djmatty

Hey guys, I have 96 a4 2.8l (12V I think) 204,000 miles. Auto trans. Have had the car for a few months, have no idea what kind of service was performed on it. First thing: This is the gf's car and she baby's anything she drives, but seems to have bad luck with automobiles in general. She puts premium fuel in it and put a bottle of heet in the tank last week when she filled it. It is pretty cold here and the other night she warmed it up for ten minutes, drove it home, about a half hour, pulled into the driveway and the car died. She tried to restart it three times and it would stall immediately. I tried it the next day, it started fine, and ran to the store, ran perfectly. Today I tried to start it, the motor fired, then stalled. Tried it again, and it cranked slowly, then the battery died. Used a code scanner, it said temp sensor, and EGR valve. Put 'er on a charger, turned the key, heard the fuel pump kick in for a second, and "rurr, rurr, click, click, nothing. What do you think?? Sorry for the book, but wanted to give detailed description ...

turbo510

All 12V's get the EGR code, but that won't stop the engine. Coolant temp sensor could, which is why I've got a spare one in the garage for my '96.

You say that you put it on the charger- long enough to fully charge the battery? Maybe the battery is shot. Possibly the battery is weak but the real problem is something else. Try jumping a strong battery to it and see if the starting improves.

djmatty

Ok, I got a good battery and the car started with a little bit of foot on the pedal. It really wanted to die, so I had to feather it for about 45 seconds. Then it would idle very roughly and quite low. The motor would cough and sputter till I feathered it to about 2000 rpm. Again it came down to idle at about 500 rpm and ran roughly for about two minutes. Then it really got rough and died. Don't think it is the coolant temp sensor. What do you think ?

turbo510

The only thing we have to go on is your coolant temp fault code. These sensors are actually dual-sensors: one section for the gauge, the other for the engine control computer. Your code likely was flagged because the ECU received an out-of-range signal. You could try disconnecting the sensor to see if the car runs any better, as a test. Usually a disconnected sensor causes the ECU to substitute the missing signal with a default one, just to keep the engine running. The coolant temp sensor is basically below the black corrugated plastic hose between the MAF sensor and the plastic ducting for the throttle. Remove that hose and you'll see the sensor, with a connector on it and a clip to retain the sensor in a coolant pipe.

The symptoms could also be related to an air leak, or low fuel pressure. When the engine is running, listen for any hissing sound of air. Even a vacuum hose can leak in enough air to screw up the starting and running.

Once you get this solved, you might suggest to your girlfriend that idling is slow way to get the car warmed up. Does this A4 have the seat heaters?

djmatty

Yes! she loves her "bun warmers" !! But anyways, I took off the idle control valve to clean it. Directly underneath that is a four- wired sensor. Is that bastard the CTS ?? What a hooker it is to work on these damn cars!! I should kick my own *** for being half-german, just in case I have any decendants that worked for Audi!!! Also, how do you check the timing on this wreck??? I suppose, knowing Audi, you have to spin around upside down on your head and blink your eyes fast enough to see the mark ?? HaHa ! Sorry, this car has driven me to drink tonight. Thanks for the help turbo !!

djmatty

Hey Turbo, my other question is : now that the ICV is off I can get at the CTS . If I try to run the car with the sensor unplugged, how the hell do I change the sensor with the ICV installed ??

turbo510

Do you mean ignition timing? You don't check it; the engine computer self-adjusts the timing based on inductive crank, cam, and flywheel sensors, knock sensors, the temp sensor, etc. If you ment camshaft timing, that is done with a special tool set which locks the crank and cams during a timing belt job.

You shouldn't have too much trouble with the coolant sensor. If you just want to unplug it, the formed steel release wire is squeezed then the connector pulled free. To remove the sensor, a clip is pulled out from the side of the metal socket which the sensor is sitting, which allows the sensor to be pulled/wiggled up and out. The ICV shouldn't be in the way, I've never had any interference on my '96.

djmatty

I ordered the CTS and will have it monday. Will let you know what exciting things happen then !!

djmatty

Hey Turbo, thanks again for the help. Installed the CTS and she runs like a top again. I had no idea that little sensor would affect how crappy the car ran. All is good now !!!

turbo510

Good job! These are actually well-built cars, and don't deserve the reputation of being hard to work on. I just went past 230,000 miles on my '96 the other day, and it runs absolutely great.