Hi all

Was driving down the highway a couple of days ago. Cruise control at 75mph. All the sudden, felt a vibration for about 1-2 seconds then it stopped. CEL and EPC light come one. I pull over to the side of the highway and have severe engine vibration when standing still. Had it towed home. Car is an 09 B8 A4 2.0t with ~79k miles.

• I ran VAG-COM - output below. Essentially size misfire in cylinder 3 and other misfire related codes.
• I changed all 4 coil packs - did not fix (had never changed these since I've owned the car which was 20k miles).
• Changed the spark plug for cylinder 3, still not fixed.
• The car will start, but I need to as it while starting and it vibrates quite a bit.
• After running the car, there's a fuel smell in the engine bay. When I pulled the old spark plug, there was fuel on it. But when I pulled the new one (after finding it didn't fix it), no fuel on it.

So my questions:

• General advice on what else the issue could be and how to fix?
• Could this be related to the Audi fuel injector issues (related to the Audi extended warranty)? My car is out of warranty and only want to take it to dealer if there's a good reason.
• Could injector still be an issue if it looks like it's spraying fuel into the cylinder?
• The car is outputting a "cylinder disable" code. There's a repair shop about a mile from my house. Is it safe to drive it there given the cylinder seems to be shut down? I'd rather not have to tow it.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

VAG-COM Output:


4 Faults Found:

4483 - Function Restriction due to Faults in Other Modules
U1113 00 [032] - -
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear

4060 - Cylinder 3
P0303 00 [101] - Misfire Detected
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 126919 km
Date: 2017.12.17
Time: 14:36:42

Engine speed: 2366.50 /min
Normed load value: 26.7 %
Vehicle speed: 116 km/h
Coolant temperature: 93 °C
Intake air temperature: 34 °C
Ambient air pressure: 1010 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 13.358 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 80

7960 - Cylinder Disabling
P130A 00 [036] - -
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 126921 km
Date: 2017.12.17
Time: 14:37:28

Engine speed: 1557.00 /min
Normed load value: 18.4 %
Vehicle speed: 72 km/h
Coolant temperature: 91 °C
Intake air temperature: 41 °C
Ambient air pressure: 1010 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 13.122 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40

4051 - Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected
P0300 00 [101] - -
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 126919 km
Date: 2017.12.17
Time: 14:36:42

Engine speed: 2366.50 /min
Normed load value: 26.7 %
Vehicle speed: 116 km/h
Coolant temperature: 93 °C
Intake air temperature: 34 °C
Ambient air pressure: 1010 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 13.358 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 80

 

FYI - it was the PCV valve.