head gasket failure - now dumb Audi decisions

[Mitchell Segal]

I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents about something you said at the very
end of your long post 

>Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 22:17:27 -0400
>From: "E. Roy Wendell IV" <erwendell at mac.com>
>Subject: Re: head gasket failure - confirmed
>
>... I don't think that Audi engineers are a bunch of idiots outside 
> of their omission of an accessory position on the ignition switch 
> so that the lights and radio turn off with the key....
> Roy Wendell
> erwendell at mac.com

This brings up another bug I've had with the way Audi designs their cars,
and it's more of a safety issue dealing with the keys.  

You mention that the radio and lights working without the keys.  AFAIK, the
lights in all cars work without the keys, so that's nothing new.  The radio
working without the key, I guess that basically saves them from making an
ACC position on the key switch, and it's not that bad a feature, if you want
let someone sit in the car listening to the radio without leaving the keys
without worrying about say kids starting the car by accident, etc.  Besides,
I believe that even if you leave the radio on by accident, it will
automatically shut off after 1 hour (just like the power windows work for 5
min after you turn off the car).

No, my beef is, that the HORN does not work unless the key is on.  Now, the
horn to me, should be a safety device, like the lights and hazards, it
should work ALL the time.  On several occasions I have been sitting in my
car, waiting for someone, and a guy in front of me is backing up and about
to hit me.  I wanted to honk him, to warn him, only to discover I have no
horn at all, unless the key is on. 

This to me is a case of the Audi engineers being a little bone-headed.  Why
go to the trouble to disable the horn without the key (something that only
works so long as you press the button anyways, so it's not like you can
leave it on and walk away), but they allow you to leave radio on for a long
time, which is something that you could more easily do, and which can drain
the battery without you knowing it.

Where's the logic there?  I've still got it on my to-do list, for the next
time I'm in there fixing something electrical, to track down where I can
modify the wiring, so that the horn stays active permanently.  When I need
the horn, I need it NOW!!!

Mitchell Segal
2001 A4 1.8TQ