Car barely runs, troubleshooting help please

[Danza]

All,

I realize it's difficult to diagnose over the internet and unfortunately I'm not 100% familiar with the car and all of its quirks yet, so I hope to do the best I can.

Background:

The car has been sitting for about 4 months for cosmetic reasons (aka roommate driving through the garage door and into the back of it). I let it run once or twice a week. Once a month drive it down the street and back. Car has ~89,000 miles on it, 2001.5 S4.

Situation and Symptoms:

Was messing around in the garage so started the car up and let it run for 15-20 minutes. Decide to drive it down the street. Coming back onto my street, car gives out a little pop and dies. I roll up to the edge of my driveway which is a slight incline.

Car will start 2 out of 3 attempts or so each time. I need to give it gas upon starting. Initially I can hold the revs around 1500-2000 rpm. Then after 15 seconds or so the rev's will drop to ~400 with me lightly pressing on the accelerator. If I let off the pedal, the car will die.

If I attempt to move the car under its own power it dies. It smokes white out of the exhaust and smells like fuel/oil mix. It did not do this prior to this happening.

What potential causes do you all think it could be?
1) ICM?
2) Catastrophic turbo failure? It is still on original k03s and is stage 2.
3) Timing belt failure? Car has been sitting for a while.

I appreciate all the help you guys can give. Thanks.

[Danza]

dead...

[Danza]

Update: Friend says the smoke is dark. So leads me to believe I was right with the fuel/oil mix

[nikitynick]

do you know somebody with a vag com in your area? that will give you most of what you need to know

[Danza]

Yes going to scan the car Monday probably.

Gonna look for misfire 1,2,3 or 4,5,6 to lean towards ICM failure

[csosnowski]

pull the maf sensor harness and see if it will run, could be boost leak.

[NefMoto]

Check error codes, and pressure test intake system. Easiest thing to do is disconnect the MAF. If you disconnect the MAF and the car runs better, then it is definately an intake leak.

[mholme]

That's a very long time for gas to be in the tank untreated.

[Danza]

4 months, while not a short period of time, isn't going to cause fuel degradation or moisture buildup to the point where the car is barely running and can't move under it's own power.

I'll unplug the maf harness Monday when I'm back with the car. Thanks for the help thus far, I'll update the thread monday.

[mholme]

4 months, while not a short period of time, isn't going to cause fuel degradation or moisture buildup to the point where the car is barely running and can't move under it's own power.

Sure it can. You're assuming that the gas you put in 4 months ago was 0 days old to begin with.

Considering you were just "lot" driving the car, I wouldn't think anything catostophic happened, but you never know. You're right to start with a scan and see what comes up and go from there. Also, a typical ICM failure is for it to drop a cylinder, not an entire bank, so even if you only get consistent misfires on a single cylinder, don't rule out the ICM.

[Danza]

True enough.

I'll let you guys know what we find out tomorrow. Thanks for the help everyone.