My excitement of the day, i nearly totalled the S4 this morning.
11-04-2007, 04:23 PM
#1
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My excitement of the day, i nearly totalled the S4 this morning.
It's around 7am, I'm on my way to formation, driving on the highway, pretty dead out, 45F out, dry, and i have the cruise set at 70mph.
Up ahead of me, in the center lane, is a dump trunk. I see a flash of sparks from under the truck then chunks of something (i assumed metal) come flying out and spread across the highway. I have a big chunk in front of me, a big chunk in the far edge of the left lane and some other stuff in the right lane. Of course i am approaching these pieces now at a pretty high rate of speed. I don't remember exactly what happened. I know the clutch was depressed (a mistake) and i yanked the wheel hard to the left to dodge the debris. Next thing i know, i am sliding sideways down the highway, staring at a cement wall, i hear tires screeching, i can see the smoke, next i see the other wall, then the left wall again as i slide across three lanes of highway. I end up in the slow lane, the car is now backing up towards the emergency lane. At this time, all i can think of is "WTF is that semi i just passed???" I look out the driver's window, oh, there he is, about 20 feet from my door, rolling to a stop. The S4 is still sliding back, i've been hard on the brakes by now, the ABS is no longer pulsing, i just assume all 4 wheels are just locked up. I come to rest half in the slow lane, half in the emergency lane, with the back bumper *just* touching the wall. The car is still running. I drop it into first, crank the wheel to the right, and take off, pull in to the emergency lane, stop, flashers on to inspect the damage. I hop out, give the trucker a big wave, thanking him for not smashing into me and walk to the back of the car. No damage, can't even tell anything happened. I get back in the car and proceed on, freaked the hell out about what just happened.
As much as i can remember, i'm pretty sure my big mistake was letting off the gas. My cq and S4 both have the tendency to when near the limit of adhesion and the throttle is lifted, especially abruptly, the back end gets pretty squirrelly. Along with whatever the truck spewed all over road and Z rated tires on a cold road didn't help either...
Up ahead of me, in the center lane, is a dump trunk. I see a flash of sparks from under the truck then chunks of something (i assumed metal) come flying out and spread across the highway. I have a big chunk in front of me, a big chunk in the far edge of the left lane and some other stuff in the right lane. Of course i am approaching these pieces now at a pretty high rate of speed. I don't remember exactly what happened. I know the clutch was depressed (a mistake) and i yanked the wheel hard to the left to dodge the debris. Next thing i know, i am sliding sideways down the highway, staring at a cement wall, i hear tires screeching, i can see the smoke, next i see the other wall, then the left wall again as i slide across three lanes of highway. I end up in the slow lane, the car is now backing up towards the emergency lane. At this time, all i can think of is "WTF is that semi i just passed???" I look out the driver's window, oh, there he is, about 20 feet from my door, rolling to a stop. The S4 is still sliding back, i've been hard on the brakes by now, the ABS is no longer pulsing, i just assume all 4 wheels are just locked up. I come to rest half in the slow lane, half in the emergency lane, with the back bumper *just* touching the wall. The car is still running. I drop it into first, crank the wheel to the right, and take off, pull in to the emergency lane, stop, flashers on to inspect the damage. I hop out, give the trucker a big wave, thanking him for not smashing into me and walk to the back of the car. No damage, can't even tell anything happened. I get back in the car and proceed on, freaked the hell out about what just happened.
As much as i can remember, i'm pretty sure my big mistake was letting off the gas. My cq and S4 both have the tendency to when near the limit of adhesion and the throttle is lifted, especially abruptly, the back end gets pretty squirrelly. Along with whatever the truck spewed all over road and Z rated tires on a cold road didn't help either...
11-04-2007, 04:36 PM
#4
Holly cow lucky escape similar thing happened to me last night driving back from london in the uk!!
Was about 1.30 am and was driving back to the north of the uk from london,when about 200metres infront of me i see a volvo estate slowly driving off the motorway into the embankment!!!!the guy probably having fallen asleep at the wheel,next minute he slams into the barrier and starts spinning,i slam on the brakes and try to anticipate his next move,at this stage im pretty close!!he hits the barrier again but this time the car shoots backwards as i pass him,so basically he is heading for my rear panel,im in 4th and press the gas pedal to the floor,and accelerate away!! he misses my rear end by what seems like centimetres!!phew!!
11-04-2007, 04:50 PM
#5
What myth? Its happened to lots of people including two of our club members. One last month.
He doesn't frequent AudiWorld and for some reason he "didn't know" he needed to check the plug torque. One sparkplug blew right out of the head, killing the coil. Not pretty.
How are your undershorts.
How are your undershorts.
11-04-2007, 04:55 PM
#6
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my car smells like pee now...
i dunno, maybe because i've never had an issue and my dad, who's worked on these cars since they've come out, has never seen one, makes me wonder if it isn't something with the people installing the plugs. Anyone heard about this happening on a 3B motor or 7A motor? Both have similar head designs.
11-04-2007, 05:00 PM
#7
Home Depot sells "Pee Away". Try it.
<kidding>
I don't know about the 3B or 7A. I do know that since 1998 when I bought my 93 S4, there have been several (10?) examples posted on the S-car list on Audifans and/or here.
Always better safe than sorry. I have had loose plugs from time to time. I have had no problems since converting to 1.8t coil packs because the way the coil pack grips the plug, it helps to stop it from walking out of the head.
Good to hear you survived your adventure unscathed.
Well, except for those undershorts.
;>
I don't know about the 3B or 7A. I do know that since 1998 when I bought my 93 S4, there have been several (10?) examples posted on the S-car list on Audifans and/or here.
Always better safe than sorry. I have had loose plugs from time to time. I have had no problems since converting to 1.8t coil packs because the way the coil pack grips the plug, it helps to stop it from walking out of the head.
Good to hear you survived your adventure unscathed.
Well, except for those undershorts.
;>
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11-04-2007, 05:13 PM
#9
If stoopid enough anything is possible
I left plugs improperly tightened once in the B5 S4 and the car ran like crap and had a nasty sound. Drove it like 50mi or so. Figured out what it was the moment I popped the hood.
Then again I had an AAN head with the spark plug hole completely threaded : reportedly came from a car that had a dealer worked on, improperly tightened spark plug etc.
Then again I had an AAN head with the spark plug hole completely threaded : reportedly came from a car that had a dealer worked on, improperly tightened spark plug etc.