Ignition Problems of Audi A4 - part 1

After a stop light changed to green I started a left turn. Immediately the car started to "shake". It seemed like I was driving over some lane divider bumps. I noticed the engine light was on so I found a safe place to pull over. The car had to be towed. The dealership diagnosed a faulty ignition coil. ( all four ignition coils were already replaced in 2010 because of a recall). Again I had all 4 ignition coils replaced. I also had to have spark plugs replaced; (possibly because of the faulty ignition coils ruining some of the plugs. The spark plugs were replaced about 20,000 miles ago. ) I was told by the dealership that the original recall of the ignition coils did not cover this event. I feel there should be another recall for the ignition coils and include spark plug replacements.

See all problems of the 2007 Audi A4 🔎.

The contact owns a 1998 Audi A4. The contact stated that he smelled a burning wire odor upon starting the vehicle. The contact also stated that the windshield wipers and various other electrical components were not functioning. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the recall associated with NHTSA campaign id number 00v317000 (electrical system:ignition:switch). The failure mileage was 201,000.

See all problems of the 1998 Audi A4 🔎.

I have 1996 Audi A4 and experiencing the same recall problem as NHTSA campaign id number: 06v403000, which is not able to return the ignition key to the running position after starting the engine. This condition causing electrical accessories such as windshield wipers and headlights to become inoperative increasing the risk of a crash. I see the following recall on your website. But when I contact Audi at 1-800-822-2834, they says my 1996 Audi A4 is not qualified for this recall. Vehicle make / model: model year(s): Audi / A4 1996-1997 manufacturer: Volkswagen of America, inc mfr's report date: oct 20, 2006 NHTSA campaign id number: 06v403000 n/a NHTSA action number: n/a component: electrical system:ignition:switch potential number of units affected: 28594.

See all problems of the 1996 Audi A4 🔎.

The contact owns a 1996 Audi A4. The contact heard a loud squealing noise outside the vehicle when he started the ignition. The rpm's increased and the ignition key failed to return to the engine running position. Immediately, the ignition key was turned manually to the "on" position to resume normal operation. In addition, the windshield wipers and headlights became inoperative without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for inspection and NHTSA campaign id number 06v403000 (electrical system:ignition:switch) was referenced. The failures were identical, but the VIN was excluded from the recall. The vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 130,000 and current mileage was 132,000.

Audi A4 6-cyl 3. 0l avant 2003 model year. Coil pack #2 failed on Sep 28th 2007. Audi has had a recall for the 2003 A4 4-cyl 1. 8l engines but not for the 3. 0l engines. The vehicle only has 37k miles on the odometer. It's likely that there will be more cp failures, until I have all of them replaced. There should have been a recall for the 3. 0l engine as well.

See all problems of the 2003 Audi A4 🔎.

Car spontaneously caught on fire in the garage. Car was not running, keys were not in the ignition and engine was cold.

See all problems of the 2005 Audi A4 🔎.

I purchased this car on 1/24/07 with 22,422 miles on it. Six days later the engine light was flashing, it was shaking unbelievable, would not run properly, go over 20 mph. I returned it to the dealership I purchased it from, they replaced a coil pack. Within a short time, on February 14, 2007, the engine light had come back on. At that point I brought it to the nearest Audi dealer. It needed a turbo bypass valve replaced. Friday, March 9, 2007 the engine light had come on again. I brought it to the Audi dealer once again. They reset the engine codes and say it has had a random misfire. Today, March 11, 2007 the engine light is flashing again, and will not drive over 20 mph. I am having it towed to the dealer in the morning, today is Sunday and they are not open for business. I drive about 1,000 miles a week and I need my car operational. I worry each time I drive this car, I have to return it to the dealer almost weekly. It has low miles. Carfax states this automobile has a clean history and is under factory warranty until 6/07. The booklet obtained with the purchase of this car states the 4 yr/50,000 mi warranty became effective 6/03 which would leave the remainder of the fully transferable factory warranty valid until 6/07. The Audi dealership will not honor the warranty, saying that it expired 1/31/07. The car now has 29,xxx miles on it and I have had nothing but trouble with it. The sunroof motor also needs to be replaced, as I am told by the dealer, who then told me the motor is $501.

After driving about a block after cold start, the engine began to hesitate. Problem got worse. After driving a total of about 3 blocks, the engine died. There were wisps of smoke coming out of grill. Upon opening the hood, discovered a small fire on top of the engine. Dealer reports that the fire started because of a coil failure. Damage was limited to plastic manifold cover, because fire was put out early.

See all problems of the 2002 Audi A4 🔎.

