Lumpy cold start ... thought it was firmware update

[PetrolDave]

My stealer suggested this is performed after all engine related work to the car, ie service, oil change, filter change.....and no mention of any charges, as its part of the maintenance of the car.

Sounds like Southampton Audi may not have done this when they did the first service and SW upgrade on my car...

[PatrickRS4]

Dave,

My car was serviced at Camberley Audi on Monday and the Service Manager suggested the basic settings as part of the ECU flash to 0080. As a result my car remained "a rabid dog".

Good to see a dealer applying one lesson to other customers - he mention your experience and the emails he'd had to and from the factory.

Great service at Camberley!

Patrick

2007 RS4 Avant - Daytona Grey

[daviesd]

OK - another update. The car has been in since last Tuesday and I've just got a call to come and collect it, with guess what, a new set of spark plugs in it. They have given me some operating instructions though which I think I'll go through with them tonight. 1) Only use Super Unleaded and 2 ) Never switch the car off until the 7000rpm warning has disappeared. The problem I have is what if I only need to make a short journey ( Jersey is only 9 * 5 Miles ) - do I have to take the scenic route - if so, this is very unacceptable.

[PetrolDave]

2 ) Never switch the car off until the 7000rpm warning has disappeared.

Not been told that, but I have been told not to turn off while the inital very rich very fast tickover is happening - but that usually takes less than a minute so that's not a problem.

[reevesroadster]

That doesnt sound right - even the owners manual says you can use unleaded on occasional use in an emergency if super isnt available. As for point 2 - my car runs fine without that limitation, (and im sure most others on here do aswell) so why does yours have to be different.

[s3marc]

Mine was in for 3 weeks and I am still not particularly happy with it...... but, as long as it doesn't get too bad, I am just going to live with it - since there seems no real fix , or at least not one that all dealers and AUDI UK agree upon.

Seems to me like you are being fed some bullsh1t as regards what to do to stop it happening..... I was initially told to leave it idling for 5 mins before I wanted to go anywhere.

Car does run VERY rich for the first minute or two - surprised we dont get flame throwers out of the exhaust!

[daviesd]

Picked the car up and its great - so nice after being in the load A3 for a week!!!! Had an interesting chat with the guy up there about the instructions from Audi and basically said that it was not acceptable to place requirements like that on a car - if I had wanted something I need to warm up etc I would have got something Italian . Anyway, same sort of story take it away and see how it goes etc. I have filled her up with Super Unleaded, but like I said the the nice chap at the garage - its supposed to run ok on 95 with a slight loss of performance. The speed limit is 40 over here so I don't need the performance sp I normally put 95 in. When it goes to France its always 97/98. I basically told him that I am not happy with their answers and wil not be changing the way I drive the car. If the problem re-occurs and they can't fix it then I think I might ask them to take the car back - no fit for purpose etc. I hope they have fixed it!!!!1

[lma07]

I put mine in today for an engine check (lumpy cold start in the mornings) and they diagnosed the car with a faulty combination valve which is now on order.

Will let you know if this puts an end to my 'incompetent looking driving' first thing in the mornings once it has been swapped out.

[s3marc]

This morning mine was showing signs of lumpy cold start again....... will let you know over the next couple of weeks (off skiing tonight yippee!) how it goes. May try disconnecting battery for an hour or so and see if it does a reset of engine parameters as mentioned earlier in the thread.

[daviesd]

Well after only 3 weeks the problem is back again , no doubt another set of plugs is fouled up. Called the dealer today and they will call me on Monday to decide the best way forward. I have found that waiting for the initial cold start cycle to finish ( normally about 1 minute ) helps slightly but does not remove the problem. I am getting really fed up with this.

[Ozrs4]

This cold start issue is puzzling. I had similar symptoms with mine as well and complained to Audi tech whom could not find any fault code and could not provide a fix..the usual - see how it goes as the car is still new.
Anyway, recently I had a emission light came up and they update the car with the latest ECU update (whatever that might be) and so far I don't have any cold start issue. Having said that, the mornings here aren't that "cold" at the moment so I'll be interested to see how it is when winter returns. I have also noticed the initial start doesn't seem to run as rich as it was prior to the ecu update.

[Adam]

what does the basic settings reset involve? - 1.5 hours sounds an awful for the what I assumed would be plug in the computer and do the automotive equivalent of ctrl+alt+delete

if it takes 1.5 hours I doubt they do it after every service as that would add £150 of labour

[reevesroadster]

Not sure how long it took my dealer as they had the car for the day as they were performing diagnosis of the problem. Its fair to say that since that reset ive had no cold start issues (and i already had the 0080 update). I do drive the car harder than before, holding out the gear change a little more.