I am now COMPLETELY confused now about where to start trying to fix my car...the 94 z A4 has been acting up for a while now...i have a low coolant light on (i figured was no problem) and now it has no performance and gets about 12 MPG...I have people telling me to change my 02 sensors...which i will be doing soon with the headers, and now a guy at the local chevy dealership said that my Low coolant light may also be from the coolant temp sensor in the WP. He said the PCM may be thinking its cold all the time and sending too much gas to the motor (why my oil smells like gas) and thus giving me crappy gas mileage and crappy performance...does anyone know where i should start?- the light has been on for a while, and only now is it giving me bad gas mileage, the performance hasnt been that great in a long time (maybe im just used to the car now, but a 0-60 times are bad (alot slower than last summer) Can anyone give me an idea where to start here? could there be other things too that i should look at? plugs, coil are new 58000 miles on odometer, thanks! BTW it has 3:23 gears and used to get 20+ MPG

 

a guy at the local chevy dealership said that my Low coolant light may also be from the coolant temp sensor in the WP.

He doesn't know these cars very well then.. the 2 aren't related.. they are 2 different sensors..

 

Ditto. Not related.

Do you have access to a scanner? Readings from it would tell you if your temp sensor (in the w/p) was ok. Scanning and data logs are the most helpful ways to figure out drivability problems, IMO.

 

You definately need to change the oil if it smells like gas. Gas doesn't lubricate very well. I'd do a compression and leak down check on the motor, if gas is getting into the oil then you've probably got a bigger problem than you think.