Hey, this is still a car forum right? I might as well…
So here’s the deal.
2011 Audi a3 6MT FWD. 100,xxx (BONE STOCK DD)
Driving home from work on the freeway last night. Mash the gas in 3rd gear coming off some traffic… misfire. EPC and check engine light start flashing, both stay illuminated. I pull over at the nearest exit, restart… still missing and lights still on.
I limp it home on what feels like 3 cyl. Maybe 10-12 miles. I know i’m due for some basic maintenance, so I run the girls car to pick up 4 new coilpacks and spark plugs. Car runs completely fine again after plugs and coilpacks. Thank goodness. I then went ahead and reset the ECU via neg battery disconnect for 10 min.
Here’s my problem, the check engine light is still there, but the car seems completely normal again. I have a buddy with a scan tool coming over tonight to help diagnose the code and fix, but i figured id toss this thread in here to give my VW dudes something to ponder on this fine Friday morning. Did i roast an o2 sensor by running rich limping it home?
Let me know your thoughts and i’ll report back tonight with updates.
Really needs the code to get started. What worries me is when a coil pack goes bad you’re still dumping fuel in that cylinder at each rotation and that unburned fuel is getting sent out the exhaust. Catalytic converters really don’t like that.
As I learned after getting my CC VAG vehicles are notorious for coil packs. I replaced mine with the latest fancy red ones that the forums claim are a little better and tossed two of the old ones that were working in the spare tire well in case I ever have one fail away from home. I always keep my little OBD2 wifi code reader in the car so it would take just a few minutes to identify which one is bad and swap it in a parking lot.
-I dont have a RossTech cable* to clarify. My buddy that is coming down has had mine on loan -_- Come to think of it he has my jack stands, too. I’m too nice.
-I didnt want to bring up the cat because they are expensive and it worries me Maybe this is a good time for a catless DP and tune, lol
-Going to keep the good old ones in the spare tire well for sure. I did some reading and went OEM. The r8 coil packs seem unnecessary. Just more red.
I was OK with throwing money at parts blindly because I knew I had to do plugs and coils anyways as part of some upcoming general maintenance.
EDIT: I just picked up that wifi one from amazon, thanks for the link. Seems like a nice upgrade from my old one. Also, im hoping not immediately pulling over and shutting down didnt hurt me too bad. I didnt have much of an option at that point aside from just limping it home. Fingers crossed.
Commiserating, lol. It’s driving fine. I opted to take it in to work today (23 miles) as opposed to getting a ride, or snagging an uber. Hoping this wasnt a terrible decision.
If it’s a cat issue, bummer… but I can snag one for fairly cheap on modded euro’s or the like.
I’ll report back later. Fingers crossed for me plz
I limped mine home about 4 blocks when a coil failed with no damage. If it’s running fine I doubt you melted the guts of the cat because if you did it likely would be plugged now and you’d definitely notice a difference in performance. That wifi adapter works with Carista as well which has a ton of VW specific stuff in it. Most you have to pay to unlock it but for someone like me that doesn’t have a vagcom $10 to do the parking brake retraction/reset is a lot more convenient than driving to someone’s house to borrow their then dropping it back off. I thought about buying a vagcom but for a car I have zero modding interest in I just don’t think I’d ever get $200 worth of use out of it.
False alarm. Code was stuck. Cyl 3 misfire. Cleared it with my scanner and now breathing a sigh of relief. Scanner and extra coil packs in my spare tire well moving forward. :tup:
Ok, now back to bitcoins, house reno’s, and weed stocks.
I didn’t even open coinbase today because I spent the day demo’ing skis at the Holiday Valley Demo Day. My buddy did ask if I was going to cash out my LTC gains to pay for the new skis I’m ordering after falling in love with the Enforcer 93’s and I was like, “Fuck no man, I’ll cash out in 6 months when LTC hits 15k and I can pay off my house”. Dream big right? Lol
That Sportwagen is pretty cool. I was checking them out in person while waiting for my airbag recall over at Basil VW. My next car will have 4 rings and a drop top though.
I always carry a spare in our cars, but I have yet to need it roadside. I think Ive only ever HAD to replace one coil. They are cheap enough so I just do them at like 100k or something.
Just did all 4 of mine (duh) and that was the first time any have gone. Will be keeping spares in my trunk. I tell you, when this car works theres nothing better. I’m still new to the game but the wrenching ive had to do has always been enjoyable enough. I can see myself doing it again with the sportwagen 6mt 4motion. Quite a rare combo nowadays.
Strong fingers to pull out the coilpack out, having something to pry or pull them out helps and possibly a torx to remove the harness leading up to the coils.
Maybe this is a good time for a catless DP and tune, lol
