Re: Dash warning light...

[John Cunningham <johnc@together.net>]

man sometimes people get so damn serious about sh*t...

> You know, I think that's a cheap shot at Audi's engineers.
> Sometimes it's too easy to fault a particular design when you

Ti -  of course it's reasonable that this is detected as a fault, and fairly cool that
the car monitors all this good stuff for us.  no problem. but it's also part of the
design parameters to consider real world factors (like not expecting owners to screw
the cap on perfectly every time, although that's certainly a stereotypical German
engineering expectation...).  it's not like i'm completely discrediting the life work
of some hardworking engineer, but when something doesn't make real world sense it's
reasonable for a consumer to call attention to it.

several options that i would guess could be taken, knowing that this is likely to
happen:
- don't light the service light, but log the fault (apparently there are a number of
conditions that already fall under this category) so the dealer will see it on next
service
- only light the light for this condition after 'n' occurrences or 'n' hours of
operation
- reset the light on restart, while dutifully logging the fault in case it has been
rectified.

obviously there are ways around this, because everyone else has to comply with OBD-II,
yet this doesn't seem to be a universal problem.
(previous posting about Ootback duly noted - maybe it's an AWD thing! :^)  <-- note:
joke)

straying more than slightly off topic, IMHO it's unfortunate that the cars, which are
getting more and more advanced processors, don't provide easier access to data &
controls anyway.  like why can't i pull codes from my A4?  and if the answer is that
it requires a more advanced interface than counting flashes, why does it have to be
proprietary rather than some RS-232 term emu?  i know you don't want biff and buffy
turning off the service light because the flashing is distracting them from their cell
phone call, but couldn't there easily be a non-documented perhaps slightly onerous
procedure to do this? plus all the neato keen convenience features that it would be
nice to have easy access too, and dealers will either charge for or refuse to do.
just wishful thinking i know, because the status quo helps keep the customers
umbilical to the mothership intact, a somewhat understandable business decision.  (and
in case anyone's thinking about it i don't need to hear flames about how i am
contractually obligated by the warranty not to modify my car or work on it...)
hmmm... someone needs to get the tech spec and write a GPL (that's a gnu public
license - read 'free') VAG1551/1552 emulator...