Hello BSE,
Long time no talk guys, I wish I could say Atlanta has been treating me well, but that isn't exactly the truth.
Ended up replacing my Mechatronics unit under (the tail end of) warranty. But now I have a new problem.
Ever since my 80K service in November I have been having a sporadic CEL. Always for Cylinder 1 misfire. My local VW/AUDI/Porche shop has been the only place working on it, and so far they have been great-ish except for finding the problem which has grown worse over the last 4 weeks.
Took it in 2 weeks after the service for the misfire code, cleared. One of the head techs thought it was a fluke from them changing my plugs at the service.
Occasionally it would come back for a day or so when it was raining outside so I figured it may have something to do with that. But then the rain stopped. Finally got a steady light and brought it back.
Shop owner saw some tape on my upper radiator hose, and one of the techs saw that a piece of hose that came off cylinder one was missing/damaged. Replaced. Light came back 4 days later.
Brought it in the next week and all 4 ignition coils, cylinder one showed some corrosion or rust on the end of it (but I have no idea how water could have got in to foul it to that extent) the NEXT day, light was back. Took it back in last week.
Last week the shop owner had me leave the car so he could look at it personally, he replaced all 4 spark plugs this time and even showed me the plugs that had been pulled out. They looked like average spark plug wear and tear to me. For the first time since the whole ordeal started the car ran the way it should. No sputtering on cold starts.
Today 2 days after the spark plug repair, I cranked my car after leaving work and she shuddered a little bit. I let the car warm up while I finished a smoke, hopped in, and backed out of my space. Before I was out of the parking lot the light came back again.
I am literally at my whits end on this one. In the last 4 weeks I have paid for 3 different sets of repairs AND changed the gas I have been putting in the car, thinking that my usual station may have got a bad batch.
The code is ALWAYS the same for Cylinder One Misfire. And it always occurs at a cold start.
Any thoughts?
-Blake