Jay 4R

So as I walk to my car last night in the garage at work, I think to myself...

"Self... I really hope I don't blow a coil pack tonight, as that would really suck because my 20k service appointment is tomorrow morning..."

With that thought nagging at me, I start the car, let it idle for about a minute, and begin my way out of the garage...

About 300 feet outside the garage entrance in the parking lot of my building, as I'm rolling over a speed bump, I feel a little shudder...

"what was that?"

Check engine light comes on... I stared at it for a good 5 seconds in disbelief... it then started to flash... then the rough idle...

*sigh*

So I call Audi Roadside at @7:00pm, as I sit in the car and freeze...

Listen to the entire State of the Union Address on NPR... still no tow.

*sigh*

Listen to the annoying govenor from Washington State give HIS State of Union Address... (WTF... what was the purpose of that, I don't know)

Tow truck comes... gets lost on the way to dealership, and at 11:45pm my car arrives at the dealership 10 miles from where the coil pack went...

Thanks Audi Roadside and AAA.

Gotta call the dealership now.

*sigh*

ex-quattro PETE

Try to push your dealer to replace all 4 CPs. Lately, the inventory of CPs has been improving so some dealers are more willing to swap out all 4.

Greyhound Guy

If anyone wants to try it. It's all theories. I have a spare coilpack personally. Got it from Bryan12V.

fredneckian

Are Coil packs just failing for everybody or is it self induced?

Jay 4R

Audi of Alexandria doesn't have any in stock, and there are 5 cars ahead of me to receive CPs... so no go on all four.

I asked if I would be getting the updated CP, (I didn't call it the J-pack though... I don't like to tip my cards about how much info I know...hehe)

and he said yes... I then stated that I heard that those weren't exactly bulletproof, and he softly replied "yeah..."

Oh well. Says that the shipment "hopefully" should be in ny the end of the week.

He says that they're authorizing a 1 level upgrade with Enterprise due to the inconvenience of the CP issue... So I guess I'll go from a Sunfire to a Grand Am.

I think I'll be asking for another upgrade above that, and pay that one out of pocket. I'm not snobby or anything, it's just that If they're gonna have my car for 1-2 weeks, I don't feel like driving a Pontiac POS when it's this damn cold out.

Jay 4R

No.

Jay 4R

and this is what I expected, that no other work could be done to my car until the CP is replaced... Obviously... So this means my car's just gonna sit there until they get the shipment, and then the work can begin...

Work requested:

Squeaky-creaky steering wheel
Chirping front suspension/brakes issue
Cold shift no-go from neutral->1st, 1st->2nd

He actually said that they would consider flushing my tranny and replacing the oil with synthetic if the tech deemed that there was nothing wrong with the transmission/synchros, and it was just a fluid problem. He said the fluid was uber expensive too... we'll see.

ex-quattro PETE

At my 20K service at Tischer, I was given a Mitsu Lancer for the day. Coming from the A4, driving that thing was scary, esp. because it rained that day. The damn thing was all over the road, and couldn't get out of its own way when needed. It's amazing how much more it requires you to be alert, on your tip-toes all the time, and having to plan way, way ahead as far as lane merges, turns, braking, etc.

They should really be giving us comparable Audis as loaners. My A4 got me spoiled...

fredneckian

How can you be so sure?.

ex-quattro PETE

I also noticed the chirping from the front of the car, but that was back during Summer when I was driving with my windows rolled down. I was told on AW that it's the brakes. So, be sure to keep us posted as to whether the dealer was able to do something about it (apart from giving you new brake pads :-)).

Also, what do you mean by cold shift no-go from N to 1 and 1 to 2? The only thing I find a bit difficult is shifting from 1 to 2 when cold - a tiny bit of notchiness/griding/uneasiness, but not too bad. I've been told that using synthetic oil in the tranny helps this somewhat, but never got around to getting it replaced. Of course, in my case, since I have a short shifter, the dealer is going to place the blame there and they would never do a free synth. fluid replacement so I'd have to get it done by myself. Redline MT90 (75w90) is not that expensive though. About the same $$ as synth. engine oil. Curry's quoted me something around $70 for the oil and labor.