I have a 2004 Audi A4 1.8t with 61,000 miles and recently the engine seized up due to the oil sludge problem they have with that engine. Audi did all the servicing on the car. When the engine blew I did not even take it to Audi to repair it because I knew they would not do anthing and that it would cost a fortune to get or repair a new engine.

When the engine blew initially I had my mechanic who is very experienced with Audi's take a look at it. He pulled off the valve cover and oil pan. He told me engine needed to be replaced. Since I did not have the $ to do it I waited a while. Recently while searching for a used engine I saw something about these engines blowing due to oil starvation. I towed it to Audi along with a letter from my Attorney. They replaced the engine immediately. They day I was supposed to pick it up I got a call from the service advisor saying that the engine harness needed to be replaced and that Audi would not cover that expense. He mentioned a part was melted and it was brittle. When I asked him to put that in writing this was the Audi dealerships response -

"Re the 2004 A4 engine replacement. The car came to us from an independent with the valve cover & oil pan removed. The coil leads from the harness at this point had already been removed from the coils to remove the valve cover. With time & heat, sometimes the harness wires can get stiff & brittle. If not carefully removed from the coils, the harness wires can get bent & twisted causing the wire casings to break off exposing bare wires that can short to each other & cause the ignition fuse to blow. The independent that had the car may not be aware of this"
When I asked him again about if it was melted they did not respond. What should I tell them? I am pretty broke and can't really afford much work on the car. Should Audi replace this? Do these harness's go bad from normal wear and tear?
Please help… Taking the bus sucks..lol
Thanks in advance

 

I have an 02 1.8t and my wiring harness is in perfect shape. If I were you, I would ask that they show you the parts of the harness they are refering to. See if the surrounding areas of the harness are brittle. If the rest of the harness is fine, I don't see how what they are claiming can be true.

btw, I have taken my coil-packs out at least a dozen times since I've had the car and have never had a problem.

p/s. Where are you located and what dealer has your car?

 

Myst,

Thank you so much for the quick response. The Dealer is the Audi Service for Beverly Hills Audi.

How much would you want for that Harness? How much labor is involved in changing it?

I just want to play hardball with them and get them to change it.

Thanks again,
Justin

 

I think you misunderstood my post...I don't have a harness for sale, I was saying that in my car (2002 1.8tq), the wiring harness is in perfect shape.

The labor involved in changing a wiring harness is intense. I have done it on a few cars (never an audi) and always ended up pulling the motor out to get the job done.

What part of the harness are they saying is damaged? If its just the portion connecting to the coilpacks, I would go look at it and see how the rest of the harness looks. If the rest of the harness is in good shape, I would argue that whoever did the work at Audi damaged it. As if it were from "time & heat" then the entire harness would be affected

 

I spoke with the Audi service guy. He will get me a more detailed e-mail with more specifics on the damamage to the harness.

He did say that the portion that was damaged was the front portion of the harness by the ignition coils and maybe something shorted etc.

What a nightmare.

Thanks again.

 

I just got an e-mail from the service advisor and he said that the harness is damaged where the connectors meet the ignition coils, the harness is brittle, and the shielding came apart.

Any thoughts?

 

just that part of the harness shouldnt be expensive to fix. what would the original guy charge?

 

I can't thank you all enough for your help.

Audi is not even giving me the option of fixing the harness. They are saying that I need a new one which will run $2300 installed... LOL thats with a 20% discount....

Typically can you repair these harnesses?

 

You should be able to repair the harness easily if the damage is limited to the coil area. Part of mine was damaged due to a failed coilpack. It was fixed under warranty, and I know they didn't replace the whole thing.

Shokan.com may sell you a partial harness. Contact the other shop and ask what they would charge.