On November 14th my A4 1. 8 stalled, was towed to the dealer, a coil was replaced. . . When I drove the car home it would thump and jerk up around 60 mph. I returned it to the dealer who stated that it could again be another coil but were not permitted to replace all the coils the day before because manufacturer wouldn't pay for anything more than the faulty coil. . . Even though they figured more might fail. . . Well, it turns out it was the "throttle" - they reset it and I picked up the car and started driving home when it thumped and jerked again. . . Turned around and returned it to the dealer. . . This all happened on the 15th. . . It is now the 18th and after working with their engineers, they fear they may now need to replace the entire transmission. . . I am just glad that I have a loaner car and that I have 5k more miles on my warranty. . . I think I am going to by the extended since this is 3 huge problems in 5 weeks time!.

This is the 2nd coil pack failure I have had on my 1999 Audi A4 1. 8t. It was first replaced by southbay Audi in CA in June of 2002 and then now October on 2004. . Read more...

See all problems of the 1999 Audi A4 🔎.

Upon starting the car, it made a noise as though the key was still in starting position. The car drove okay, but the wipers, headlights, digital odometer, everything electric would not work. I went to work, planning to bring the car to the dealer later that day. When I returned to my car at lunch time, the key would not even go into the ignition. After calling aaa, and having 3 different tow trucks, no one was able to tow the car bause it has all wheel drive and I could not get the car on to put it in nuetral. I then called every locksmith in the phonebook until one finally stopped by. He was able to lubricate the key and get it in the ignition. Upon doing so he told me that the housing was probably fracture and out of place. I drove it straight to the dealer, where I was not informed of the ignition recall, and charged $542 to replace the electrical switch and housing of the ignition. I later discovered on my own that it was a recall on my car. I contacted the dealer who told me to contact Audi headquarters. I spoke to two different representative who were both very rude. I then sent Audi a copy of my bill and requested that they reimburse my costs for the defected parts. They refused to reimburse me. I have contacted the massachusetts general dept of consumer affairs. They informed me that by law, Audi should reimburse me and if not that I should pursue legal action. I have re-sent my bill to Audi, and if within 30 days, I have not been reimbursed, they will be seeing me in court.

See all problems of the 1997 Audi A4 🔎.

On October 11th my fuel filter and pump were replaced and a road test was completed. . . On November 14th (5 weeks later) my A4 began to shake and the mil came on. I pulled vehicle to side of the road and had it towed to dealer. Dealer informed me that ingnition coil failed and had started to affect the spark plugs and was only running on 3 cylinders as a result. They replaced the coil and completed a road test - however they had completed a road test 5 weeks ago too - so I am feeling lest confident when I drive. . . Fearful of driving in less familiar locations or in any lane except the slow lane in case I need to pull over.

We own an Audi A4 that we have had too many repairs. The car has needed a turbo at 55,000 miles, oil pump at 63,000 miles, ignition computer at 68,000 miles and rack and pinion steering at 73,000 miles. We are aware that the car is at high mileage, but this car is suppose to get 200,000 miles out of it. The car was serviced at dealers the entire time. We think that perhaps there are defects in the car that other drivers are experiencing.

Failed coil pack on Audi A4. Safety issue since auot stalls on highway. Dealer indicates Audi will not replace more than 1 coil (4 in the car) and I can expect furtehr failures. This is major system-wide failure problem, that Audi simply will not deal with. I urge a mandatory recall immediately before accidents ensue.

2001 Audi A4. In for 3rd coil pack replacement in less than a year. This appears to be a widespread problem involving a known defective part. Audi refuses to replace all of the coil packs at once, instead prefering to have the customer come in for each inevitable failure. The car is essentialy inoperable in this condition and requires towing for each instance of failure which does not occure locally. Audi needs to recall this car! I would like you to consider the plight of handicapped individuals for whom this is more than a major inconvenience, but a dangerous situation. Audi knows about the problem and could address it directly instead of putting people through this. Thank you.

See all problems of the 2001 Audi A4 🔎.

There is a quite apparent issue with the coilpack failures on these cars, particulary with those that operate in cold weather (<30f). Audi has not officially recognized the problem through a recall.

1st coil pack failure, 12/24/02; 2nd coil pack failure, 01/17/03.

In cold conditions (10f) and with little vehicle warm-up time, the vehicle began cutting out and lost engine power while driving. The vehicle would not recover so I shut off the engine and restarted. Engine operation returned to normal but had registered fault codes which were traced to the coils not firing properly.

Email fm anne signorile (NY) re defective #4 coil which caused the vehicle to stall. The consumer requested that all the coils be replaced but the dealer refused.

