I have these following (annoying)problems with my '01 A8L. All ideas are much appreciated.

1) Park sensors are not working. I hear a tune sound approximately 5 seconds as soon as I shift into Reverse. According to the user's manual, this is a sign of improper functioning. Can it be a fuse or something?

2) Head rests - the passenger, driver and rear left head rests are not moving up or down with the electrical controls. Only the rear right side is working.

3) The two big speakers in the back have no sound coming from them. I tried the "fade" option and give the sound all the way to the back but the only audible came from the speakers in the door.

4) The navigation CD seems to be out-of-date. It could not find my town (Portland, ME) or even New York. The cover of the CD says Mid Atlantic USA, release 08/99. Any ideas where to find a recent one with the New England map included?

5) The user manual says there is supposed to be a car phone inside the second armrest (right one). I did not see one. I assume it is missing. I asked the seller and she said she did not have it when she bought it and never bothered asking(!).

6) Up to now, these were "cosmetic" problems. The final is mechanical. The ball joint in the front left wheel is (I guess) loose. It makes popping sounds when I turn right (not when I turn left) and it is beginning to feel sloppy in the front end.

Thanks in advance!

 

#6 sounds more like a CV joint to me.

Is it really important to you to have the car phone? I have one and the only purpose it serves is to keep my 2 year old daughter entertained on drives.

 

The car phone is really not important. I thought I could slip my second GSM simcard in and use the audio system when I use the phone. this seems to be the only way of hands-free talking in the car since I think this year does not have bluetooth capability.

What exactly is CV joint? Thanks.

 

1) The parking sensor system has a control module and a fault memory if there is an error. You need to invest in a vag com www.ross-tech.com which will get you the diagnosis features you need to proceed.
2) Most likely a tired or burnt out motor, you would need to check power to the motor with a multimeter while activating the switch to make sure it is indeed the motor.
3) Isn't common, did they work before? Or did you just buy the car? I have a feeling somebody disconnected them because they were bad or rattling. The cones usually seperate from the speaker, which is easilly fixed by super gluing the cone back onto the dish of the speaker.
4) You probably need a new nav disc to update the system. Navteq is the company that manufactures it, you can either buy it from them or the audi dealer.
5) The phone is an option, however the phone jack should be inside the armrest if you ever wanted to add it. Stupid option now a days because its illegal in many states.
6) Needs to be checked by a mechanic, it could be a CV joint, upper control arms, lower control arms, or even a wheel bearing.

 

Thanks a bunch! I will show it to the dealer and find out how much would it cost to fix (some of) these.