Fellow Audi Owner.....
I made the silly mistake of thinking I could do some general maintenance on my 1999 Audi A4 with the 2.8 Quattro. I managed to successfully do an oil change and then attempted to do a sparkplug change. Big Mistake! Number one sparkplug boot was stuck on the plug real bad, so bad that I broke the orange tool to remove it. Finally I got it off and did the plug change with Bosch Platinum 2's.
I started the car up and it sounded fine until I got on the road and then under load, it had a bad miss and bucked some. So, I figured I ruined number one plug wire and called local Audi tech for price on new wire. Of course they don't sell one and the price for a set is $296, WOW! They want an hour's labor to install them and $39.95 for "Scanner Time" to reset the check engine light. My questions are these: Is there anyway an owner can reset the check engine light? If there is, I could buy the plug wires on line for $142 and install them myself, but then I can't reset the check engine light. What do you guys suggest? ANY & ALL HELP ON THIS PROBLEM WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!
Respectfully,
Ed

 

lots of tools to choose from
http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sear...rclo=&saprchi=

this being the simplest no laptop required
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VW-Audi-OBD2-O...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Alot of times disconnecting the battery cables and touching them together will erase all ecm fault codes. Otherwise the code will go away by itself if its fixed. An hour seems like alot of time to turn off the light. It takes like 5 seconds. Any good dealer wont even charge you if your spending the money to replace the plug wires.

 

Thanks so much guys! I'm going to order the scanner just so I can do some diagnostic checks myself and if I should have any problems turning the light out, I can probably do it with the scanner. Thanks again!
Respectfully,
Ed

 

One more simple question, the instructions state that I may need an additional cable (2 by 2) in order to hook up this scanner. Having never used a scanner on this Audi, where does it hook up and how can I tell if I am going to need the additional cable? Any and all information on this topic will be greatly appreciated!
Respectfully,
Ed

 

The scanner hooks up under the dash. No disassembly is required. It is trapazoildial shaped with about 20 pins. You wont need the 2 plus connector. That is for older cars.

 

Dankhound,
It's beyound obvious that I don't really know that much about scanners and ecm codes and such, but could you please tell me where that plug would be located? You stated it's under the dash and it would save me allot of time if you could just point me in the right direction. By the way, I can't express how much I appreciate your help on this matter. It's Christmas time and putting my own plug wires on and buying that scanner has saved me at least $200. With two young children, $200 is quite a bit of money. The part that kills me is that the shop that was originally going to do the job was going to charge me $297 for the wires, $49 for the scanner hook up and $60 for an hours labor which I consider pretty reasonable by todays standards. So, all in all, I probably saved myself $200 thanks to the advice from this forum and I just want to thank those that helped one more time!
With Great Respect,
Ed

 

in case you've not found your socket yet,it is right above your brake peddle recessed in the plastic cover.Be careful when plugging in for a tight fit can push your socket out the back of the plastic cover.Touching battery cables together is not a good habit to get into,just disconnect or better yet,reset with scan tool.If battery is disconnected car will run oddly until it re-learns it's perameters,don't worry it's normal.