Audi 80 2.0e Stalling And Kangarooing

[jerrysheene]

I have a 1993 80 2.0e auto which keeps cutting out when warm. It happens most in stop start traffic conditions and has my VAG trained fitter neighbour scratching his head. It has a new cat, new lambda probe, and shows up no faults on the VAG diagnostic fault code reader. It is however running rich according to the black sooty plugs. This is intermittent and simultaneous with the kangarooing when cruising (neither accelerating or decelerating). Although this kangarooing is intermittent(as is the black plug colour) it is becoming more frequent. My neighbour suggests changing the temp sender that supplies the gauge (the other has been replaced recently) but I am not convinced as the gauge appears to display temp accurately. Fuel economy is about 19.9mpg currently although that dropped to 13.4mpg towing my 1140kg caravan 200 miles recently. When smoothly and slowly pressing the accelerator, the engine initially picks up but then drops off only to recover after further pressing. Quick depressions in neutral are less likely to stall the engine than coming off the gas quickly. A sporadic throttle potentiometer fault did register twice out of many many tests, but the VAG reader shows a very reliable smooth transition from closed to fully open resistance readings.
My wife refuses to drive it for fear of embarrassing stalls. It is a lovely car to drive other than these extremely irritating faults. If I can't get it sorted, it's going to have to go. Anybody got any suggestions?

[Goldo]

Originally posted by jerrysheene@Nov 30 2004, 06:18 PM
I have a 1993 80 2.0e auto which keeps cutting out when warm. It happens most in stop start traffic conditions and has my VAG trained fitter neighbour scratching his head. It has a new cat, new lambda probe, and shows up no faults on the VAG diagnostic fault code reader. It is however running rich according to the black sooty plugs. This is intermittent and simultaneous with the kangarooing when cruising (neither accelerating or decelerating). Although this kangarooing is intermittent(as is the black plug colour) it is becoming more frequent. My neighbour suggests changing the temp sender that supplies the gauge (the other has been replaced recently) but I am not convinced as the gauge appears to display temp accurately. Fuel economy is about 19.9mpg currently although that dropped to 13.4mpg towing my 1140kg caravan 200 miles recently. When smoothly and slowly pressing the accelerator, the engine initially picks up but then drops off only to recover after further pressing. Quick depressions in neutral are less likely to stall the engine than coming off the gas quickly. A sporadic throttle potentiometer fault did register twice out of many many tests, but the VAG reader shows a very reliable smooth transition from closed to fully open resistance readings.
My wife refuses to drive it for fear of embarrassing stalls. It is a lovely car to drive other than these extremely irritating faults. If I can't get it sorted, it's going to have to go. Anybody got any suggestions?

Quoted post

Had simalar probs once with a 90, but it turned out to be Distributor & Rotor arm were shagged - they needed replacing, also the Spark Leads were shagged also, one just crumbled away when I took it off.

As a result of this, she was misfiring bad, stalled when warm and in traffic conditions ie. stop start and used to be really rough when in neutral, but when running she got away with it. Fuel econmy dropped down to under 20 mpg from its usual 28 - 38mpg mainly because of the fuel not fireing and simply being ejected.

After they were all replaced, she ran lovely and fuel economy was back up

Fair wear and tear for the age of the car though In my opinion, and fairly inexpensive to fix

Hope this is of some help

[OsloAudi80]

Originally posted by jerrysheene@Nov 30 2004, 06:18 PM
I have a 1993 80 2.0e auto which keeps cutting out when warm. It happens most in stop start traffic conditions and has my VAG trained fitter neighbour scratching his head. It has a new cat, new lambda probe, and shows up no faults on the VAG diagnostic fault code reader....

