Gary

My 98.5 30Vqms had developed a rough idle, that included the RPM's dipping and the engine almost stalling at red lights (this is in neutral in a 5-speed). It's had it for 2-3 months, and seemed not to be getting that worse, but it was very annoying. I took it to the dealer who could not diagnose the problem and claimed they inspected/cleaned the TB and ICV (or whatever its called on my car) and everything looked fine - $200 cost btw.

The car only has 31K miles on it (4.5 years old) and gets mainly city miles (7 mile commute to work). Also, I'm in WA and I've heard the gas here is similiar to CA gas and has been described by some as "crappy" (not sure why).

So after a few hours with the all-knowing, all-seeing Audiworld archives, I decided a can of BG44 was my next step. Put it in on Sat and took the car out for a rare all-out run in the mountains (OK, that was really fun). I've now had 3 days of rock-solid idle that's as smooth as the day I bought the car. I have no idea where the problem was, or why the dealer couldn't diagnose it, but the results of the BG44 treatment cannot be disputed - very impressive.

Now, I had not read anywhere that this stuff is an octane booster, or affected performance in anyway, so I was not looking for or expecting any change in performance (no placebo effect), but I SWEAR the car feels slightly pepier and has slightly better throttle response - really.

In conclusion, I am a completely happy customer - thanks again to the Audi faithful for banding together and providing a solution to my problem.

GaryJ

needforsleep

You might need a new fuel filter.

Kris Hansen

cleaning hte TB can help a lot on these cars. BTW, the 30v does not have an ICV, it uses the throttle valve to regualte the idle.

paul_858

we call it crappy gas because of it's low octane

Yippers®

deposits can provide hot spots that pre-ignite the mixture causing some timing to be pulled.

Gary

Are you thinking that the treatment is "dirtying" up the fuel filter, or that a dirty filter might be a cause of my original issue. I only ask as I am happy with the results and wouldn't look to do anything else. Thanks,

GaryJ

td80

After 4 trips to the dealer and 7 coilpacks replaced I read somewhere in the archives to run a fuel additive through...

I added a bottle of techron through it and its smooth as glass again and my throttle response is 10x better just like you said. Amazing how simple the solution actually was after all my trips to the dealer

Gary

Yep - I learned once again: go to AW first, then to the dealer if needed

Audi[]Viruz

where can i get this????

needforsleep

situation (just a thought). I have used fuel addititves a lot in the past and the car runs superb with them in, but when you run a couple gas tanks without the additive in it, the engine kinda returns to it's previous state. I'm just suggesting not to get your hopes up until you know how the car runs without the additive in it. You are right that the additive is an octane booster thus the feel of more torque/hp.

Let us know how it drives about a month from now, I would be interested to know.