Coil Failures - Letter from Audi

[MSegal at STSSystems.com]

Hello fellow Audians,
Yesterday, I received my letter from Audi Canada, regarding the ignition
coil failures that have been in the news for VW and Audi cars. In case you
haven't gotten your letters yet, see below for the text I received.  I've
read this letter several times now, and I still don't understand a few
things.
1) From what I read in the letter, it's not a recall notice.  It's simply a
warning that if your coil fails, your car should still continue to operate,
enough for you to come in and get it fixed.  But there doesn't seem to be
any offer to recall the coils (ie: come in and we'll change them for you
BEFORE they fail) or anything saying that if one does fail, when you come
in, that they'll change all of them at the same time, to avoid any future
problems.
2) They say that if a coil fails, that the car will still continue to run,
although with reduced power.  But from what I read in the posts, it seems
that for some people, when the coil failed, the engine just suddenly stopped
dead, would not run at all with the coil failure.
3) This is a minor point, but in the second paragraph, it starts off with
saying the coils provide electricity to the spark plugs when you start the
engine.  As I understand it, they continue to provide electricity as long as
the engine is running, otherwise, the spark plugs wouldn't spark.  If they
only worked at starting, then if a coil failed when driving, it wouldn't
affect you at all, until the next time you tried to start the car.  From the
way they wrote the letter, they're trying to minimize the impact, trying to
imply that a coil failure only affects startup, or perhaps might reduce
power output while driving.  Sounds to me like they're talking out of both
sides of their mouth.
I wanted to get your feedback on what this letter is trying to say here.  Is
this a recall?  Can I take this to the dealer and ask to have all the coils
changed?  If a coil fails, does the engine die, or just run on 3 cylinders?
I'm attaching the letter to the bottom of my post.
Mitchell Segal
-------------------------------------------------
Audi Canada
January 31, 2003
Dear Audi Customer:
We are writing to provide you with important information about your Audi.
Through our monitoring of vehicles in the field, we have determined that
some 2001 and 2002 Audi TT, A4 and A6 models with 1.8T and 3.0 litre engines
may experience a malfunction of an ignition coil. The 2001 and 2002 engines
are equiped with four such coils for the 4-cylinder engine and six such
coils in the 6-cylinder engine.
The coils provide electricity to the spark plugs when you start your engine.
Some owners have experienced a malfunction of one or more of these coils. If
an ignition coil becomes inoperative, the engine and its electionic controls
are designed to keep your vehicle running. Some deterioration in
performance, however, can be expected. You can continue to drive with
reduced power and should take your car to your nearest Audi dealer for
repair. If you do not feel comfortable driving with reduced power, you may
call Audi 24-hour Roadside Assistance at (800) 411-9988 for towing to the
nearest Audi dealer.
Should you experience a malfunction, your Audi dealer will be able to repair
your car with an improved ignition coil. In order to minimize inconvenience
to you, your Audi dealer will offer alternative transportation for you at no
cost.
We want to make it clear that your car may not exhibit this problem.
However, if you have already experienced this malfunction and for some
reason you had to pay to have it repaired, we are, of course, prepared to
reimburse you. If this has been your experience, please contact us.
We apologize for any inconvenience you may experience and we assure you that
resolving this issue is the top priority for Audi Canada, Audi AG and our
Audi dealers. If you desire any assistance, or have any questions, please
contact us at (800) 822-2834.
We appreciate your patience and, as always, thank you for choosing Audi.
Regards,
Len Hunt
Vice President