car breakdown

buzzing147

Hi just wondering

Audi a4 b8 car, have it 5 years, first time it seemed to judder and lose power when on motorway, pulled in, conked out. Wouldn't restart. Had to get it towed. Mechanic said he couldn't find anything wrong, checked it over, started for him the next morning. Did notice a few months ago when filled it with diesel, glowplug lights and abs lights came on, juddering, but then turned off and restarted it and was fine until this incident.

Any ideas appreciated 👍

CoBo55

Did he scan it for stored fault codes? Something has been logged from the earlier incident. How long has it been since it was serviced? Particularly the fuel filter. What year is the car?

hoodie6029

Throw a bottle of redex in to clean the fuel system.

buzzing147

Was serviced few weeks ago, oil and filter. Hasn't had fuel filter in 30,000 miles. Needs front CV joint so will put fuel filter in when in for that job.

CoBo55

If you're going to go down the, throw something in the fuel route, get the proper injector cleaner from Skoda, it does actually make a difference.

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120375433#Comment_120375433

Happened again today, car was serviced a month ago and fuel filter put in last week. Lost power whilst driving, wouldn't restart, noticed check oil level light warning when trying to restart, turning over,wouldn't start up. Guy I took it to a month ago couldn't find any codes when hooked it up. Does the check oil give anyone any ideas?? Oil level is fine, only serviced recently. Cheers

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120375433#Comment_120375433

2010 Audi A4

buzzing147

Is it possible if EGR valve stuck open, it wouldn't throw up a fault? No faults on car in diagnostics, presumed get one when car lost power twice and woudnt restart

CoBo55

Surely anything relating to the egr would log a fault. It sounds like intermittent fuel starvation to me. You could try removing the filler cap in case the tank breather is blocked. Are you absolutely certain the fuel filter was changed, maybe the incorrect filter was used, I saw that with a Qashqai and it caused no end of problems, particularly starting problems.

CoBo55

Can you think of anything that was done to the car before this started, clutch change, timing belt, service etc? It inevitably goes back to something being disturbed or a pipe cracking etc.

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120442222#Comment_120442222

Car did have emissions light on few months ago, had 4 glowplugs installed and intake manifold motor replaced. Drove fine after that until now. Lost powe twice, stalled,wouldn't restart, and nothing showing up on dash or on PC. Got an EGR valve so gonna try that first to see

antodeco

When it stalls and doesn't restart, can you hear the fuel pump "whirr" before the car starts? (And can you normally hear it when the car is fine)

buzzing147

Not sure tbh, guy who got it restarted last week after 7-8 attempts, seemed to put foot on accelerator on last few attempts, and it seemed to start. He thought seemed starved of fuel, but then suggested maybe EGR valve stuck open. Rang Audi but they've no free diagnostic dates for 3 weeks. Not sure if anything would show up there also. It did similar thing a week before cutting both bimes, first time, seemed to judder as if no power, i kept foot on clutch and it kept ticking over, made a rattle sound underneath for 100 metres and once got it parked and turned off it seemed fine again on restart, and similar 2nd time

buzzing147

Noticed now this morn, a humming sound after starting, at front of dash, and gurgling type sound, juddered very slightly too. Can hear similar sound when rev in neutral. Maybe not the EGR valve at all. And no faults on diagnostics. And hard to get a mechanic seeing it's easter and all very busy or off🙄

CoBo55

Sounds like the flywheel is after failing. I think you've a few things going on there. Very difficult to help via a forum. Are there any air bubbles in the coolant bottle when the engine is running? You could have head gasket failure too.

dontmindme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120430959#Comment_120430959

Guy I took it to a month ago couldn't find any codes when hooked it up

get a different mechanic

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120451204#Comment_120451204

no air bubbles, it's like an electric type sound humming, maybe fuel pump? Or flywheel? When I rev it in neutral can hear the same flap type sound, as if something opening and closing, electrical type sound. Would the flywheel cause the car to lose all power and not restart, cause that's what happened put of the blue last week

buzzing147

Cleaned the throttle body and egr the last day, no juddering or acting up since, hopefully was that! Lot of hard black soot in both

CoBo55

Hopefully it will sort it. The rattle you said earlier would worry me, anyway see how it goes.

Oops!

Cleaning it won't do much for it.... You need someone that's able to read the live data straight away the next time it starts giving trouble. Audi dealers have no interest in sorting out a 13 year old A4 with those sort of problems. Where are you based?

ebbsy

Where are you located OP

buzzing147

Based in donegal. Someone mentioned maybe a bad wire at fuel pump or fuel filter, if that's a possibility. Maybe fuel related. Nothing showing up on diagnostics

Oops!

You could be listening to lads "mentioning" solutions all day..... It's the live data that needs to be studied not just looking for fault codes.

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120464876#Comment_120464876

Where would I get live data? Is that only when the car stalls again? Last 2 times it stalled it was checked on laptop and no codes showing up. Would main dealer be able to recover data from the 2 breakdowns?

Oops!

It's nothing to do with codes.... It's a better mechanic you need looking at it straight away the next time it stalls.... Live data showing all the parameters... Sorry i can't help, i'm at the opposite end of the country.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120465214#Comment_120465214

☺️☺️. How can you get live data from a stopped car? Looking at it straight away after stopping won't make any difference.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120464779#Comment_120464779

Something like a bad connection would leave a code.

buzzing147

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120465351#Comment_120465351

It was juddering a lot last Friday, but didn't cut out... and a electrical flap type noise at front of dash after start up, for 10 seconds.....Got throttle and egr parts cleaned afterwards, hasn't juddered since...just hopeing that sorted it but doubtful!

buzzing147

Would the wrong oil cause this? Got it serviced a month ago and broke down a week later, first loss of all power out of blue. 2nd loss of power was 2 weeks ago.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120465533#Comment_120465533

Wrong or incorrectly fitted fuel filter would be my first suspect.

buzzing147

Fuel filter was fitted after the first power loss. The judder was very similar to the throttle body judder I got 5 years ago when first had the car, replaced part back then and nothing till now. Hasnt acted up yet since cleaned egr and throttle body last week.