i am now the proud owner of a 1998 a4 2.8. while it has a lot of work to be done to it and hopefully all with help from you guys i am looking forward to it.
seeing as i am a poor(not really) college student theres no need to say that most of the work will be done by me. so i guess ill get this started

- turn signals and cruise dont work hazards do, odd not sure why

- ignition switch is out (replacing tomorrow) (done)

-needs new windshield

- i kind of hear a tick when i accelarate

- for some reason dipstick was missing one is ordered and on the way

- valve cover gaskets need replaced (done)

-abs and brake light come on after highway speeds for awhile

- whenever i first start the car and start driving and come to my first stop feels like the brakes give way then kick back at me but brakes are still good

- got the p1545 code and p1600 i believe have to look again. but no problem idling or starting

- hooked it up to and obd tool and the absolute throttle position is hovering around 3%, shouldnt it be at 0 when not on gas or am i wrong? what could be the problem

thats all i can think of for now im hoping that the turn signal problem could be the ignition switch? am i wrong

and the tires were really really bad could that have made abs go off? sorry if i sound stupid with that question, learning experience lol

pics soon

 

Welcome to AF!

Sounds like you've got quite a laundry list there. Lets start from the top. The turn signals and cruise control are on the same control stalk to the left of the steering wheel. It's a common point of failure, though usually for the light switch. You could try taking it apart and cleaning the contacts inside, many of us have done this successfully. If you do a google search for "headlight combi switch DIY" you should find everything you need.

Sounds like you've got the ignition switch covered, and the windshield is sorta self-explanatory.

You're gonna have to define "tick" a little better. Most B5 motors do have a bit of valve tick/lifter noise, but if your cam chain tensioner is on its way out, that noise will get way worse. Any way you could get a video or sound clip of the noise you're hearing?

Dipstick is no big deal.

Do the actual valve covers need to be replaced, or just the gaskets? I don't see a reason you'd need to replace the covers unless somebody bashed them or somethin lol.

ABS/brake light is usually a bad ABS module or a faulty wheel speed sensor. Given your other symptoms of the ABS kicking in, I'd put my money on the latter.

p1545 is "erratic throttle" and p1600 is "positive terminal below voltage"

p1600 is common when your car dies or you disconnect the battery for whatever reason. Not sure what the other one means, but the first thing i would do is clear any codes you have and see if they come back. You'll often find old latent codes that have nothing to do with your actual problem.

If your tires were really bald and you started skidding while braking it could activate the ABS, but given the rest of your brake-related symptoms I'd investigate that route last.

 

Oh sure Chris, just go ahead and answer the whole damn post To the OP, Chris is on point with his diagnosis.

 

CCA4=Chris :-p

 

ill let you guys know how the ignition switch replace goes thanks for the quick reply im kind of nervous about disconnecting the battery because i do not have a vagcom tool to do a TBA... and the tick i can only hear when i press the gas its kind of hard to explain but its almost like a tinkering?

 

but i can make a video or a recording and upload it ill get on that tomorrow after i get the switch replaced

 

You can do a makeshift TBA by reconnecting the battery and turning on the key (without cranking the engine) for a minute or so. There'll be a high-pitch him from the throttle body. Once that stops, it's done and you can start the car.

 

These are both related to the ABS, I used to have the same issue. One possible cause (as CCA4 mentioned) is a damaged ABS sensor, but it could also be a damaged ABS tone ring on a driveshaft or an ABS sensor that isn't pushed in far enough to properly read the tone ring. I've dealt with all of these issues.

0% would mean zero throttle, as in the engine isn't receiving fuel. Doesn't seem wrong that it would be at 3% with the engine idling.

 

yea my cruise doesnt work either, can i clean the contacts for that too, like you said with the turn signals. because iwas told to buy a new tree which is like $240

 

It's worth a shot. Also, open the glovebox and look straight up in. There's probably a brown electronics case about the size of a cigarette pack up there. That's the cruise module. It can develop cracks in the solder and cause cruise to fail. Reflow any of those (or use a heat gun to reflow them all) and reinstall it. That's been a cruise fix for some people.