gio

I've been having all sorts of strange problems the past week or so. First, my TT frequently stalls within the first minute or two of driving it. It seems worse when it is colder, but it still happens even when it's above freezing. Usually it won't start again unless I remove the key from the ignition first. Late last night for the first time I was unable to get it started at all. I tried jumping it but after several tries and even letting it sit for 30 minutes to charge the battery I couldn't get it started at all. Today it started up without a problem at all. I don't think it's the battery as I just replaced it last November. Once the car warms up it doesn't stall anymore. I've tried dry gas but it hasn't helped. I'll try again with the next gas tank.

My VAG-COM shows a "power supply voltage terminal 30 too low -- intermittent" every time it stalls. I clear the code but then it comes back when it stalls again. I'm very worried that I'm going to get stranded somewhere and I'm reluctant to drive the car anymore.

The other odd issue is that cylinder 2 misfires in higher gears under 100% throttle. I don't know if these two problems are related or not. I got a new coil pack from the dealer on Friday but I realized today they gave me the wrong one (I have the bolt-in kind). Today I just resest the gap on the spark plugs (to 0.028") and I found they were all way too large (0.040" or more). I noticed some black carbon like deposits on the base of the spark plugs (they are not even a year old) but I'm not sure if this is normal or not. I also swapped the 2 and 3 coil packs to see if that moves my misfire problem over. When my laptop recharges I'll go test it again.

I'd really appreciate any advice anyone might have. I have the Bentley repairs CD but it's only installed on my computer at work so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it recommends. I don't really have a shop I trust that I can take it to. I'll probably end up spending hundreds, if not thousands and not even have the problem fixed at all.

InTTruder

(cheap) and see if that helps. Low voltage following a battery swap 'could be' a bad alternator. I lost mine at 108K miles. Odd, but it happens.

ECU low vlotage cutout is a safety: power is E x I, and low E (voltage) means more current (I), which damages ECU components. Hence the shutdown.

TTschwing

could be something as simple as a bad temp sender...

gio

Thanks for the advice. I'll try replacing the coolant sensor. How could a bad coolant sensor cause this problem?

I hope it's not the alternator. I don't think it is because the voltage consistently reads between 13.5 and 14.0 volts. Also, I wasn't able to start it last night even with jumper cables, yet it started fine today. So it seems to me that the battery is charged fully but there is something else that is causing the problem.

gio

Although far less frequently. I was only able to get it to misfire a few times (about 5) in the half an hour I tested it while before I could get it to misfire 50 times in a similar time frame. Now I'm begining to think that I've gone crazy and maybe I didn't actually swap the coil packs because it still is misfiring only on cylinder 2. Or maybe it's just that it isn't the coil pack and the problem lies elsewhere.

TTinCT

what about your plug gaps? you check those?

gio

Yes, I did, they were much too wide (0.040"). I set them to 0.028".

TTinCT

of coilpacks especially in a chipped car....