Of course, this prompted much dinner-table Autoscouting for a replacement small hatch, but that is a discussion for later....
Daughter #2 went to take our Audi A2 out the other day and there was no throttle at all. She managed to crawl to the end of the street in 1st, turn around and come home. Turned it off an on again and the problem disappeared. Same thing happened again a few minutes later and and EPC warning light came on. This is the Electronic Power Control light, but not being a mechanically-minded person, I have no idea what this implies. Is it a generic warning that something is affecting the power system, or can it be nailed down to a more specific fault. The car is 16 years old and we've had it for a shade under 2 years. I've tried to Google it, but the threads quickly degenerate into techno-speak and I get lost. Is it safe to drive? We'll bring it to the local mechanic, but what should I expect, worst-case scenario?
Mine is a totally different car -- a volvo xc90 .. But had those symptoms.. No throttle, generic warning lights.. Then all ok..
I was the throttle position sensor, it was dirty so not reading the throttle position properly. (TCS diagnosed this with a computer, garage cleaned it up for no charge)
TCS and garage said it was safe to drive, but when it had no power, it really had no power!
Thanks. As it's registered to MrsG, she'll call the TCS. Hopefully the solution is just as simple. She didn't want to call the TCS this morning as I'm sure they had better things to do, given the driving conditions.
Buy a VAG OBD2 bluetooth adapter and get Torque-Pro for your android (chf 4 or so) to read the codes, and do other useful stuff.
Tom
P.S. Or send me your address and I'll lend you one of mine.
Can be a lot of things, you need someone to read out your car so there is more to say as for what the problem could be. It could be anything from a faulty sensor or a small thing that needs cleaning, or it could be that your car is scrap.
Depending on the state and exact model of your car it might be worth anything from 2.000 to 8.000 Chf. I would go to a garage have it read and then decide what to do, Selling it with this problem will sort of deem the car worthless since nobody in his sane mind would buy a 16yr old car with an unknown problem to the EPC unless incredible freaking cheap.
Update:
MrsG called out the TCS and it was actually the battery, managed to bring it to our local mechanic and he said the battery was so stiffed, he was surprised the car even started.
Anyway, all good now, so the kids can stop Autoscouting .
That sounds strange to me as once the engine runs, it needs no battery to move the car. Or does it??
The subject interests me because I had that problem too, no throttle (yet no lights warning about anything). The problem went away, don't know if by itself or because my new garage "accidentally" did something about it (they did not mention anything anyway).
PS: I used to solve it by giving a lot (A LOT) of "Zwischengas" what ever that is in English. Maybe one of the mechanics here now says "ah, yeah, I know what the problem was then". I'll be interested
I believe you still need the battery once the engine is running .. The alternator charges the battery, it doesn't run the electrics -- as far as I know
Yes that is clear. But to actually drive I don't need the battery once the engine runs. Me thinks. I support this opinion with the fact that when the battery is flat (left the lights on or something unspectacular like that) and I bridge it, start the engine and drive for a while, the battery is fine again.
Remember I don't drive these super-electronic-dependent-things, I drive what we used to call a car
It does, as without it you can/will blow the regulator, ECU, etc.
I've seen it done to a friend's bike.
If the battery is only flat, but not dead, it will usually work, but if it's open, you are screwed.
Tom
Disconnect the battery on a modern (less than 25 years old) vehicle once it's running, and see what happens.
Tom
Okay, thanks, I'll take your word for it.
As I don't know the electronic control unit, what it does in particular and where it is. I only know the parts of the car, which I had to replace over the decades (I better not make a list or a mod will chide me ) and that was not one of it - so far.
Our car had random electrical problems in Italy last year. It was an almost-dead battery.
I wrote about it on here. The garage replaced it (in error) with another dead battery!
Yeah assuming you had a car without any electronics .. it could run just on the engine.. Hence the olden days when cars had a crank handle
However cars now are totally reliant on the computer to do everything from deliver fuel to decide which wheels actually turn.. If the computer thinks something is wrong it just cuts everything right down to minimize further damage. It's probably been like this for 20 years? You have a really old car?
Not just those though. You could bump-start a car and get going with a dead battery too. You can't do that so easily now.
It's less than 20 years, I think.
But no, I never had a car with a crank handle I did not live at the same time they did either. Really. I swear.
The problem is not the electronics themselves, but their susceptibility to voltage fluctuations, which is the problem with having a dead or open battery, as the regulator will not work correctly in such cases, and you will disturb or fry the electronics.
And bump starting won't work on EFI vehicles with a totally flat battery because there is no power to prime the fuel pump.
Tom
Last car with a crank handle was a Citroen 2CV. Last one was made 28 years ago.
I use a kick-start bike in the winter, so that I don't need to worry about it not starting because of the cold and/or a dead battery!
Tom
I know someone who had a deux chevaux even a bit more than 28 years ago and I am positive it did not have a crank handle. I do remember asking him whether he built that thing himself though, it seemed like it, it rained in through the ventilation as all it was was a grid which could be closed off
He was the world's best tinkerer and I was a child who was convinced - by experience - that he was capable of fixing absolutely everything.
However, this thread turned into nostalgia, that's what you get OP when mentioning 16 year old cars I suddenly realized that it's been ages since I had a car with a choke (my beloved Mini Metros, I think).