I recently purchased a 99 A4 Quattro that needs some work cosmetically and need to know if any of these are things I can do myself...

- Sunroof cover is off track. I think the track is actually in front of the shade cover, causing the sunroof to go back. Do I need to remove the whole inside roof assembly to fix this? The roof lining is also sagging, so if I had to remove the roof to fix the sunroof, I'd go ahead and glue that down as well.

- The rear passenger side window is off track and needs help by hand going up. Is there a "clip" or something else that needs to be replaced? The front window has the same issue and the seller told me the regulator clip was what i needed to fix it, but I am not seeing anything for the rear window..

- Service engine light just came on and after taking it to Auto Zone, they were unable to tell me why exactly it's on. Is there anything I should check before resorting to taking it in?

- The brakes were replaced not that long ago (6 months)according to seller, but the brake and ABS light remains on and flashing. Also on the digital screen next to speedometer, it shows the brake symbol ((O)) along with beeping from time to time... Is there anything I can do about this?

- The digital display on dash, next to speedometer, is pixelly. You can make out what it says, barely. I'd like to have it look like new and be able to read it clearly.

I understand taking it into a shop or dealer would be easier, but money is tight, especially after buying the car. If there is anything I can do myself, I'd like to do just that. Any friendly suggestions would be appreciated. I really like the car itself and would love to have these and a couple other things fixed to keep it in nice shape.

 

Okay. The LCD in your instrument cluster is pixelated, probably like 90 percent of the other B5's out there. If the ABS light is on, take out the ABS sensors and clean them. They go right into the wheel hub. Cleaning it might do the trick.

I had to replace the front passenger side window regulator in my B5 not too long ago. You can find the regulators online for about 50 bucks.

I haven't had issues with the sunroof yet so I cant give you advice with that but you should invest in a OBDII scanning tool, preferably Ross Tech vag-com so you can scan your ECU for any codes if you were to get any.

 

I have found a few companies online that make you send your instrument cluster in to them and they replace your LCD screen.

I have heard of people attempting to solder a new LCD screen into the instrument cluster board but I do not recommend that.

 

Welcome to the forums.


I would firstly suggest that you use the search feature, people don't mind answering questions on here as there are a very friendly bunch of guys with extensive knowledge of our A4 B5's but they can get fustrated sometimes, aswering the same questions with new members that join, all the questions you've asked, have been answered already in great detail.


All it takes is a quick search and walla, you have the answer.

When you click on the search link from above, don't type anything in that search bar, instead click on, "advanced search" under "tag search".

Then look to your, lower right, where it says, "search in forums", grab the scroll bar to the left and scroll down until you see the, "Audi models sub menu". Then highlight, "B5 models".

Now you're ready to enter the text of whatever you want to know the answer to in the, "search by key words" field. if you don't do it this way, you'll get search results from every single Audi model that's listed on the entire forum and we don't want that! Only the B5 info you would be interested in knowing about.

Good luck friend....

 

#2 it is most likely the regulator clip, searching will turn up nothing except other people who had the same problem. You do not have to replace the entire regulator, you can buy a new set of clips on ebay for ~$10 and just install using a DIY for a regulator replace. If you have any questions about it pm me, as far as I know I'm the only person who has successfully replaced the clips without replacing the entire reg.

#3 Buy an ebay "Vag-com" cable for around ~$7, then download VCDS Lite and search for fault codes

#5 this is extremely normal, you can either buy a new LCD and solder it in if your extremely good at soldering or you can just deal with it. Replacing the dash is not a good option as you will inherent the mileage from the car that you got the replacement dash out of

 

The clip is what broke on me. I tried to use epoxy to get it back together in one piece but it failed again. Instead of looking for clips I just got the regulator for like 48 and change.