A6 shakes after long run

Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a little
power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas where to look
for problems?





P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.

Just some questions.
Automatic or manual transmission?
Recent oil change and level is OK?
Did the Engine Check light come on?
Regular fuel or ????
Was it real cold and or snowing at that time you noticed a problem?


"Tony" > wrote in message
...
> Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
> primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
> speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
> driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
> Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a little
> power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas where to
> look for problems?
>
>
> P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
> sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.

A6 Q Automatic 2.8 L. Oil is Mobil1 5-30, full and new (as always). No
Engine Check light. High test gas and temperature was in the 30's F. BTW,
after I stopped for 20 minutes I drove back on the interstate with no
vibration again.

"dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote in message
t...
> Just some questions.
> Automatic or manual transmission?
> Recent oil change and level is OK?
> Did the Engine Check light come on?
> Regular fuel or ????
> Was it real cold and or snowing at that time you noticed a problem?
>
>
> "Tony" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
>> primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
>> speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
>> driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
>> Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a
>> little power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas
>> where to look for problems?
>>
>>
>> P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
>> sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.
>
>

How about tires. Air pressure? Been rotated lately? Could have lost a
weight.

--
please reply to bargerw NO @ SPAM bellsouth.net and remove the NOSPAM


"Tony" > wrote in message
...
> Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
> primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
> speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
> driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
> Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a little
> power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas where to
> look for problems?
>
>
>
>
>
> P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
> sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.
>
>

Hmmmm JMHO but.,......
38K miles on a 7-8 year old car is not a lot, it is too little. I don't
even consider it broken in well until the odometer goes past 100K miles and
yours is only driven about 5,000 miles a year and probably short 20 minutes
of driving each little trip. ;-)
It could be that the vehicle needs to be driven on a nice long 4 hour
highway trip. Maybe even using a upper engine cleaner in the fuel tank in
case you have some deposits inside of the engine.

Short trips are not typically good for the engines. The engines don't
maintain operating temperature long enough and it is also considered
"abnormal" driving.
It can cause exhaust systems to accumulate water from condensation which
does not have a chance to "burn off". This can apply to the engine
internals also, deposits can develop on the cylinder head valves and water
will form inside the engine the oil.

Have you ever heard of the term "Italian Tune Up"? Driving it hard and fast
for awhile on the highway can do wonders! <g>

JMHO
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)


"Tony" > wrote in message
. ..
> A6 Q Automatic 2.8 L. Oil is Mobil1 5-30, full and new (as always). No
> Engine Check light. High test gas and temperature was in the 30's F. BTW,
> after I stopped for 20 minutes I drove back on the interstate with no
> vibration again.
>
> "dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote in message
> t...
>> Just some questions.
>> Automatic or manual transmission?
>> Recent oil change and level is OK?
>> Did the Engine Check light come on?
>> Regular fuel or ????
>> Was it real cold and or snowing at that time you noticed a problem?
>>
>>
>> "Tony" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
>>> primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
>>> speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
>>> driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
>>> Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a
>>> little power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas
>>> where to look for problems?
>>>
>>>
>>> P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
>>> sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.
>>
>>
>
>

On Mar 11, 1:51 pm, "Tony" > wrote:
> Car is 99' A6 with only 38K on the clock and perfect maintenance. It's
> primarily used as a commuter car with occasional short hops at highway
> speeds (70+mph). I took the car on a long trip with extended high speed
> driving and noticed a strange behavior: As I'm slowing down to exit the
> Interstate (30-50 mph) the car started to shake and sort of loose a little
> power; I was afraid it might stall on the exit ramp. Any ideas where to look
> for problems?
>
> P.S. The car is back as a commuter and things are back to normal but not
> sure if this shaking will return on extended high speed travel.

One of your coils or power output stages is going south.

Since it quit after you shut it off, I'm guessing coil. It'll return,
and stay. They you can find it and fix it cheaply.

E.P.

"dave AKA vwdoc1" > wrote in message
t...
> Have you ever heard of the term "Italian Tune Up"? Driving it
> hard and fast for awhile on the highway can do wonders! <g>

Agreed, but just a small note of "caution". Please make sure
your engine is at normal operating temperature, ie, water temp in
the middle of the gauge, then a further 5 minutes for the oil to
catch up - before giving it max on the loud pedal ;-)

Rgds, Sean