[s-cars] Things that go bump in the night.

[Charlie Smith]

Earlier, Robert Myers wrote:
> 
> Hi Y'all,
> 
> Monday evening while driving home from Huntington (~110 miles) the 
> engine ('95.5 S6 AAN-RS2ed w/ 1.8t coil conversion + other goodies) 
> bucked once.  It felt like the ignition just cut out very briefly - 
> no more than 0.2 second or so, and about what the overboost cutout or 
> the redline cutout feels like except not quite so dramatic due to 
> lower performance level at the time.
> 
> This evening, on a much shorter trip (~10 miles), it happened several 
> times more.  Usually it was just one very quick off/on cycle and then 
> all felt normal.  Once it was a double event - off/on/off/on.  All of 
> these times I was doing nothing unusual.  Mild speed, mild loud 
> pedal, no major boost, nothing out of the ordinary.  Got home 
> OK.  Left the ignition turned on (engine died in the garage - another 
> bump in the night?) hooked up VAG-COM and read codes - none found.

That's sort of familiar symptoms of what I had when a coil shorted.

Intermittent missing, then steady missing ...  got home & shut it off.
Wouldn't restart no matter what.

Got out the Vag-Com and not only had no codes, it couldn't find the ECU.  
Turned out that a coil shorted, and finally blew the fuse down under
the floorboard next to the ECU.  I hunted all over for a blown fuse,
and of course all (that I found) of them were fine.  After finding all
fuses fine, I checked the fuel pump, and lots of other things.  I then
had it towed to a shop, who proceeded to find the fuse blown by the ECU, 
and then the shorted coil.

    - Charlie