[A4] ignition coils

[gordies garage]

Oddly enough, I've never (to my knowledge) had a coil fail, and mine are all original.  Although not lately, I have done many track events and have ridden 'er hard, but usually took good care to cool down, etc.
I'm at 172k miles on my car and counting.
  From: Robert King 
  From: Robert King 
  Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 11:37 AM
  To: gordies garage 
  Subject: Re: [A4] ignition coils


  I used to lose coils fairly regularly (I was up to 6,) when I decided to discard the engine cover.  In the past 8 years I've only lost one.  What pointed me to the engine cover was the loss of two coils at a weekend track event.  Two coils failed, but I was able to coast into the pits.  I pulled the codes and found cylinders 1 and 2 were dead.  I left the hood open and took the engine cover off.  30 minutes later I restarted the engine and it ran fine and continued to run fine until 15 minutes into the next 20-minute track session where #1 and 2 failed again.  Again, letting the engine cool off fixed the problem. 


  I ran with those coils for 8 more years until #1 died for good a couple of months ago.


  Get a spare coil and carry it in the trunk.  Be familiar with changing them.



  On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 5:23 AM, gordies garage <audidoodie at comcast.net> wrote:

    I too have a miss at high load with my A4.  Replacement of spark plugs helped, but did not cure the problem.  My car is currently with my favorite independent who will attend to that and several other minor problems.
    I'll let you know what he discovers.

    Gordie Bird
    '98 A4 TQSM
    '03 A6 Avant

    --------------------------------------------------
    From: "Jon" <jhhummel at bigpond.com>
    Sent: Monday, February 04, 2013 3:12 AM
    To: <a4 at audifans.com> 

    Subject: Re: [A4] ignition coils


      Hi Peter,

      With the clarifier that I am only working from some base theory:

      To burn out a coil, you need to get it too hot, or have too high a current (which makes it too hot)

      So, I'm assuming that there is no mechanical or cooling fault that would result in this.You didn't have any spare parts left over after servicing it?

      Given that, check the spark plugs, including the gap, and look for shorts between the coil and the plug.

      But why under high load? Not sure.

      Hope that helps,

      cheers

      Jon

      On 04/02/13 07:00, a4-request at audifans.com wrote:

        Message: 2
        Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:55:28 -0000
        From: Peter Kirby <4pkirby at gmail.com>
        To: Peter Kirby <4pkirby at gmail.com>, A4 at audifans.com
        Subject: Re: [A4] ignition coils
        Message-ID: <2505211649641093287 at unknownmsgid>
        Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

        I just checked...I'm getting a code on not only #1 but also #3.

        Peter
        ------------------------------
        *From:* "Peter Kirby" <4pkirby at gmail.com>
        *To:* "A4 at audifans.com" <A4 at audifans.com>
        *Sent:* 2 February, 2013 7:35 PM
        *Subject:* ignition coils

        Hi Everyone

        In the last month or so, I have gone through four ignition coils on
        cylinder #1.  They always fail under fairly heavy load.  When it fails,
        the CEL flashes.

        Any idea what causes these to burn on just one cylinder?  Bad
        connection?  Bad ground?

        Thanks in advance.

        Peter
        2001 1.8tq A4 (AWN)


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

        _______________________________________________
        A4 mailing list
        A4 at audifans.com
        http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/a4


        End of A4 Digest, Vol 100, Issue 1
        **********************************


      _______________________________________________
      A4 mailing list
      A4 at audifans.com
      http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/a4 


    _______________________________________________
    A4 mailing list
    A4 at audifans.com
    http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/a4






  -- 
  -- Robert