Long story short: I can't get the MIL light to go off on my A6.

Details: I picked this car up from my parents in October. When I got it, the MIL light was on. I took it to my local dealer, who told me that some of the coils needed to be replaced, which we did ($700).

When I got it back, the MIL light came back on. I took it back to the dealer, who told me the catalytic converter was bad. They fixed that (under a warranty).

BUT, they told me that when they replaced the catalytic converter, the "oxygen sensors" went bad and needed to be replaced. Which we did ($250).

A month later, the MIL light was back on. This time, the dealer told me it was the OTHER catalytic converter. He fixed THAT under warranty, too.

Guess what, though?--MIL light back on the next day. Oxygen sensors on the OTHER side, I'm told . . . we replaced THOSE, too (dealer comped me on THAT).

Oh, but you know where this is going--it's now BACK in the shop with the MIL light on.

WTF?!

[FYI--and I'm not sure if this has ANYTHING to do with the MIL problem or not--since the time I got this car in October and now, we've ALSO had to replace the Thermostat ($1,000), the Turn Signal Relay ($300), AND the Transmission Control Switch (whatever THAT is, it cost me $1,200) . . . the back-up warning system (beep, beep, beep) is also on the fritz and NEITHER of the keyless entries work at ALL despite having replaced both batteries and reprogramming them (both worked for about a week after we changed the batteries).]

I mean, this is a 2003--not even SEVEN years old--with LESS than 70,000 miles. It's an Avant for whatever THAT'S worth.

I don't know the actual codes 'cause I'm not much of a car guy and I have neither the time nor the expertise to deal with this myself. But PLEASE . . . somebody tell me SOMETHING that I can pass along to the dealer (who OBVIOUSLY doesn't know what's going on!) to get this fixed.

I will be eternally grateful.

 

The dealer knows very well how to make money.
Thermostat replacement only? This is completely wrong, you are busted! The practice is to replace the TB and ALL components once there is an access to the front)

Sorry about your car (situation).

There are multiple mistakes you’ve done:

Buying an Audi not having previous or any technical experience; or not getting the forum’s knowledge before purchase; or not having the car inspected before the purchase. – it is in my view pure gambling.

Did you get the repairs history (any dealer should be able to provide it) or the owner if independent shops were involved.

Stop going to that dealer.

Get a vag-com and educate yourself using it.

Look for second opinion before proceed with repairs. Ask for options with repairs and parts; combine repairs and parts replacement in one shot in terms to save on labor.

Lastly: some cars are just not worthy to be kept

 

Lets forget about the previous mistakes for now. (Basically you just bent over backwards for your dealer.) As of this moment, I would ask the dealer for a list of codes. Also if the dealer is legitimate, there should be a list of codes printed on your work order. Get the codes and let us know. Then we can comment.

If you don't feel like dealing with dealer, VAG-com from Rosstech is a great tool to have. If you don't want to spend that much money, or deal with working on cars, a simple OBD II reader will do. It only costs $50 or so.

 

nemohm, thanks for your message.

A couple of clairifications, though. Most importantly, I didn't BUY this problem--it was GIVEN to me. It's hard to turn down a FREE car, even if the MIL light IS on.

Second, I'm not going to buy a computer and deal with this nonsense myself. If a dish can't go in the dishwaher, I don't want it . . . and if a car requires ME doing this kind of work, it's a 4900 lb. paperweight in my book.

I agree about the timing belt. And I pointed that out to them AFTER they replaced the thermostat. They knew they were wrong. They gave me a free detailing and gave me a different service writer to deal with from then on. Frankly, though, if they had ASKED me if I wanted to spend $1000 or whatever it costs to replace the timing belt, too, I would have declined. But they SHOULD have asked.

Finally, I only keep going back to this dealer 'cause I'm at the place where they're doing all the work for free. We'll see if that holds up, obviously, as we go forward. But the last Oxygen Sensor was replaced gratis (labor AND parts). AND, they're--OBVIOUSLY!--scanning it for free for me at this point. So, while I'm not inclined to give them any more money, I'll certainly see what they say the computer is telling them.

I also agree that some cars aren't worth keeping. But I've always considered Audi to be a high quality vehicle--it's disappointing to think that there's a lemon out there (I EXPECT a lemon from Detroit every now and again . . . I expect Germany to be citrus-free!).

I'm in Brooklyn, NY. If you (or anybody else out there!) know of someplace that's better to be taking this problem to other than Life/Quality Audi & VW, PLEASE--by all MEANS--let me know.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

 

The dealer is faxing a list of the codes. As soon as I get them, I'll pass them along.

 

Well . . . NOW the dealer is telling me that he does not have a list of the prior codes. He says he only records the codes when required to do so by an insurance company or manufacturer's warranty.

 

I worked at a dealer for quite some time, and I'll tell you first hand that they're not trying to screw you. If anything, they'll **** the tech working on your car, and not even give him the common decency of a reach around. Sometimes these things just happen, and it's not a matter of whether you think the car's a lemon, or whether the people (who are audi-trained) are incompetent. It's the service writer's job to gauge whether he thinks you're going to authorize any further work, and he figured that you wouldn't do it, probably based on your reaction to a $1000 thermostat job. The best part is that he figured correctly, and you still seemed rather pissed at them because dealers are evil.

They seem to be doing you right over there, seeing as they are recognizing the fact that you've been in there multiple times, and are working on your car for free and giving you a complementary detail. The guy's right too. Unless it's covered under the factory warranty, they have no reason to log the trouble codes because 99.9% of customers don't give a **** what codes it had, they just want it fixed, but Audi definitely does. And unless you get one of those computers you don't want, we can't help either.

 

[QUOTE=doebtown;1031248]nemohm, thanks for your message.

A couple of clairifications, though. Most importantly, I didn't BUY this problem--it was GIVEN to me. It's hard to turn down a FREE car, even if the MIL light IS on.


Here's my 2 cents worth...

For what it's worth, you basically spent enough now to buy it as if it were a used car...

Check your vacuum lines, especially the main inlet in the rear of the intake manifold just under the vacuum solenoid mess at the top rear of the engine.. Two 10mm bolts hold the top bracket on, move it out of the way and inspect the big 3/8" dia 90 degree hose for cracks.. This has been an issue on my 99 A6Q and my wife's 02 A4 1.8Q. When that main manifold vacuum line goes south, it will turn on the engine light. Even a small minor crack seems to do it.. In my experience, heat seems to kill these vacuum lines.

The funny thing is (no pun intended) that you say your having O2 sensor codes.. When you have a vacuum leak, it will give O2 codes because your engine starts to richen the fuel mixture to compensate for the lean vacuum conditions that your sensors indicate. Thus causing the O2 sensors to read an out of tolerance fuel rich condition (hence the engine light) because your ECM thinks it's the O2's that are out of tolerance when they are doing the job correctly.

And lastly, if you do in fact have a vacuum leak, it's hard to tell in an A6 due to the smooth damper mounts on the engine causing the frame to mask a rough idle from a vacuum leak. My suggestion before you take it back to a dealer...
Pop the hood with the engine running.. Have a buddy (with good ears listen under the hood when you shut off the engine. You will hear a loud hiss. Look for this. There is your problem....

If none of this works and you do not have a vacuum leak, you either got some grounding issues or a bad ECM..

Good luck