I have a 2002 Audi A4 quattro 3. 0{6 cylinder} with its second coilpack problem. There is one coilpack per cylinder. The first one failed at 8750 miles the second one at 9250 miles. Audi needs to recall the vehicle and replace all the coilpacks. Currently they will only replace the failed part.

No summary. Dt.

After speaking to the dealer who was prompt and helpful, and after investigating on some Audi forums on the internet, it seems these coils are very failure prone. They can fail anywhere at any time, and at low mileage. In my case it wasn't a matter of saftey, but of dependability. This is a $36,000 "near luxury" car that really can't be trusted, and may fail anywhere at any time. The dealer installed a new coil, but it is the same part number and manufacturer. (bosch) would be nice if a new (revised) part was issued, and all 6 coils were replaced. Thank you. Dt.

The problem fortunately happened while the car was idling. There was a fault to one of the cylinders, so the car was running on only three cylinders. Although there were no injuries, the dealer stated that if this would have happened while driving. The car would have shut off without brakes or any other electrically operated systems. At highway speeds this would have been catastrophic. The dealer also stated that this problem has occured on many of the 1. 8 liter turbo A4's. Dt.

This has happened to countless 1. 8t Volkswagen and Audi vehicles. Audi has yet to make any official comment on the problem. Some people get 1 coil replaced while others get all coils replaced. They are being very inconsistent. My dealer didn't even tell me about the history behind the problem. I had to look it up myself. Dt.

The car stopped in the middle of an express way, pretty dangerous situation. This is a know problem for 2002 Audi A4's (coil pack failure). It is ridiculous that I had to drive the car knowing that some day I'll get stranded on the road. Even after the incident, Audi claims that they will just replace the defective one until I get another failure instead of replacing all 4 of them. Should I just wait for another dangerous situation? dt.

I have been in contact with close to 100 other 2002 Audi owners through the Audiworld website and the coil pack problem is a serious issue. The coil packs have been failing on at least 10% of the 2002 vehicles and Audi says they are all isolated cases. When they fail the car barely runs and can create alot of personal safety issues. I want them to recall the vehicles and replace the remaining coil packs. Please help.

Car lost power, then engine died. I am reporting this because I know of more than 30 other owners of this car that have had the same problem. . Read more...

I was in the middle of an intersection when my car began to idle irregularly. I managed to get to the side of the road. I was towed to an Audi dealership. Three days later my car was repaired. All that I was told was that my #2 coil pack failed. I was not given any information that the other 3 would most likelt fail also. Upon doing research on message boards I realized that this was an enormous problem. I called Audi client relations and told them that I felt like I was driving a ticking time bomb as I could never be sure when the other coil packs were going to fail. The woman that I spoke with told me to take the car back to the Audi dealership and "demand that the other 3 be replaced. " when I took my car back to another dealership because of the terrible service I received at the 1st dealer, they laughed in my face. They told me that they were at a "crisis state" with the coil packs, that they did not have any to switch out for me, and that I would just have to wait for my car to die while in operation. And when that happened, that they could only replace the coil pack that failed! if this isn't gross negligence I do not know what is! additionally, I have had a cam tensioner replaced, the electronic sensor replaced, and now it appears that my steering rack is going bad. I have 38k miles with only 12k left on my warranty. I cannot believe the terrible reliability of this car on top of Audi's reluctance to issue a recall campaign on the coil packs. Unfortunately, it is probably going to take a person dying before anyone addresses this very serious issue.

Ignition system failure on low mileage new vehicle. Concerned about reliability of car and safety should system fail and disable the car in dangerous location. Dt.

No summary listed for above vehicle.

According to reports on Audi forums, coil packs have been failing at an alarming rate. There is one per cylinder, and people have reported successive failures. Audi of America will only replace the failed item. There should be a recall, and all the defective items replaced at the same time.

Coil packs are failing on many of these cars. I had to have 2 fail before they would replace all 4. These should be recalled if this is happening so often to so many.

Both the cruise control and the headlight washer vaccum pumps shorted out at the same time after 40000 miles. Nothing was done by the owners other then normal driving the might be associated with the number of ingintion switches problems noted on Audi 4's.

My coil pack has failed 5 times, 1st at 12,000 miles 2nd at 2x,xxx 3rd at 2x,xxx 4th at 38,xxx abd 5th at 40,000. Dt.

Absolutely the worst car I have ever bought I have spent over $6000 in repairs and gone just 40k miles! stay away from this car when I called the 1-800 line they were no help and customer service refused to let me speak with anybody in a higher postion. When I said can I write a letter they said sure but it comes to us and the decision is final about your warrantty defects. No safety defect listed.