Loss of power CQ20V??
 

Alex was driving back from the shops today when the Coupe (B3) decided to lose all power on the slip road off the M54. Luckily only about 800yds from home but an inconvenience as she was about to go to work!
Now, have had the one of the spark plugs out and tried to see if there is a spark, but can't see a spark at all. The engine turns over but doesn't fire. Yes there is fuel!
So, by the grand process of elimination, I would deduce that it would be an electrical fault.
I would point my finger at the moment at the coil pack.
Anywhere else where I can point my finger and phillips screw driver and hammer at for now?

Ahh, Coxy... :) 7A has the worst engine management [or, let's say, expensive] of all old audis and ke-jet is only next to it :D

As far as I remember, most latvian 7A users lost spark because of ignition timing sender fault - either some of senders is gone or pin on flywheel is gone. Also there is possibility that igniton distributor gear is gone - sometimes this happens to 7A and 3B.
P.S. All fuses in place?

I'll have a check tomorrow as I've had enough of cars today.
What's the easiest way to find out if it's the ignition timing sender fault without getting dirty?!
Or is there an easy way to trace back what the fault is rather than pulling my hair out in the morning?

Try removing the dizzy cap and turn the engine over to see if the rotor arm is turning some times the gear breaks on the end of the shaft

Agree with MSH, also, have a butchers at any after market alarm/immobiliser... They can perform some stunning stunts when they go west.

If there's fuel but no spark it's not likely to be a fuse or relay as these should stop the fuel pump first (the engine ECU is fed power via the fuel pump relay) but still check it's not popped something seemingly insignificant! Power output stage unit can fail but usually starts as intermittant fault.
As mentioned, check the dizzy is turning with engine - common one that. If none of above works then I can PM you copies of the test sequences from my Audi workshop manuals for the 7A, it'll help you find the faulty bit rather than go spending on random bits you dont need!

One question, when you crank it over does the rev counter needle move at all? If it doesn't even twitch when cranking then either the hall sendor (inside dizzy) has fialed, or the dizzy drive wheel. Easy check!!!

There's a slight twitching of the rev counter although the battery is a bit low as Alex tried turning it for several minutes before she rang me up.

Had this fault when I had the 7A. Distributer gear would be the first thing. Remove the cap and try and see if you can turn the rotor arm. I upgraded to the brass disi gear.
Other poor design is the pin in the flywheel to tell the engine where TDC is. Though this is only used on initial start up. If it falls off once the engine is running it will not stop the engine. I found this out after dropping a nut into the bellhousing (thought it had dropped onto the drive) and on starting the car it ripped the pin off but not before it had started. But next time I came to start....

well, as many of you suspected, dizzy out and dizzy gear in 3 bits.
Cheap Chinese plastic me thinks!

So, anyway, what's the best course of action here?
Can I just and the new dizzy gear (upgrade to brass one maybe?).
Or is it easier to get a 2nd hand dizzy off someone like Audibits and fit that?
Then of course all the messing around with the timing. :(

Was there really "mess with timing"? I remember that some R5 engines u can turn distributor as u wish, as long there is contact, ignition timing doesn't change, 7A isn't one of them? :D