Bought my first audi today. Need help

[Quattrob]

Hi everyone, I'm rob.

Bought my first audi today after much debate and consideration. Went to the dealership and managed to get the guy down on the price quite a bit due to what I thought was a simple problem.

The car is a 97 2.8 30v quattro. It's done a brave 170000 miles.

Now the problem is this. The car will start but dies straight away. If you press the accelerator it will rev and you can keep it running. The car will drive as long as you don't let the revs drop too low. Motorway speeds are fine and gear changes are alright at speed.

Pull up at a junction or put the clutch down at a slow speed and the engine cuts off. 

I have tried cleaning the sensors with some electrical contact cleaner and tried running it with the MAF off. Best I managed was a few seconds of lumpy idle. I thought maybe it was the CTS but the coolant temp went up to the middle on the drive home. The oil temperature was low though. 

The dealer said he thought it was the throttle cable. Which on inspection has some random cable tie wrapped around it. Also the throttle response is a bit sluggish.

I have been racking my brains trying to figure it out but no luck. It must be getting fuel air and spark because it will drive and rev. Also there are no lights on the dash and the auto diagnostic says "OK"

I'll also add that the previous owner has installed a push to start button which works in case that is affecting it at all.

There's also evidence of a large oil leak on the left bank, could be old or could mean I've got to replace the valve cover gaskets.

The air filter and intake is clear and I couldn't find any vacuum leaks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated 

[James]

I'd try and get the throttle cable sorted that doesn't sound great.

Have you had any issues with the battery? Sometimes the ECU may need to relearn/reset itself after the battery has been disconnected?

[Quattrob]

I can't work out what the cable ties are actually doing. They're just wraped around it. 

When I picked the car up the battery needed a jump start. It was a good 40 minute drive home though so shouldn't the ECU have reset itself by now?

Would a dodgy throttle cable or battery cause the problem I'm having?

Thanks for the reply I was starting to give up hope haha.

[James]

Not the throttle cable but the battery maybe. Certainly if it had been flat for a while.

Is the battery definitely OK now? Have you had it tested? You'd be surprised the sort of electrical gremlins a dodgy battery can cause. Of course, it may not be that but it's certainly worth checking out.

[Brucielee]

I'd agree with James with the battery to start with, quite a lot of cars suffer from dud or old batteries although they seem to work fine, but before going down the long list of sensors and spending endless amounts of chasing I'd do a complete service on it, Oil and filters, air and plugs and leads etc etc, irrespective of what you've been told you'll then know that them parts are all new, rubbish plugs or weak leads or old can cause rubbish running also take the plugs out and check each one to see if there are any spark lines or black spark marks on the white of them, if there is it means the spark isnt going where it's supposed to, it only seems to make a difference at low speeds and not high which is why your motorway driving might seem fine.

not sure but would these have had an idle control valve, if there's not I'd check the air fuel mix at the carbs to make sure it's set right 

For the oil leak, is the oil filter close to that side or the oil filler cap, maybe someone had a mishap while pouring, 

 

 

 

 

[Quattrob]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Managed to get it running at last. 

My OBD2 scanner arrived on Tuesday but just kept saying "linking error" so it promptly went in the bin.

I removed the throttle body which was absolutley filthy. Id say it's never been cleaned until now which isn't surprising considering everything else I've seen of the last owner. Gave it a good clean and gave all the sensors in the engine bay a squirt with electrical contact cleaner. 

Charged the battery which had gone flat and did the tba where you leave the ignition on for 3 minutes.

 

Started it up and it idled perfectly, literally jumped up and down with joy haha.

[James]

4 minutes ago, Quattrob said:

Thanks for the advice everyone. Managed to get it running at last. 

My OBD2 scanner arrived on Tuesday but just kept saying "linking error" so it promptly went in the bin.

I removed the throttle body which was absolutley filthy. Id say it's never been cleaned until now which isn't surprising considering everything else I've seen of the last owner. Gave it a good clean and gave all the sensors in the engine bay a squirt with electrical contact cleaner. 

Charged the battery which had gone flat and did the tba where you leave the ignition on for 3 minutes.

 

Started it up and it idled perfectly, literally jumped up and down with joy haha.

