Rough idle, lack of power, engine lt on...HELP

[maxsaudi]

Car is a 2002 1.8t Quattro, 103k mi

Has intermittently shown an obvious lack of power when you step on the pedal. I have noticed it a few times, you push down to accelerate and it is extremely sluggish and I really wonder if we are going to move down the road. Now car has begun to surge. I started it up this morning, let it idle until it kicked down...car was running normally. Put car into drive and as I pulled onto road, car felt like it was surging slightly. Drove about 1/2 mi and battery lt flashed on and then back off and car started to run quite roughly. Made a quick u-turn to get it back home and the brake pedal was very unresponsive. Engine light came on and car was almost bucking it was running so rough. Had to stand on the brake pedal to get car to stop. Shut it down, started it back up and it ran rough from the get go. Revved it up in park and the idle smoothed out but engine lt stayed on. We replaced the coil packs less than a year ago, fuel filter was changed within 6 mos. Have no way to check the codes and no $ to take to the shop. Any help is appreciated.

[old guy]

The stiff brake pedal is an indication that you are losing vacuum at your brake booster. This would also account for the poor performance and rough idle. Check your suction jet pump. I'm guessing it has split open.

[oxtarr]

well your brakes went out cuz your car shut off, as for why its doing that sounds like its a metering problem, meaning something electrical. where are you located, maybe someone can check the codes locally, if your in socal i can do it. Because the battery light flashed leads me to believe its possibly a positive voltage problem. Besides the battery light it sounds like a spark problem though, you cant rule out the coilpacks just because they are newer.

[maxsaudi]

@Oxtarr - car was running when brakes went stiff, and the battery light flashed on briefly and then it didn't happen again. I'm in WA so I doubt you can check the codes LOL!

@Old Guy - Can you walk me through how to find the suction jet pump? Working on this car is a bit foreign to me. Thx.

[old guy]

Sorry for the delay. I was searching for a thread that had a few pics. This should do it: Clicky click Look at post 15 and 26 in the thread.

[maxsaudi]

You were right on, that is the problem. I can't thank you enough!

[old guy]

You were right on, that is the problem. I can't thank you enough!

Happy to be of assistance :-)

You can super glue your broken one together until you get a replacement part. Take a close look inside both sections before you glue them and you will notice a small ridge one on side that fits between two ridges on the other side (an alignment feature). Make sure you align them properly. You should be able to operate the car with a repaired SJP until your replacement comes in.

Good luck!

[maxsaudi]

Is there a quick fix to get the engine light to turn off?

[old guy]

Is there a quick fix to get the engine light to turn off?

It should turn off by itself after several hot/cold engine cycles. You could try disconnecting the battery but as long as the car is running smooth after the repair I would recommend just waiting a day or two.