Quoted post

Looks like I have the same problem as you jerrysheene. Just bought my 1994 Audi 80 2.0E and used it over the weekend. Ive had some kangorooing, goes on for a short while, then everything goes back to normal. This normally happens when the car has been running for about five minutes. Once it stopped completely (don't go on a road trip in the mountains with the old car you just bought :blink: ). The car would not start , no ignition at all. I didnt know what to do, but removed the distributor-cap, looked inside, put it back in place. Then tried turning the key again... the engine started and I havent had any more trouble yet. I will replace spark plug cables, rotor and distr.cap. I have experience with other cars with electronic ignition and injection that worn plug-cables can cause a lot of trouble, so it's worth trying. Som guy claiming to be experienced with the 80 told me that a usual issue with ignition trouble on this car was some flat square unit with a three pole el.connector on it(6p on some models). On my car this unit sits right next to the coil. I have no idea what it does but it probably supplies/chopps the low voltage to the coil. Maybe its worth checking out?

Please let me know what you did if you solve your problem.

[jerrysheene]

Have now changed cap and rotor arm (no difference). Checked ignition timing to find it 30 deg before TDC using snap on timing light. According to audi workshop manual it needs to be set at 4-8 deg before TDC @2500rpm. Tried this but it was undriveably gutless and popping on the overrun exhaust downpipe began to glow red-hot....retarded? . have now set distributor to basic setting with rotor aligned with mark on distributor housing. Colortune shows right mix confirmed by tan plugs. It now revs better and seems to run much as it did before ie power ok but cutting out occasionally when warm in stop/start traffic and intermittently kangarooing with black plugs. I am beginning to hate this car and will gladly set fire to it soon if I can't get to the bottom of it.

[OsloAudi80]

Originally posted by jerrysheene@Dec 8 2004, 07:37 PM
Have now changed cap and rotor arm (no difference). Checked ignition timing to find it 30 deg before TDC using snap on timing light. According to audi workshop manual it needs to be set at 4-8 deg before TDC @2500rpm. Tried this but it was undriveably gutless and popping on the overrun exhaust downpipe began to glow red-hot....retarded? . have now set distributor to basic setting with rotor aligned with mark on distributor housing. Colortune shows right mix confirmed by tan plugs. It now revs better and seems to run much as it did before ie power ok but cutting out occasionally when warm in stop/start traffic and intermittently kangarooing with black plugs. I am beginning to hate this car and will gladly set fire to it soon if I can't get to the bottom of it.

Quoted post

Changed cap, rotor and cables. No difference. Put the car in a workshop, they gave up on me. Put it in a different workshop, they found a broken down relay. Or at least it seemed to be. (Relay sits under the cover under the steering wheel and supplies power to the engine control unit , in my car white and tagged "30" 2.0E Engine type ABK). Engine was running fine for a while, but the kangarooing and stopping was back yesterday. This happens both when idling and while driving. Makes no difference. Back to the second workshop... They will use the car for a while with diagnostic tools in the car and eventually find the problem. I hope. People with proper training and the correct tools are needed. The self diagnostics in these old ECUs are not extensive and a lot of errors will not show up in the memory. Different parameters must be measured and logged while driving in order to find errors like this.

Maybe the relay is worth checking out for you. I am still suspicious about my ignition module/coil but too expensive to change without knowing for sure. Try replacing the ign. cables if you havent. Failing ignition might cause running rich / incomplete combustion, and confuse the ECU (bad timing-knocking)

Anybody out there... with any suggestions?

I`m really getting tired of this also. But, we are strong. And will not give up. Well.. at least not yet.

[OsloAudi80]

Distributor changed, defective sensor. Problem solved.

[Fusion]

Originally posted by OsloAudi80@Jan 14 2005, 08:31 AM
Distributor changed, defective sensor. Problem solved.

Quoted post

Can you please explain in more detail what been changed and which sensor has been replace ? so i can tell the workshop people to fix it ....as my car seem to has the same problem as every one above has describe and i have been putting up with it for over three years .....!!! LOL......your help will be greatly appreciated!!

[stephen76]

Hi guys, I hope I can shed some light on this. I had kangerooing with my 93 2.0E and replaced loads of pipes sensors and all sorts.
It turned out to be the ECU voltage supply relay mopunted either under the steering wheel or the passanger glove box. I soldered mine to fix the dry joint or they cost about £10 from VW Audi and the problem was cured instantly.

Hope this is useful - I wish I knew this before as I spent £70 on diagnostics before chancing upon an knowledgable Audi buff!!!

Anyhow, I've now have some lovely new pipes and sensors!!!
Stephen