new to audi, 99.5 30v - vcds codes and other questions
 

so i picked up this 99.5 2.8 quattro about a month ago off craigslist.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_megUsLuVoLo/Sv...0/IMG_0011.JPG
CL is just sketchy by nature, but this car only had 86k on it (serioisly, 8.5k a year?) and the guy selling it had owned it since dec 2000 and seemed super legit. oh yeah and its manual, that and awd were pretty much my only criteria for my new vehicle. abs light was on when i bought it, and there are some pretty bad key marks on it. infact 4/4 of the drivers side panels and 2/4 (both doors) on the passenger side need repair. the hood is hurtin too...

i def dont have the cash to pay for professional paint... i think im gonna try to touch up the key marks with a touch up kit and a toothpick. my question is whether i should compound and polish the scratches (by hand or with a dual action?) before and/or after doing the touchup paint and should anything be done between application of the base coat and clear? i assume this forum has a detailing section where i might get more help?

anyway back to the important part... the engine. it felt and sounded great and the service records were provided and the interior was super clean, two days after i bought it, the check engine light comes on and im like shit. i finally got my vag-com last week and scanned and thankfully it was just this:

17884 - EVAP Leak Detection Pump: Malfunction / Insufficient Vacuum
P1476 - 35-00

and these

01367 - Central Locking Pump Run Time Exceeded (Likely Leak)
35-00 - -
01371 - Alarm triggered by Door Contact Switch; Driver's Side
35-00 - -
01374 - Alarm triggered by Terminal 15
35-00 - -
01370 - Alarm triggered by Interior Monitoring
35-00 - -
00956 - Key 2
09-00 - Adaptation Limit Surpassed

so i see that the LDP is located in front of the rear drivers side wheel, has anyone had success getting to it and cleaning it out (im guessing with some carb cleaner?). looks like there is the pump and an air cleaner attached... or should i be more worried about the lines? i still have stock vacuum lines with the woven cloth cover and they are awful brittle on the outside and super sticky on the inside (that was the condition of the FPR line i used for seafoam)

central locking pump can wait for now, until i get to pull a part or it totally dies... what does the alarm triggered xxx mean because i was noticing a clicking noise randomly coming from the rear drivers side door and it was annoying the heck out of me.

so with VCDS once you clear the DTCs, when do the readiness codes go away (or reset?)

something else ive noticed is that the sunroof whistles on the highway. im pretty sure it whistles whether its open or closed but now im having trouble verifying that in my memory, def when its closed. either way, when i turn the climate control ON the whistle decreases.

lastly i was worried about the suspension because doesnt look like its been checked since 40k. the front passenger side creaks when im turning the wheel alot and going slow (like pulling out of the driveway) other than that it seems fine and there is no uneven tire wear.

Thanks in advance, im really looking forward to being a part of the b5 community

clear all the codes first..the alarm codes dont mean anything drive the car for the day come back tmw and see what we got! some codes pop up for no reason

cool we'll see what (if anything) pops up in the next couple days.

can someone explain readiness codes to me? so you pull codes, and clear them so the fault codes "turn into" a readiness codes and the CEL goes off. so does that readiness code just hang around for a certain amount of time (it assumes you fixed the problem) and then it will run a check in the future at which point it will either fail (throw another fault code) or pass (readiness code disappears?) thats what makes sense to me i guess ill probably be able to figure it out soon enough but thanks

redness codes? we have alot to catch up on these audi's require alot of reading