt. Had a similar quote for £1300 at Dealers for major overhaul of rear suspension and got it down locally for £220. If you act confident, go with some knowledge, and take it to a reputable local dealer, the chances of you being ripped off are second to none. If you go in, umming and arghing and mentioning, a dealer said this, they'll smell you a mile off!

Go in, mention the throttle body, and test it before getting the rest done!

Regarding coolant temperature sensor, easiest way to test this is with a VAG cable, plug it in and if you get a fault code off the software, you should change that.

However, that error code can be linked to throttle body. I had it on my car, and cleared it before the repair. Hasn't come back since! Hope it helps!

Red29

Hi

Just thought I'd update on my car as so many of you offered very helpful advice. I've had the the throttle body cleaned unfortunately it hasn't solved the problem the car is still cutting out - however its made a massive difference to how the car feels when I'm driving it. I've been complaining about the car feeling sluggish, the gears a bit grindy and the steering feeling very heavy and its all gone!! So at least the car feels better to drive now.

I'm going to go to the scond option now and get the coolant temperature sender fixed and see if that helps.

I do have one question which I would appreciate any opinions on - an independant garage did a diagnostic on the car and it came back with a fault code which audi hadn't picked up. Basically sometimes when I put the key in and start the engine it doesn't work and I have to take the key out and do it again - when it works. Basically they are saying this is causing the cutting out. However, I'm not convinced as the key has been doing this for years and the cutting is a more recent problem and ages ago audi said they couldn't do anything about it.

Cheers

Red29

Hi

As you can see I first posted on this problem back in Feb and I'm still having the stalling problem!!

As soon as Spring came the car stopped stalling so I just left it as I'd had enough of talking to garages!! Now the cold weather is back so is the stalling and engine cutting out.

Two things have become clear to me 1. Whatever the problem it's affected by the cold weather and 2. The car stalls when I brake - the engine / battery dead light on the dash board flickers as soon as I touch the brake, if I can catch it quick enough and take my foot off the brake I can stop the stalling.

I would really apreciate any thoughts on what the problem might be.

The car is booked into a garage on Tuesday but I don't hold out much hope since three different garages including Audi looked at it back in Feb and all came up with different answers and the thing that really annoyed me was they all used computer diagnostics - but all had different error codes!! I can't find a garage that doesn't use this equipment -probably because at £25-£30 a go it's easy money to connect a laptop to my car and wait for a result - far cheaper than a mechanic having a look at my car.

Would really appreciate any assistance with this nightmare problem!!

Thanks

LandyAndy

Whereabouts in Britain are you?

LandyAndy

have you thought about asking here...http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/

Red29

LandyAndy I'm in the West Mids in Walsall. Thanks for the audi forum tip I'll try there.

LandyAndy

Red29 wrote: »

LandyAndy I'm in the West Mids in Walsall. Thanks for the audi forum tip I'll try there.

Try an independent specialist such as

http://www.thevwaudispecialists.co.uk/

who are in Coventry.

They should have all the expertise but without the huge hourly rates and will be more used to what goes wrong in older cars..

I just googled 'independent audi specialists' and they were the first that came up (even before I asked where you were:cool:).

gaz_jones

I agree with Andy. Take it down to an independent Audi garage. When my BMW needs any work done I take it to the local BMW specialist. Most of the mechanics are ex BMW mechanics anyway so they know their way around my car like the back of their hand. I imagine it would be the same with your car.

mluton

Red29 wrote: »

LandyAndy I'm in the West Mids in Walsall. Thanks for the audi forum tip I'll try there.

I'm work in aldridge and I have a VAG COM, diagnostic equiptment for VAG Cars.

Im a member over on www.vwaudiforum.co.uk under the same username.

I would ba happy to scan your car.

I would need to scan it, reset the faults then rescan after the cutting out had occured to see what appears as it could show old faults.

Throttle body was my first call on reading your thread, but you say you have had this cleaned, did they realign the throttle body back after cleaning ? If not I can do this if you need me to. With regards the coolant temp, does this only cut out when the car it hot or even when cold ?

I would start a thread on vwaudiforum with your problem, the forum has saved me lots of money over the years. Coil packs are a common failure on VAGS that cause running Isuues.

PM me.

adjests

We had an R reg A4 which developed a similar problem. The diagnosis (main dealer) at the time was to replace the throttle body and flush out and renew coolant. We did this and the problem persisted. In the end it turned out to be a faulty temperature sensor. It was explained at the time, based on the way the ECU? works the error message is flagged where the problems occurs not the source.

My advice – as LandyAndy and mLuton have said above, find an independent as they actually make effort to work out whats wrong, rather than the main dealer who rely on the computer. Have a look at the vwaudiforum.

I wish I had this advice at the time, might have saved myself a fortune.