jendefur

Hello,

I have been reading posts about older Audi cars that have trouble starting, since my knowledge of cars is limited, I would appreciate it if someone can help me diagnose my problem.

I have a 2003 A4, 1.8T. It has 16,000 miles on it. First owner, bought from a dealer. Last year, it was starting to "randomly" have starting issues. You can hear the engine turn, so it can't be the battery. Once the rpm wants to level out, it would die. At the beginning, it would take only 1 or 2 tries to get it started. Over a few months, it got to be 5-10 and you'd have to gas to rev the engine so it wouldn't stall. Also, when I go to reverse, occasionally it "put..put..puts) and almost wants to die. Now, for the past month, gassing/reving the engine when the car is being started doesn't even work anymore.

We brought it into the dealer because it was happening so frequently that they were bound to have it happen to them. Of course, when I brought it there, it worked fine. the dealer kept it for 2 days and never experienced a problem. 3 days later, I was stranded at a parking meter and couldn't get it i started, so had it towed. Once it got to the dealer, it started and the dealer can't find out what's wrong since it doesn't do it to them..

Happens in any "california" weather/temp. Distance doesn't matter either. I can start it, drive a mile or 10 and turn it off for 5 mins and can't restart it. It will happen in the morning going to work or in the afternoon, returing home.

Any advice/ideas? I am going nuts!

Thank you,
Jennifer

DolphinV8

A GIRL!

nanotech

Have you done anything like injector cleaner or other additives? Sounds like you're either not getting fuel, or fuel/air is being metered wrong. My blind guess would be injectors/fuel filter/fuel system or dirty MAF sensor.

I guess the dealer must have pulled the fault codes off the car and found nothing wrong?

roadrunner13

there have a couple times when mine won't start right and it "putt, putts" too. then goes away...

jendefur

Once it gets running, the engine is fine. Like nothing's wrong, it's getting it running which is the problem.

No, I never put anything into the car other than gas and only do oil changles at Audi (actually more frequently than recommended).

I assume it has to do with the gas intake, like it gets air? Well, I am a girl.. what do I know

As for the fault codes, I was unaware there were any. Audi called today asking for the second key, they think it is a security issue, which I totally disagree with.

nanotech

The immobilizer should allow the car to crank but it should never fire up at all, so it doesn't seem that likely, but who knows. Have you experienced this problem with both keys?

I just reread your post, I thought originally you'd said 160K miles not 16K miles. This new, you should not need to worry about things like dirty injectors or fuel filters unless you are running really dirty gasoline. Sorry for misleading you.

jendefur

It happens with both keys. I drive the car 90% of the time with my key and my husband the other 10%. The starting problem is exactly the same with both keys. I wish it could be something as easy as that. Whatever it is though, it has been getting progressively worse.

Ultrasport-Sal

Even with both keys, could be the ignition cylinder that picks up the chip in the key. Have seen that happen a few times.

ONEbadAudi

I had a problem like that in the past... it turned out to be a dirty Throttle Control Module... It is possible to get oil spray from in the throttle body and can over time build up. I will say it seems strange with only 16k miles on it... Well thats my $.02 Good luck!!

zimmerolls

i had the same problem, had the dealer reprogram keys, no ploblems since.