In my 8 months (so far) of owning an Audi, I've come to realize it's a geek's car... by geek I mean someone who's good at tracking down and fixing little niggly things.

Mostly electrical niggly things.

Let me cite three recent examples:

1. Front speakers were cutting out until I turned the volume up.

WHAT A NON-GEEK WOULD DO: Call the dealership, take it in, and spend $$$ having them track down the problem and (hopefully) fix it.
WHAT I DID: Pulled the door panels off and ran new wires from the door connectors to the speakers. Speakers have worked fine since.

2. A few months ago I started up my car and the radio didn't go on. I pressed the buttons, nothing. Turned the ignition off and on, nothing.

WHAT A NON-GEEK WOULD DO: Call the dealership, take it in, and spend $150 or more to "fix" the problem.
WHAT I DID: Pulled the fuse for the radio, and re-inserted it to "reboot" the radio. Radio has worked fine since.

And one from this morning:

3. I went to use the windshield washers. The wipers operated, but no fluid came out of the jets.

WHAT A NON-GEEK WOULD DO: (Maybe) check/top off the fluid, and when that didn't work, take it into the dealership and have them track down the problem.
WHAT I DID: Determined the pump wasn't operating. Saw that headlight washers weren't operating either. Checked fuse, looked ok. Searched on this forum, found mention of another fuse, marked "Intelligent Power Module", which I checked and found was blown. Replaced fuse and now my washers work perfectly again.

Even a geek would have had trouble with that one, since the affected fuse says NOTHING about washers. Who would think to check the "intelligent power module" fuse when the washers don't work?

So, if you have an Audi, be a geek, and hang out on this forum!

 

or you could be like me and have it all go wrong while its under warranty and replace it for free at the dealer. i like that choice btter.

 

Minor problems

 

"niggly" is that a word.. i know im one to talk but that might be a bit out of line..

 

a regular person would do all the things you just did. a geek would write it all down and compare it to an imaginary "regular owner" on the internet ;P

j/k nice work

 

Would a regular person think to pull the radio fuse to "reboot" it? I wouldn't have thought to try that if I wasn't a computer geek.

Would a regular person know (or know how to find out) that the fuse marked "Intelligent Power Module" controls the washers? Even I needed to search this forum to figure that one out. A regular person might check every fuse in hopes of getting lucky.

 

a person familiar with car audio would have thought to pull the fuse on the radio...
and any person that is Mechanically inclined would have looked at a wire diagram to see what fuse dose what..

a retard would use "niggly" to describe a common problem.. thats just my 2 cents

but good job on the DIY stuff, just try using Non derogatory comments to describe them next time..

 

Ok, so after consulting an online dictionary, I suppose that "niggling" is a more correct term to use instead of "niggly". Just because my vocabulary isn't 100% perfect doesn't make me a retard (ok, how's that for derogatory??). I just don't use certain words often enough.

And if it's "geek" you think is derogatory, maybe it was in the 80s, but now most people are proud to be considered geeks. Especially those who are self proclaimed geeks.

Besides, would a retard be able to figure out pesky little electrical problems in a car?

 

im just messing with you, and it would bepend on what kind of disability the person had.. so you still might be well.. we will just say challenged

 

this thread is turning from geek to GHEY

good job on the diy, just learn to laugh at yourself a little [8D] we all speak a little geek