Glad you managed to get it sorted Rob - time to get on and enjoy driving the car now then! 

[Quattrob]

It's gotta pass it's MOT on Saturday first haha. Which at the moment isn't looking likely because the sidelight isn't working -.- suspected wiring issue.

[James]

Should be easy enough to sort though - is it just the one sidelight?

[Quattrob]

It's all sorted now. I spent the day fixing snapped and bodged wiring through the the car. Rear lights and parcel shelf speakers, the front side light and fog lights. It was a nightmare of bad connections and balls of tape.

[James]

On 4/15/2016 at 2:11 PM, Quattrob said:

It's all sorted now. I spent the day fixing snapped and bodged wiring through the the car. Rear lights and parcel shelf speakers, the front side light and fog lights. It was a nightmare of bad connections and balls of tape.

Glad you got it sorted - there's nothing worse than dodgy wiring!

[Quattrob]

Oh trust me, much worse happened.

So I was happy driving a long to the test center for my MOT when I started hearing a squeeking noise at low speed when I accelerated. At first I thought maybe a brake had stuck on, but as I approved a step of traffic lights it suddenly got very loud and felt like the car was pulling back on one side. I genuinley thought my suspension had collapsed or a wheel had come off. 

I got it up onto some grass and checked the car. Everything looked fine and the engine revved happily.

Drove on again and the noise came back after  while. Only when I accelerated, only at low speed. But without the slowing and pulling sensation. Then the noise was replaced by what sounded like small pieces of metal rattling and falling off. I stopped immediately. The engine still revved fine with no noises and I limped it into a car park I luckily stopped beside. Checked it over again but couldn't find any problems. Drove on with no issues again. About 3 minutes later literally outside the test center the car made a hard jolt at low speed that felt like id run something over and slowed me right down. It was making the loud squeeking and rattling again. Limped into the car park as I was in a busy road and got out. Once again engine revved nicely while stationary and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong. 

I looked under the car and noticed smoke coming from the underneath and what sounded like a slow rhythmic knocking sound. I switched it off and walked into the garage and explained what had happened. They said they'd take a look before the MOT. 

So off I go twiddling my thumbs as I wait for them and I get a phone call.

The man explains that they are unable to identify where the smoke is coming from.

The car is now booked in for a full diagnostic inspection by an apparent VAG specialist followed hopefully by repairs and then the MOT.

No idea what's wrong or how much it's going to cost me.

Luckily I can pay whatever the bill is monthly 

[James]

19 minutes ago, Quattrob said:

Oh trust me, much worse happened.

So I was happy driving a long to the test center for my MOT when I started hearing a squeeking noise at low speed when I accelerated. At first I thought maybe a brake had stuck on, but as I approved a step of traffic lights it suddenly got very loud and felt like the car was pulling back on one side. I genuinley thought my suspension had collapsed or a wheel had come off. 

I got it up onto some grass and checked the car. Everything looked fine and the engine revved happily.

Drove on again and the noise came back after  while. Only when I accelerated, only at low speed. But without the slowing and pulling sensation. Then the noise was replaced by what sounded like small pieces of metal rattling and falling off. I stopped immediately. The engine still revved fine with no noises and I limped it into a car park I luckily stopped beside. Checked it over again but couldn't find any problems. Drove on with no issues again. About 3 minutes later literally outside the test center the car made a hard jolt at low speed that felt like id run something over and slowed me right down. It was making the loud squeeking and rattling again. Limped into the car park as I was in a busy road and got out. Once again engine revved nicely while stationary and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong. 

I looked under the car and noticed smoke coming from the underneath and what sounded like a slow rhythmic knocking sound. I switched it off and walked into the garage and explained what had happened. They said they'd take a look before the MOT. 

So off I go twiddling my thumbs as I wait for them and I get a phone call.

The man explains that they are unable to identify where the smoke is coming from.

The car is now booked in for a full diagnostic inspection by an apparent VAG specialist followed hopefully by repairs and then the MOT.

No idea what's wrong or how much it's going to cost me.

Luckily I can pay whatever the bill is monthly 

Sorry to hear that Rob, doesn't sound like you've had a great time considering you've just purchased the car.

At least you made it to the garage though I suppose. Keep us updated when you know what it is...