[A4] Coil Pack Help

[Brandon Rogers]

After reading Pbadore's post I stand somewhat corrected - I guess you don't 
have the ICM.  oops.

Anyway I highly suggest a diagnostic tool  I really like my Palm-based 
Pro-Diag.

www.shadetreesoftware.com

Brandon

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brandon Rogers" <brogers at terrix.com>
To: "Mitchell Segal" <MSegal at nsbgroup.com>; <a4 at audifans.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 9:36 AM
Subject: Re: [A4] Coil Pack Help


> Here's my experience from just a couple weeks ago:
>
> For the past several months while idling at a stop light the car seemed to 
> miss occasionally - but never experienced drivability issues.  Until one 
> day I started the car up after lunch and it was real rough.  Restarted the 
> car - no change.  Decided to limp it to the office - engine was rough and 
> shuddered under any boost - really only seemed OK at about 3000-4000rpm in 
> second.  Anyway I pulled the plugs that night - one was clearly darker 
> than the rest - it wasn't firing.  I had a known good and installed - no 
> change. So at this point I think you need a PRO-DIAG or VAG COM - I pulled 
> codes and got Misfire Cyl # 2 (apparently #2 is the common ICM failure, I 
> think) - so I cleared codes and swapped the coilpacks and restarted the 
> motor and let it run for a while - and revved it a few times.  Re-pulled 
> codes - still Cyl #2.  Clearly not a coil pack issue (otherwise the 
> misfire would have moved with the transfer of the coil pack).  Bingo ICM. 
> I got an aftermarket Huco part  - retail price was about $250 at a local 
> import parts place - maybe try Rod at www.thepartsconnection.com for best 
> price. ( I hear the dealer wants $400 for Bosch - but I didn't verify). 
> And don't forget to apply some new Silicon or dielectric paste under the 
> new part.  Does you car have one - I bet it does.  On my '98 it's right 
> under the cover over the airbox - two plug little piece.  I don't know how 
> you could diagnose this without some diagnostic tool such as Pro-Diag or 
> vagcom.  It sounds like you may have one of these, luckily.  BTW Pro-Diag 
> tells you what the fault is - no looking up necessary...
>
> hth
>
> Brandon
> '98 A4
> '84 urquattro 20V
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mitchell Segal" <MSegal at nsbgroup.com>
> To: <a4 at audifans.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 7:23 AM
> Subject: Re: [A4] Coil Pack Help
>
>
>> Hellow everyone,
>> I've been following this discussion about coil packs, and now someone
>> mentioned the ICM as a possible cause to their problems.  I was wondering 
>> if
>> someone can tell me how to test the ICM, to see if it's the cause of my
>> problem.
>>
>> I have a 2001.5 1.8TQ, and I have an occasional stumbling/stalling/loss 
>> of
>> power.  It's not constant, which is the biggest problem, because it never
>> happens when you're at the dealer to show them.  Shows up most after the 
>> hot
>> car has sat for 30-60, and you restart it (heat-soak problem maybe?)
>> Happens most often around 2000 rpm.  Will feel like a total loss of 
>> power,
>> even with pedal to the floor, for 1-2 sec, and then it recovers.  I have 
>> the
>> replaced ignition coils, and dealer has changed the throttlebody.  I get
>> random misfires all over the place, never the same cylinder.  I pulled 
>> 5-6
>> fault codes off this past weekend, but I haven't had time to look them up
>> yet (is the list in the shop manual?  Is there an online list somewhere?)
>>
>> Something has been telling me that this is an electrical problem, like a
>> sensor that's starting to go bad, and send false signals which is 
>> confusing
>> the computer.  But now that you mention this ignition control module 
>> (ICM),
>> perhaps I should start looking there.  I have shop manuals at home, I'll
>> check them out tonight, but does anyone know if there's any kind of test 
>> to
>> tell if the ICM is good or not?
>>
>> Does anyone know if my car even has this ICM, and are they a known 
>> problem
>> in my model year?  Lastly, if it is the ICM, is there a jobber part 
>> that's
>> better, or just stick with the Audi/Bosch version, and be prepared to 
>> change
>> it every few years?
>>
>> Thanks a lot for any help you can give me with this problem.  I've been
>> living with it on and off for 3 months now, and it's starting to drive me
>> crazy.
>>
>> Mitchell
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 14:46:43 -0600
>> From: "Brandon Rogers" <brogers at terrix.com>
>> Subject: Re: [A4] Coil Pack Help
>> To: <A4 at audifans.com>
>>
>> quick follow up
>> installed Ignition Control Module last night - takes about 2 minutes - 
>> the
>> car is running perfect again.
>>
>> Thanks to Pbadore for pointing me towards the ICM vs what I was 
>> thinking -
>> (the coil packs).  And I must say the Pro-Diag from Shadetree was very
>> helpful too.
>>
>> Brandon
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>