Ongoing A2 coil problems.

T

Twelfth Monkey

Member
Any help greatly appreciated.

Mrs 12th has an 04 1.6FSI, which had a coil fail and be replaced under warranty. We changed the other three at our own cost in order to have a reliable car on the road.

Alas another coil failed, which Audi has subsequently stumped up for, and the car is misbehaving again and roadside assist is being called. She thinks it's the same problem again, and I wonder what's going on.

As the VAG coil problem is a known one, I can't believe that the RAC are installing faulty ones, so is there a problem with the car that could be causing otherwise healthy coils to fail?

Like I say and help greatly appreciated, as Mrs 12th is ready to get rid of it, which would be a pity.
 
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The journeys are either around the village (which are short) or to and from the city, when normal operating temperatures are reached. The roadside bod is with her as I type, so what we'll learn remains to be seen.

It would be a pity to get rid of it, but her confidence in it isn't great at present.
 
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12th Monkey i have the same problem as you. In the past 12 months i have had each coil changed twice. The car went in and had no.s 2 and 4 coils changed last week, 100 miles later and the engine warning light is flashing and the car misfiring/hesitating once again.

I have just about had with my A2 now, so would like to get to the bottom of it so that i can sell it.
 
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I had all 4 coils replaced after 3 years of ownership - and the new ones have been running fine since (another 2 years). If you can get any more info from the coils, post it here and we can check that you are fitted with the latest ones.

Ben

PS Nox sensor has also been replaced.
 
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Twelfth Monkey said:
The journeys are either around the village (which are short) or to and from the city, when normal operating temperatures are reached. The roadside bod is with her as I type, so what we'll learn remains to be seen.

It would be a pity to get rid of it, but her confidence in it isn't great at present.
Click to expand...

I have had the same problem as yourselves but I have just had the nox sensor changed and the car is back to normal. (£121):mad:

Hope this helps.

Stephen.
 
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morris said:
12th Monkey i have the same problem as you. In the past 12 months i have had each coil changed twice. The car went in and had no.s 2 and 4 coils changed last week, 100 miles later and the engine warning light is flashing and the car misfiring/hesitating once again.

I have just about had with my A2 now, so would like to get to the bottom of it so that i can sell it.
Click to expand...

As expected more ignition coils have failed. 1 and 3 have been replaced this time. That means i have now had 2 complete sets of brand new coils fitted this year. I cant believe that this part is so unreliable. Could something be causing the coils to fail repeatedly(other than poor quality components)?
 
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Hi morris
This is pure guesswork but most spark plugs have a built in resistor for interference supression. If this is faulty then voltage to fire the plugs would increase and possibly overload the coils. Excessive spark plug gaps could have a similar effect. It may be worth changing the plugs, using the specific type recommended by Audi.

Cheers Spike
 
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spike said:
Hi morris
This is pure guesswork but most spark plugs have a built in resistor for interference supression. If this is faulty then voltage to fire the plugs would increase and possibly overload the coils. Excessive spark plug gaps could have a similar effect. It may be worth changing the plugs, using the specific type recommended by Audi.

Cheers Spike
Click to expand...

The spark plugs have been changed in the past couple of months and the failing coils were ongoing prior to the changing of the spark plugs, and now again with a new set in place. I have checked the part number of the new plugs that were fitted and they are the same as those supplied by Audi.

All four coils have now been changed in the past 2 weeks. Since the 2nd change i have done 180 miles approx and tonight the warning light is on once again. Im guessing a diagnostic is going to give me a fault code which corresponds to a coil problem.

Im going to call a couple of local Audi specialists tomorrow to see if they have got any idea of what could be the problem. Im getting a bit fed up of paying for diagnostics and new coil packs. So unless they can suggest anything new i may aswell change the coils myself and save the labour.
 
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Hi Morris.
Coil packs are not spark plugs. When the 1,6fsi was introduced by Audi in the A2 it was a departure from the "old" technology of spark plugs....and there were problems, lots of them accross the whole VW, Skoda and Seat brands that ALL use this component. The original design proved to be very unreliable, mainly in cold weather (this July hasn't been great!). However, a new design was introduced a couple of years ago, I had 7 coil packs fitted, the last 4 being of the new variety in Feb 2006 and have had no further problems since. The good news, if any, is that Audi extended the warranty of coil packs to five years from first registration date meaning you have still warranty with your A2! But only fauly parts will be repalced unless you are very persuasive. The other good news is that the price of coil packs has fallen to around 12 quid from over 70!

Hope that you find a solution soon, I've really enjoyed my A2 since the coil pack issue was sorted.
 
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Sorry if my previous post was a bit unclear. I was just replying to Spikes suggestions about checking the spark plugs. I know the coil and spark plugs are 2 different components. It was just to confirm that the spark plugs fitted are new and genuine Audi parts.

Based on the number of packs i have had changed in the past 8 months, apart from me being extremely unlucky with the coil's that are being fitted i am right to assume that something is shorting out the the coils? Is it possible that the ECU is causing the problems with the coils. I ask this as the car will drive for long periods smoothly, with no misfire or hesitation yet with the warning light on and a fault associated with a misfire. It is only when the warning light flashes that the misfiring becomes noticeable. Could the ECU short out the coils?
 
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Sorry, Morris.
If you have got the newer sort of coil packs fitted it could well be something else that is causing the packs to fail. If your A2 is less than 5 years old the coil packs are covered by extended warranty by Audi so it may be worth while going to Audi to get it checked. If it's the packs then you have no worries.

I hope you find a quick and simple solution as my A2 is running really well and is a lot of fun, hopefully yours will be too soon.
 
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Cheers Mark.
Sadly my A2 is 6 years old. Nevermind!

After digging out an old PC i have managed to run the VAGCOM software and got the following:

VAG-COM Version: Release 409.1-US


Chassis Type: 8Z - Audi A2
Scan: 01,02,03,08,09,15,16,17,36,37,45,46,55,56,76

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine
Controller: 036 906 013 F
Component: MED7.5.11 5130
Coding: 00051
Shop #: WSC 00115
WAUZZZ8Z83N015063 AUZ7Z0B2204795
5 Faults Found:
17861 - Exhaust Gas Temp Sensor 1 (G235): Open or Short to Plus
P1453 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
17912 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs
P1504 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent
16684 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs
P0300 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent
16685 - Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
P0301 - 35-10 - - - Intermittent
16686 - Shareware Version. To Decode all DTCs
P0302 - 35-10 - Please Register/Activate - Intermittent
Readiness: 0000 0000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
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