I've got a 96 A4 Quattro with the 2.8 and its giving me a little trouble. Its throwing a code (p0303) which is a cylinder 3 misfire. The car has 115k miles on it and is very well taken care of. It idles a little rough but the issue clears up as soon as you start moving, it doesnt smoke, tick leak or anything like that and it has plenty of power. I havent checked anything and to be honest I dont know much about Audis. Is this a common problem and where should I start? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

It's probably a bad coil pack, I would remove it and switch it with one from the other side of the engine to see if the problem follows that particular coil pack.

 

This car only has one coil and it seems to be firing for number 3 so its got spark, it only misses at idle though after it hits about 1500rpms the miss goes away. I erased the code and reset the computer and it ran fine for like an hour then it threw the code again, the idle dropped and the miss came back. Seems like it only does it when it warms up. Any ideas Im really stumped.

 

The 2.8 engine doesn't have coil on plugs? If it's a single coil the only other thing that I think it could be is the plug itself or the plug wire, maybe the wire is just loose or corroded.

 

I replaced the plugs and it seemed to get better but as soon as it warmed up it threw the code again and started idling all rough again. This car is pretty damn confusing, I'll probably take it in tomorrow to get looked at. Thanks for the help.

 

Have you tried cleaning your grounds? It can't hurt.

 

Actually had a friend run a few tests today and its got a collapsed lifter and possibly a bad valve stem seal on the #3. Hopefully we'll have it up and running soon.