hesitation after initial startup

[craymond5]

Hey guys I searched but didn't find anyone complaining of the same symptoms as my car. I know a ton of people have had fuel cuts while driving after modified but my car has a completely stock engine right now. The problem occurs when I start my car in the morning or after it has sat for a day. When I take off it feels like fuel cut, it seems as if the engine won't accept any fuel and hesitates or stumbles if that makes sense. It goes away after about a minute of driving but occurs every time the car has sat over night or for a day. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this, not a fuel cut while driving at higher rpm's or pushing the car. I have been thinking that it might be a characteristic of the fsi needing time to prime or something but wasn't sure. The car has not thrown any codes either and it is an 08 should have the revised cam. Thanks for any help.

[juggernaut201]

sounds like a miss fire possibly a coil pack

[juggernaut201]

try new plugs 1st

[CBRmatt600]

Do you start driving immediately after you start the car, or do you let it warm up first?

[craymond5]

I let it sit for about 45 seconds to a minute but from everything I have read it's better to not let a car sit idle when cold especially a turbo car. If it is a situation where the car needs to sit for a few minutes before being driven because of the fuel system then I will do that. Really wanted to see if everyone else's car does this if they drive away soon after starting or immediately after starting the car. If they don't then there must be something wrong with the car. I told the dealer about it when I had my 5k service done but of course they said they couldn't reproduce the event since they did not keep the car overnight. Would a bad coil pack only have issues when it sits overnight though or most of the time. The car only has 12k on it now so I didn't think it would be plugs but I will check that too. Really want to get it straightened out before I start the motor work on the way to big turbo. I have never been this nervous of an engines ability to reliably handle power with the whole camshaft, pump, follower issue. I have gone big turbo on every car I have owned from 1.8t's, vr6's, and g60's until this one so really looking forward to getting this straightened out so I can push forward.

[CBRmatt600]

Well I drive my car very lightly when I first start it up, until it reaches full operating temp. If you are getting right into boost after starting it up it is going to run a little rough.

If that doesn't work swap your plugs. If it was a coil pack you would know it.

[craymond5]

thanks for all the help guys. I don't drive it hard at all until it reaches normal operating temps as well. I make sure I stay out of boost until the car is warmed up, it is so bad that I can hardly accelerate at all with a light foot to get to 2500 rpm which is where I shift during casual driving. I will look it the plugs for sure. Does your car ever do this? Anyone else's car do this?

[illegitimus]

Do a quick search under "cold start" and you'll find at least a couple of threads and in one there's a TSB copied in word for word. I took it in a print form to a dealership and had an ECU update performed to eliminate the problem. So far so good.

[craymond5]

I read some of the cold start threads but from what I remember the problem there was an issue starting the car in cold weather or when the car had sat for a while. is this true?My car does not have a problem starting and the flash was released before my last visit to the dealer so should have the update.

[artinmoTTion]

go get the ECU updated and any TSBs taken care of, and the problem will mostly go away.

[CBRmatt600]

Guys this does not sound like a cold start problem. I've never heard of a car doing that, especially one that is so new.

If it is a 2008 with 12k you are still under warranty. Check your ignition system yourself, and if that doesn't turn anything up then bring it back to the dealer. If you raise enough hell they will get authorization from Audi to check things out even if it didn't throw any codes.

[craymond5]

Yeah I am aware of the cold start issues people have had and I actually received the update for that but this is different then when the car had a hard time turning over during the winter months. I guess I am going to have to hassle the dealer to look at it again even though they don't like to without any codes present.

[schell21]

i had the same problem in my 2008 2.0 A4. im convinced it was carbon build up from bad fuel. did you by chance put any fuel in that was less than 91 octane? i did on accident and I blame myself :) the dealer sold me two bottles of additive and so far so good. cleaned it out after two full tanks

check out toptiergas.com and only buy from those vendors

[craymond5]

I have only run 93 in the car since new. Do you know if the additives were injector cleaner or just a general fuel system cleaner?

[CBRmatt600]

Dude, 12k miles? No way you have built up enough carbon to make the car run that shitty. I am betting it is an ignition problem.

[illegitimus]

Could it be that LP fuel pump is failing?

[CBRmatt600]

I figure that would be more of a constant problem if it was

[Leechiro]

any of you guys start your car and start driving in first gear only to feel hesitation, like your pumping the gas pedal? it only happens to me once in awhile and in 1st gear for the first time before shifting to 2nd. after that, 1st gear is fine. but this only happens like every other day (with multiple starts in between being completely fine).

[CBRmatt600]

Yes, it happens when the car is cold.

[schell21]

i dont know if it was general fuel system cleaner or fuel injector cleaner but i do know it was $11 per bottle. every word on the bottle was german. i could find it and get you the part number if you want to look it up ? just pm me

[positiv_rate]

Just my 0,02$...

I have an '08 and it's done that since the first day. Are you running upgraded software? (APR, REVO, NS, etc?) You've had a 1.8T you say? Remember the secondary air pump that would come on for 1-2 minutes and raise idle when first starting your cold engine? It would essentially lean out the mixture by pumping more air to help raise EGTs. That was to get the cat warmed up quicker for emissions purposes.

I don't know for sure if we have the same system on the 2.0T, but everytime I start my engine when it's "cold" (i.e. like you said: sitting overnight or just cooled down from it's normal operating temps), I can hear a faint blower sound from within the engine compartment/intake tract and that's when I experience that bucking/hesitation your speak of. It goes away after a minute or two, just like yours does.

I couldn't say if stock engines do this because I took delivery of my car in the evening, and was getting it flashed the next morning [:D]. Maybe the added boost from software tunes dosen't play well with that "secondary air pump-esque" type of system?

Just a thought...

Cheers!

[Joakester]

I had a similar sounding problem last week. For a few weeks, my 08 2.0 would take a few seconds to start up but then would be fine. One day it would start but die out immediately. An hour later it was fine. I brought it to the dealer who said it was a faulty fuel line sensor (the fuel line was fine, but the sensor was out). Not sure if it helps, but like I said your issue sounded similar and I just went through this.