Hey,

I've had my 1996 Audi A6 Quattro for about 4 days now. My "check engine" light came on yesterday. The car has a little over 130,000 miles on it. The car seems to be driving just fine, and a local mechanic said that if there was no major sounds, smell, or shaking that it should be fine. Any ideas on why it came on, or how to remove it in the case that it isn't a big deal?

Thanks.

 

The "check engine light" (CEL) is just a "Hey! I've got something going on here that you need to look into." kind of warning. To really understand what's going on, you need to hook up the car to a VAG-COM device that will give you one or more codes from the car. This code will tell you what's really going on. A decent garage that specializes in Audi should be able to do this for you at minimal cost.

Alternatively, you can use this link to see if somebody with a VAG-COM near you would be willing to help you out (often the case): VAG-COM locator

 

You can also pick up a VAG COM device on ebay for around $60

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB..._BIN_Stores_IT

 

No direct experience with the eBay one, but I've heard it's not worth the price savings compared to the real thing. FWIW.

 

I have an 96 A6 Quattro Wagon and my CEL went on two days after buying it. I called the european car specialist that fixed my dad's 94 BMW and he said that the A6's are very sensistive to even being over filled with engine oil.

I just did a oil change the day before and sure enough it was about a half a quart overfull. Drained the extra oil and pulled the terminal of the battery and it went out and is fine now, but thats just my car yours could be something else. Hope this helps any.

 

Hey everyone, I think I've located someone who has a VAG-COM, I was also told that Advanced Auto Parts will do it for free. Now sure how true this is, but I figured it was worth a shot. If this is true, I can stop in tomorrow after work. Thanks a lot for the information so quickly. Like I said, I just bought the car so I'm sure I'll have a few more questions along the way.