Cold Weather Problems
I've recently noticed some problems with my 2002 A4 1.8T Manual, and was wondering if anybody here has noted the same issues.
The problem appears whenever it is very cold outside (below freezing). Upon starting the car it moves very slowly, behaves as if the parking brake was on. Acceleration is poor, the car drags and the moment I take my foot off the gas the car stops quickly. The problem disappears as the car warms up with continued driving. The colder it is, the worse the problem is.
Never had this problem with previous winters.
Any help is appreciated!
The problem appears whenever it is very cold outside (below freezing). Upon starting the car it moves very slowly, behaves as if the parking brake was on. Acceleration is poor, the car drags and the moment I take my foot off the gas the car stops quickly. The problem disappears as the car warms up with continued driving. The colder it is, the worse the problem is.
Never had this problem with previous winters.
Any help is appreciated!
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I'd try leaving the emergency brake OFF overnight and let us know what happens.
just to be sure, have a little brake fluid bled from each brake, to be sure you don't have a little icy clot keeping pressure on one or more wheels. it's recommended you replace the fluid every couple of years anyway, so you're close enough to have somebody evaluate it on the caliper end.
a dead caliper could well have caused the right rear to have burned through the pad and gouged the rotor past cleanup last spring. all those issues were addressed at the time. doesn't explain how the brake techs missed the e-brake cables being seized up, for which I gave them a good talking to.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=104125
Shifty the Host
They lubricated it again, and hopefully it will stay fixed.
Thanks for all your input, and I'll post again if something new develops.
If you go to "advanced search" and then click on "message text" search, you can combine two keywords like WRX + clutch, and read every single message ever posted that has those two words in the message!
Yes, there have been plenty of discussions about chattering clutches, but I"m not sure about lazy clutches in cold weather.
One thing you can do is start the car with the clutch pedal in, and then gently engage the clutch just enough to create a little forward motion. You can even have the handbrake on. This should warm up the clutch enough so that when you do warm up the engine and are ready to go, you should be able to engage the clutch easily.
ANY INPUT?
Ask Connor at the Tire Rack
shifty the host
A wise investment would be to get a set of wheels for winter use (go with 15" wheels if you're still stock) and a good set of dedicated snow tires (Blizzak and Michelin are good sources). If you're up near Lake Erie, expect to put the tires on early in November and keep them on until mid to late April.
We only have 2 seasons around here: Road Construction and Winter.
Another option to consider is purchasing an after-market hard top to use during the winter. There's a company in Germany (Weismann) that produces a hardtop that would fit the A4 Cab. It looks like a good product, but may be very expensive (and there doesn't appear to be any US based sales centers. You can go see it for yourself: http://www.wiesmann-auto-sport.de/eindex.htm
An Audi service advisor claims it has to do with expansion/contraction due to the ambient temp of a plastic part built into the blower motor that rubs against the motor shaft as it runs.Who knows? All I know is that it is quite "annoying" for the first 10 to 15 minutes of cold weather driving to have to listen to that motor making noise!
When I was expecting to get into a nice warm car I got into a freezing cold car instead. the only heat I had was from the heated seats. I could not defrost the windshield so I used wiper fluid to be able to see. The wiper fluid ran out and I had to pull off the side of the road until help came.
About 30 minutes later the blower began to work and worked the rest of the day. The next morning the same thing and the next the same thing. It has been above freezing these last couple of days so no problems.
Any suggestions?
the cure is to reposition the impeller a little on the motor shaft. and check the motor. if the shaft has excessive play in and out, it should be replaced.
unfortunately, things have changed from the 1960s where I pulled lots of blower motors from their easy access under the hood on the passenger side of the engine compartment. you have to yank the dashboard out on almost everything to work on these.
which is yet another reason I bought my 2000 exploder, I can get to the blower and impeller for repairs. haven't had to, but I can, from the customary location (that should be a Federal requirement) in the engine compartment.
what costs me an hour or so to work on is going to cost you upwards of a thousand dollars to have done at the dealership.
enjoy.
define metro Ny a little better. What town/area are you in? My dad was an instructer for all OBD2 as well as all the NYS STEP classes and ASE classes. Need an area to help get you a good mechanic.
I'd like to quickly describe how the car behaves now after the sensor replacement. Can you let me know if this is normal or am I just paranoid now:
1. Cold Start-up - engine revs to about 2200 rpm and immediately comes down to about 1300 at which it idles for some time, may be 30 seconds or so.
2. Engine attempts to drop rpm to normal operating idle of about 700 or so. There is no hesitation or shaking, it drops the rpm, then it feels that engine is still cold and it bumps the rpms back up to about 1300 again and continues to idle. This step may occur two or 3 times before temperature guage climbs up about 1/4 of the way.
3. Finally rpms drop to normal 700 or so and engine idles perfectly.
Now, before I replaced the ECTS, at step two the car would start shaking real bad and stall, the only remedy was to hold foot on gas pedal. This doesn't happen now. But is step 2 necessary, do the rpms need to go down and then back up once it feels that temp is still too cold? Is this normal or an indication of a problem? Please let me know.
Thanks again for your help or to anyone else who might reply to this post.
I have a 1996 Nissan Maxima and it has the same cold start problem. You mentioned that by changing the ECTS actually fixed it. I wonder if you can tell me where is the ECTS located and how can I change it?
Thanks a lot!
csli