[A4] coolant temp gauge broken

[Nancy Tubbs]

Yes, it was the sensor/sender (?), although they were convinced it was the
thermostat and took the front end apart to replace the week-old thermostat
before determining that.  Fortunately they only charged me for the original
repair ($10 part, 1/2 hr labor) and they felt bad it took all day.

In case anyone's interested, the instrument cluster is about $900 for the
part and around 2 hrs labor, for a 2000 (2nd half, I think) A4 2.8 Q.  (That
will wait until the original is worthless.)

Thank you all very much for your help and superior advice!

Nancy

-----Original Message-----
From: Quincy Chiang [mailto:b5quattro at shaw.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 11:49 AM
To: nancy_tubbs at fullcalendar.com
Cc: A4 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [A4] coolant temp gauge broken


Hi Nancy,

I second the temp sender failure, I've had it replaced once on my 2.7t, same
sender I believe.  I don't think it's related to your service, unless they
took that sender off and didn't put it back on properly or something.

The LED display failure is completely seperate from the service.  It's a
relatively common failure, I've had it on my ex-A4, but my 2 buddies' A4 and
my S4 haven't had a problem yet.  The dealer's solution is to replace the
entire instrument cluster.  It's $$$ hopefully you're still have warranty on
you car.  I suppose you can try to repair it but I don't think anyone has
actually done it.

Quincy

----- Original Message -----
From: Nancy Tubbs <audi at fullcalendar.com>
Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 12:44 pm
Subject: [A4] coolant temp gauge broken

> A week ago I had the timing belt/water pump/thermostat replaced on
> my 2000 2.8Q at a Audi/VW service place (DM in Santa Clara, CA).
> They also replaced the coolant bottle.  I took a weekend trip, 300
> miles each way. Coming home, after one stop of 5 minutes, the
> coolant gauge took maybe 10 minutes (normally 2) to get from Cold
> to the midpoint, and after the second stop, it stayed on Cold the
> last 100 miles home. The outside temperature was in the 80's, I
> had the AC on a bit but usually just the Econ setting.
>
> I'm going to call the service shop to see what they say, as it
> seems to me they didn't finish the job right.  But I'd really
> appreciate any information or suggestions anyone has.
>
> Also, the LED display just started losing rows, intermittenly.
> Could that be related to the fix they made, or just happenstance?
> I have read on this list that it happens and either you find a
> person who can micro-solder the connections or replace the unit.
>
> Thanks very much,
> Nancy
>
> PS: The service place told me there was a recall on this car (2000
> A4Q 2.8), the vacuum tubes for the secondary air supply (or
> something like that), when they diagnosed the Check Engine light.
> So far there has been no problem getting the dealer to replace
> them, although I go in tomorrow for that.
>
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