Help weird problem

[X11FTY]

im the proud owner of an A4 quattro tdi sport 2002 the problems im xperiencing are as follows,


brake lights stay on even after foot has been taken off brake pedal(spoken to an audi specialist and was advised to order a "brake light switch" from dealers) is this a common fault and have i been advised rightly?

past couple of weeks the amber squiggly icon on dash has been flashing,began flashing for a few mins then stopped but now comes and goes as it pleases sometimes on for 10 mins or so,can anyone please tell me what the hell is wrong with the thing or what it could possibly be?

just today parked the car in garage jumped out and noticed back brake lights and front foggies come on but i hadnt even been driving with them on at all,worked out that if i crawled out the window or got out the car from the back doors instead of opening drivers door then this doesnt happen

please can someone shed some light on these issues for me as its doing me nut in,thank you in advance for any info.



p.s sorry if this has been posted before i did try searching for stuff but couldnt find anything at all,not good with search facility.

[RickT]

1st issue.... yes it will be the brake light switch, if the switch fails the brake lights stay on for safety reasons... ie so other motorist notice them and realise theres a fault... if they stayed off it cause someissues as people dont know you braking...... on the motorway could be a big problem if you have to brake fast!!

2nd Issue - amber light.... is this the ENGINE light or the ESP... press the ESP button on the dash and the light will come on to confirm its the ESP....

ESP light will flash if any wheels loss traction when setting off hard etc....

If the light says on in conjunction with an other light... cant remember which one.. but its a code for the lamber sensor which is also a common ish fault.. it happended to mine.. i just reason the codes in VAG-COM and it never returned.

3rd Issue --- not heard of this before... however the brake lights work when the engine is off for i think its 1 hour it case the need to be towed, (i think they do on Audi anyway, will have to check that!!!) so that could be doewn to the switch problem..

In regards to the front fog lights, has it always done this??? i think in VAG-COM you can set up WELCOME HOME lights which say on for 2 minutes after getting out and locking the car, and come on when unlocking the car to light up your drive....
To be honest i have never looked into setting this up but i know you can get it on the A6 and A8 so guess you may be able to configure it in VAG-COM..

or you could have an issues with the electrics, but it seems strange that it does it when you get out of the car..... do they go off when you start up??

Best option is to get it on VAG-COM and see what codes have errored.

Let us know your findings and will be glad to help to provide further info,

CAN ANYONE ELSE ADVISE????????????

Cheers

Rickt

[RickT]

one other thing to add...

ABS light and ESP light = lamber sensor...

Cheers

Rickt

[X11FTY]

Originally Posted by RickT

1st issue.... yes it will be the brake light switch, if the switch fails the brake lights stay on for safety reasons... ie so other motorist notice them and realise theres a fault... if they stayed off it cause someissues as people dont know you braking...... on the motorway could be a big problem if you have to brake fast!!

2nd Issue - amber light.... is this the ENGINE light or the ESP... press the ESP button on the dash and the light will come on to confirm its the ESP....

ESP light will flash if any wheels loss traction when setting off hard etc....

If the light says on in conjunction with an other light... cant remember which one.. but its a code for the lamber sensor which is also a common ish fault.. it happended to mine.. i just reason the codes in VAG-COM and it never returned.

3rd Issue --- not heard of this before... however the brake lights work when the engine is off for i think its 1 hour it case the need to be towed, (i think they do on Audi anyway, will have to check that!!!) so that could be doewn to the switch problem..

In regards to the front fog lights, has it always done this??? i think in VAG-COM you can set up WELCOME HOME lights which say on for 2 minutes after getting out and locking the car, and come on when unlocking the car to light up your drive....
To be honest i have never looked into setting this up but i know you can get it on the A6 and A8 so guess you may be able to configure it in VAG-COM..

or you could have an issues with the electrics, but it seems strange that it does it when you get out of the car..... do they go off when you start up??

Best option is to get it on VAG-COM and see what codes have errored.

Let us know your findings and will be glad to help to provide further info,

CAN ANYONE ELSE ADVISE????????????

Cheers

Rickt

cheers for the reply Rick,

will be taking car into specialist hopefully tomorrow to have new brake light switch installed,

the wiggly amber light has come on when ive got the back end out on a wet day too much speed going into a corner etc but it seems to have been flashing lately dont kno why but will have specialist look into it to,i think also itl be wise to invest in a vag-com,

the other issue has just come out of nowhere,

basically parked car up for the night in garage switched engine off and front of garage was lit up aswell as back,had a look and found back lights were on and front fogs wer on thought never happened before was well baffled,

decided to switch car back on for a few mins and noticed when the car was turned off they wouldnt come on but would only come on once i opened the drivers door to get out,

so after much thinking thought cant sit here all night and didnt wana leave the car with the lights on as no doubt battery would be flat come morning but then found by chance if i dont open drivers door but get out the back doors then the fogs/back lights dont come on,it really had me stumped for ages.


has anyone else experienced this at all?


p.s Rick thanks for help regarding username.

[RickT]

its a strange one re the fog lights.... never heard of it before.... i dont know how they would me linked to the drives door.... unless theres something maybe arking with the buzzer for when the door opens which is somehow putting a live to the fog light switch/wire....

one quick fix could be if you had a mate with a A4 also, swap the lights switch, (they just pop out and unclip the plug at the back and try that... or look on ebay for a new one but that would be a guess..

Lets us know how you get on tommrrow.

Where are you from??

Cheers

Rickt

[X11FTY]

im in Bham Rick had the car a year this month and touch wood so far apart from these little niggles its been brilliant,my first audi ever and im really enjoying ownership,planning on keeping it max another year and then definately guna hunt another 1 down,

il keep everyone posted re the faults,thanks once again mate.

[RickT]

no worries, im up in West Yorkshire... off down to Oxford in the morning for a few days and then up to Straford upon Avon, our lass wont allow me to bring my laptop and dial in i bet to check progress!! (i cant see it being a problems LOL!! )

so speak again on sat!!

Cheers

Rickt!

[T-sport]

Originally Posted by RickT

no worries, im up in West Yorkshire... off down to Oxford in the morning for a few days and then up to Straford upon Avon, our lass wont allow me to bring my laptop and dial in i bet to check progress!! (i cant see it being a problems LOL!! )

so speak again on sat!!

Cheers

Rickt!

LOL Rick i get the same earache all the time from the wife about being on the pc.I cant understand why they see its such a problem!!

[RickT]

i know we are going off topic..... but either do i......... but use the excuss... well you perfer me being on Audi-forums rather than on other things............................ that seems to work.....

The new laptop is coming with me anyway as its got a copy of vag-com on it just incase...... (see how i have solve it!! LOL!!)

Cheers

Rickt

[T-sport]

Big LOL Rick- I like your methods !!!!!