I posted about three weeks ago that I had CEL on,
the car is at the dealership now and they told me
that the codes indicate multiple mis-fires. They
are not sure what caused it, but their first guess
is that "bad" gas caused the CEL. They said the
all the spark plugs had fouled tips. They drained
the gas and replaced the spark plugs. I will pick
up the car today. I use BP (now Amoco) gas all the
time. They also told me they had to call AUDI for
assistance in diagnosing the problem. I just can't
believe that a car can be that
sensitive to gas quality, especially when using
a national brand of gas. Any comments or opinions?

 

I saw a 2002 A4 in the shop for the same exact thing when mine was in for the fuel gauge. They said the CEL came on and that the car itself was running really rough. Just commenting to let you know it's happening to others too. Not sure on the gas thing, but it sounds like BS IMO.

 

I also would be surprised if gas quality would have caused the problem. If it were that sensitive it would be a warranty nightmare.

 

Agreed - and also remember that the Gen1 cars had CEL problems too. I know their was a service bulletin on my year (1998)for CEL faults and replacing the ECU. I sincerely hope it wont be the same old story with the Gen2s.

DollFinBoy

 

Bad gas fouling all your plugs??? That's a tough one to swallow.

 

Had the CEL come on at 10K miles. After 3 different dealers having different explanations and trying different solutions, one finally got it right. They replaced the purge valve and the gas tank (under warranty) and I never had it happen since. Your situation may not be the same, but perhaps this story helps.

 

And the dealer told me to check the gas cap, wait 100 miles to reset. It did go away within 100 miles. The car never acted wierd, but it was concerning.

 

This is the exact same problem I have been having...after spark plugs and gas, they will tell you that its the choke/engine idle...then they won't know...I have had my car 30 days and its been in the shop for 16 of those days and I am very frustrated...its my feeling in these instances that they are trying to stop the CEL from coming on (ie treating the symptom) versus identifying the root cause...I have just started the repurchase/replacement process...

 

Stephanie,

My CEL is on again and the car is going back to
the dealer today. Please let me know how things
go with that "process", I hope all goes well for you,
I'm sure that must be an unpleasant thing to go through.

 

Well, I still don't have my car back, but things are progressing. I contacted Audi USA at 18008222834 and opened a case with a "Client Advocate". I found out that the only way to start the repurchase/replacement option is for you to request your dealer's Area Executive come and do a case review on the car (the manufacturer makes the decision about whether they take the car back or not (not the dealer, unless they have a special certification, which the client advocate can tell you). We had the Area Executive out last week and he said he had seen one other case of this and that they had to change the ECM (on-board computer) which controls the gas, o2, firing sequence, etc. They replaced that last Thursday and they wanted to keep it for two days to start it cold...they have found the mis-fires are occurring on cold starts. I am waiting to find out today if it resolved the issue. If that doesn't work, then we continue with the process. During this time, the dealer has given me a car to drive and Audi USA is going to reimburse me for my car payment this month. My car has now been in the dealer for 22 days with this issue. I am in Texas and under Texas Lemon Law, if your car is in the dealership for 30 days for the same issue, within two years, you can go to arbitration to get a new vehicle (i.e. they have to replace whether or not they EVER figure out the problem...I am just racking up the days). You should check the Lemon Law in your state to see your rights. The last thing Audi USA wants to do is go to arbitration...every time I mention that we are heading in that direction, they promise to resolve before it gets to that....