Where to start on 97 a8
 

Hello. I am new to the Audi world with a 1997 a8 quattro. I bought it at just about half of the kbb value. I knew it needed work. During the test drive there was a clunk in the steering. Seemed easy enough. I'm sure it needed some steering and suspension work. Needed brakes and tires too. It has 136k and like I said got it on the cheap. Didn't test drive it long. Engine felt good. Trans was good. All electrics but sunroof worked. Not a fan of those anyway. I'm happy, give him his cash and he leaves. I put my tags on it and try to leave. Car will not start. Not a battery issue it's cranking. Fuel pump sounds like it's working. The car started right up when it was cold. Doesn't start after getting warm. Makes for a long day. Any reason for this?
The next pain is the guy cut all of the factory wires for the stereo when he did his install and removal of his after market one. So far 2 stereo shops and one big stereo retailer could find a wiring diagram to replace the factory stereo(which I have) or put a new one in. Lame driving down the road listening to my iPhone.
If I could first and formost get the not starting thing fixed I would be forever in your debt. Trying the engine coolant temp sensor as suggested in a diff thread. The stereo would be icing on the cake.
If anybody in the dc Maryland area has a trusted shop they go to I would appreciate that. Thanks.

New problem.
 

Well not only are the things listed above need solved but I also encountered another problem that could be linked with the not starting...or not. Two times in the past two days the car has shut off. Once right after I had backed into a parking space and once pulling into my drive way. The one pulling intothe driveway worries me. No wait it is three times. Once when getting gas. No wait 4 times. Geez. Where is my memory? The private owner I bought the car from stated it had a new fuel pump and there was a new fuel filter in the trunk. No documentation, of course. Could the fuel pump be my main problem? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everybody.

It sounds kinda like a prob I had with my '99, a couple of years back. I'll tryN see if my mechanic remembers what the issue/solution was and let you know. Mean time, Auditech79 visits this section frequently and knows his stuff betterN most. If you dont wanna wait you cud PM him.

hey thanks. yeah i have been doing as much reading as i can on all of these sites. not being a gear head sometimes has my little empty head spinning. now not to make this any worse, but took the car on a nice 250 trip from dc to pittsburgh for thanksgiving. once again, engine and trans did great. still havent fixed the steering and brakes. have brakes ordered. now when i returned to my headache, i mean my new to me car, i now have a strong smell of gas in the passenger compartment. i took the engine covers off like others have said worked but that didn't do the trick. its gotta be the fuel pump right? or filter or lines? oh yeah and still not starting when warm.

You really need to read the codes on that car...code scanner or Vag Com. Even auto parts stores (auto zone, etc) can read your codes. Post them here when you get them read.

Gas smell inside car?! Do you smell it outside and it's making it's way in? Remove engine covers? ...that does nothing. They're just decorative. Does the gas smell happen when you crank with no start?

not showing any warning lights.
 

here is where i def don't know anything. i can change oil, tires and pump gas. i thought that only codes would show if there were warning lights on. i haven't run any diagnostic tests thinking that it wouldn't come back with any with there being no lights. i will run out and get it checked out. might take me a minute or 200 to get back to tell about it(warm engine start) hahaahaha. the gas smell is def inside the passenger compartment and trunk. cant smell while standing near the car. do you think a hug can fix it?:

If you don't have a check engine light on, you may not have any codes.
If your problem is the fuel pump (which is in the trunk, kind of...access to it is...inside the fuel tank) it may not throw a code.

BUT what is NOT OK is to smell gas in the trunk...not the normal sign of a pump going bad. It could have been badly repaired before...fuel pump failure is common in high mileage A8's. You need to get to a good mechanic who is qualified to work on that car and understands the fuel system...very involved repair in that car. Start or no start, the gas smell HAS to be addressed soon.

A hug never hurts...cars are alive you know...but might make you smell like gas :)

No codes.
 

There is def a gas smell. The old owner who is no longer answering his phone stated he put the fuel pump in himself. Might be a bad connection in one of the lines. Very very possible. Tried to run the codes at auto zone. The kid there said I didn't have the right plug in. We both thought that it should have the other one. Couldn't get codes. Interesting development.... The center display in the dash has stopped displaying anything. Lame. I do have an air bag light on now tho. Thanks for the help silverd2 and everybody.

Every car, every brand sold in the US since 1995 has the same OBD2 connector...should be under the dash left and look like the illustration. Either the auto parts guy is an idiot or something is "amiss" (?).

If ya don't know what yer doin, home installation of an A8 fuel pump is NOT a good idea....I'd get right on that...full battery voltage to the pump is uncomfortably close to the fuel connections. The top of the pump and elec connector is just under the trunk carpet back right.

On a happier note, I might have some magic for your center display problem. You probably shut it off yourself using the windshield wipers. On the end of the arm are switches...the one on the very end controls the current item displayed...under the end of the arm is a flat switch, which will reset average mpg and other items back to zero when you hold it in...BUT if you push it very briefly is switches the center display on and off. Give that a try.

P.S. About the airbag light.....keep your seatbelt on :)

Ahhh.
 

Ok. I can figure the display thing out. That's easy enough. I might have done that this morning in my tired stupidity. Trying to figure out the wipers. Which were terrible by the way. Picked up some nice new blades. The kid at auto zone was looking for the plug for approx 10 mins and gave up. I don't know any better than him. The fuel thing is def priority #1. Thanks for the help.