Hi guys,

I'm the new owner of a 2001 A4 1.8T, front wheel drive. It has 38,500 on it and I just got it 40K serviced from the dealer. Apparantly it needs a new tie rod from where it had been wrecked from the pervious owner and he never corrected the problem. I'm gonna have a local repair place do that. I also needed a belly pan since mine is missing and a new, cigarette lighter unit and temperature sensor.

Here are my questions:

How do I replace my cigarette lighter unit? It's the kind that flips up when you press it down. Another concern of mine was the sludge buildup issue. The dealership didn't mention anything about sludge build up, but I was wondering how one knows if they have a buildup problem. Is there a way to find out? I am concerned that the car may have been neglected or driven hard from the previous owner.. The tranny didn't have any codes come up and the only other thing the dealership said was that I needed to have my throttle body gasket cleaned.

Thanks for your help! I really need it..

Best Rgds,
GJ

 

I think you can remove the oil filler cap and check for sludge buildup inside. You may also want to remove the cam cover and have a look inside. Another suggestion is to remove the oil pan, but that is not an easy thing to do. Make sure you have switched to the larger filters that are being recommended by Audi also.

 

The cig lighter unit can be replaced by taking out the center console section of the car.
Check my post about removing it here. You only need to remove the center part with the armrest.

https://www.audiforums.com/m_20429/tm.htm

Once the center part is out flip it over. One screw holds the cig lighter in place. Then it should unclip. Also unplug the wiring.

You are now free to replace it.

cheers

 

You guys are great! I'm gonna knock out the lighter as soon as the replacement arrives in the mail. I got a used unit for $15.00 over at www.shokan.com - Really nice people to do business with thus far!

As far as the sludge goes, I'm gonna take a peek inside the oil filler cap and then continue to change the oil religously with the synt 5W40 and larger oil filter. The dealship just did it, so all is well for a while. The car is running great, aside from this darn tie rod issue.

My next venture is gonna be whether or not to put sporty wheels on the car and what size to get - 17's or 18's...

Thanks again!
GJ

 

For the sludge prblem to be fixed if there is a problem you should have your maintance book up to date and have recipts from Audi dealer that the oil has been changed by them you say it only has 38,500 miles on it it should still be covered under the factory warrenty till 50,000 so get them to worry about the cigeratte lighter and tie rod end for the belly pan you will have to pay out of your own pocket for that one

 

yeah and the belly pan is not cheap - like 150 bones or something.

 

Cheaper to find a used one at http://www.car-part.com

 

Thanks for the advice. I am gonna chk that car-parts place out and see about getting a used one. as far as the tie rod and the lighter unit go, I am having to complain to Audi because they are saying that the lighter unit was broken by spillage - how the hell can they tell that?!?!? I don't even know if that's the cause, but they seem to just assume that everything wrong in the car is the drivers fault. They won't fix the tie rod because they say it was messed up from an earlier fener bender - what crap! I sent lengthy complaint to Audi Corp. and they are investigating it. What do you think my chances are of getting this stuff done under warranty? Either way I'll be sure to let yall know.

Best Regards,
Andrew