[V6-12v] Service andCheck Engine Lights

[Chris Thorp]

On Oct 28, 2006, at 1:28 PM, Casimiro Izquierdo wrote:

> Thanks all of  you for your replies.  I left the car at the dealer  
> to be serviced on Monday, I still have the two year extended  
> warranty.  I agree that it is unlikely that an oil problem could be  
> causing the sound as one could put various grades of oil without  
> this happening.  In other words the car should not be and probably  
> is not supersensitive to an oil grade variation of 5-30 to 10-40..   
> Yes the higher grades are not recommended in the winter, but the  
> car should not complain with grinding noises because of their use.   
> Your assessment of the alternator or the starter not disengaging is  
> a strong possibility, I am also guessing a belt being the cause.   
> As for the oil filters - I have learned my lesson and will not buy  
> the K&N, but will go with the Audi extended service one next time.   
> When I said factory approved filters I incorrectly expressed myself  
> - the Audi filters list a number of aftermarket filters on the  
> outside of the can that should be compatible with these
>  cars.  No, they are not factory approved, but the Audi filters do  
> list them.  Perhaps semantics.  The dealer discouraged me, as most  
> of you here have, from using them.  For that I also thank you.
>
> I will pursue next week the  suggestion about buying the VAG or the  
> Shade Tree diagnostic tool.  The VAG people seem to have more  
> information on the web than the Shade Tree and the Shade Tree seems  
> to be Palm Pilot based, which may not be as powerful as a computer  
> based system..  I would have to run a pretty long USB cable from my  
> computer since I do not have a laptop.
>
> Which seems to be the preferred tool in this group?
As far as I have seen, the Ross-Tech tool is preferred by most.   
There is a 5 meter limit on USB cables without active extenders, so  
that is a consideration.  I believe that the max length, with active  
extenders, is about 20-25 meters.  On the other hand, the VAG-COM  
software will run on some junky $200 eBay laptops.  It doesn't take  
much power.  The newest revisions of the VAG-COM software include  
text descriptions of many of the fields with would otherwise require  
looking up in a service manual (eg, what does measuring block 04,  
measurement 1, mean?  VAG-COM will often tell you in plain english,  
including typical acceptable values, etc.).  I can't say whether  
ProDiag does or does not have this, maybe someone else can comment?   
Oh, if you do get the VAG-COM I'd suggest getting the newest CAN  
interface if you're planning on sticking with the brand (or with VW).

-Chris