Rai

Symptoms: on cold starts every morning (note it doesnt get too cold in Sydney Australia) the first turn of the key would see the car cough, splutter and cut out after 1-3 seconds... second turn of the key the car would start perfectly. Note to add to the frustration one time in 15 the car would cold start perfectly.

Resolution: (after numerous trips to an Audi service centre with the VAG machine supposedly not indicating any problem) finally Audi Australia instructed the air flow sensor and ECU replaced.

Previous attempts by the service centre included cleaning the injectors, removing air in fuel pump, replacing the fuel pump, rewiring loose wiring and looking into possible probs with immobilisation unit.

Hopefully if anyone else is having as frustrating a time as I did this post may be of some use.

md3

Rai,

I am having what appears to be the exact same problem with my 1.8T 2000. Did you experience performance lost in normal driving? I have an appointment to bring this in right after the 4th of July. Would you say that this is becoming a general issue that Audi has relayed to their dealers? If not should I suggest to the Dealer to look at the air flow sensor as well as the ECU?

Rai

My 1.8T is manual and mid '98 (Australian market). I experienced no loss of power, symptoms were purely hard to cold start. Because it was a warranty fix I suspect the service centre probably didn't want to order parts and attempt to claim back from the factory (Audi Australia). Eventually I went direct to Audi Australia and their technicians advised the service centre what to order and replace. The parts were:
Air Flow meter, A4 Turbo
E.C.U., A4 Turbo Auto
(not sure why they specified auto... i assume the ECU for auto and manual are the same, and that the transmission itself has its own ECU)