I bought my car about a year ago. Since then, I've had a laundry list of problems with it. Starting from the beginning:

I moved to upstate NY and during the winter time, I believe my windshield fluid lines froze over despite -40 degree fluid inside the lines (couldn't spray my windshield at all). During that time, my air bag light came on. After winter was over, I took my car to an Audi dealership in the area to have it inspected. Turns out, the windshield fluid lines were tested fine but the Air Bag Control Module was shot. This is a necessary safety fix, but would cost upwards of $1500 from the dealer and I couldnt afford that at the time. So, I went on without replacing it. On the drive home from the dealership, I tried washing my windshield again and had the hydraulic cover that sprays your headlights blow off on the driver side. Not a necessary fix right now, but I will get it repaired before too long.

Now the real issues I've been having that I need some help diagnosing. In the last 2 months it would seem I started having electrical issues. First, when I would turn on my blinkers I would get a solid light. this lasted about a month and a half. The emergency blinkers worked just fine. Then it returned to normal one day, surprisingly. About a week later (about a week ago now), I drove to work one night with everything working fine. When I came out to my car in the morning, the blinkers no longer worked. Again, emergency lights worked fine. I then tried to turn on my fog lights, and they do not work either. Strange to say the least. Then, 2 nights ago.. my heater/defroster stopped working. I turn on my defroster and all the indications turn on like it's working correctly. However, after listening to it for about 5 mins, I found that it is clicking trying to work.. but not putting out any heat. The fan speed will go up to the setting I have it on, and then slow down to off. Then, it will go back up (the clicking continues), and again return to having no fan speed on. I checked my heated seats as well, and found those are not working either.

What is going on here? Could it possibly be fuses? I tried popping the hood to find the fuse box, but I was unsuccessful. I plan to open up the owners manual to find out exactly where it is so I can replace those fuses specifically. Has anyone else experienced any other problems like this?

I would greatly appreciate any advice/comments you could provide. Thanks.

 

Well firsties, welcome to the forums

For two, I'm not convinced your windshield washer fluid lines froze. I've been to upstate NY and even with the windchill you're not gettin anywhere near -40F. Have you double checked that all your pumps work? There's one for the windshield nozzles and another (on the inboard side of the washer fluid tank) for your headlight washers. Also I'm having trouble coming up with a reason why the headlight washer cap would just make a run for it like that, maybe blockage(s) in the lines someplace?

For three, I'm a bit confused about your explanation here, when you said "First, when I would turn on my blinkers I would get a solid light." could you elaborate that a little more? What lit up? By "blinkers" did you mean hazard lights or turn signals?

I'd triple check all the fuses for the electrical stuff you mentioned. There are two fuse boxes. One is in the engine bay on the driver's side, just to the rear of the second fire wall. The second (and the one you want to poke around in) is behind an access panel on the side of the dash. Open the driver's door and you'll see a little black piece of plastic that sorta looks like the letter B. You can yank that off to reveal the fuse panel. On the inside of the cover there should be a diagram of the fuse numbers, along w/ a fuse puller (and FYI, the little crank to manually close your sunroof) The diagram only shows you the fuse NUMBERS, so you're gonna have to dig through the manual (in the section called DIY maintenance or some such thing) to find the list of what fuse # goes to what electrical system. Start with that and we'll see what happens. GL!

 

idk what you're putting in your windshield washer but i've been in upstate for 12 years and had 4 cars in the family and never had frozen lines. i could take a look for you if you're near binghamton as i have access to a very well equipped garage. i also have hazard relays to swap out and plenty of fuses to replace. i have vag com so scanning your car would be a piece of cake. pm me if you want me to take a look, i'm always down to messing with audis. i'd love to test drive your car too lol

 

Alright, to explain a bit about it. What I said in my original post was that I thought my lines were frozen, despite having -40 degree fluid in the lines already. So, to elaborate a bit on that: I was confused as to why I would get no fluid coming out. I did take it to the dealership, and they noted no such problems with the pumps or the lines.

Secondly, the issue with the blinkers are my turn signals. Originally, when I bought the car.. they worked fine. Then I had the issue when I would turn on my signal to turn, and the light would be solid. Now, the turn signal does not turn on for either direction. I have looked up a bit of troubleshooting, and what I've found is that it could be a flasher relay problem (location would be what you described about under the internal dash). I'll see what i can do about locating it and switching around some relays to test which it was that is bad.

To add to my list of problems, I just got in my car and went into town just to find out that my windshield wipers no longer work. It's a cascading problem, a troublesome one at that.

I actually live just North of Albany. I do have a couple of days off coming up here in the next couple of days, maybe we could arrange a time/date for me to come down to that area to get it checked out. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from here, but I'd consider that worth it to possibly resolve the issues I'm having.

 

you might have a clog in your lines.

as for the turn signals, it's the relay which just so happens to be the same unit as the button for the emergency flashers.

have you popped off your fuse cover and checked the fuses? somebody had a very similar problem not too long ago but i don't remember the fix. i'm sure some search on the site will produce the thread.

 

alright, took your advice in checking the fuses. used the 2 spares that are located inside the fuse panel and switched them around in different locations to see if replacing one fuse would do the trick or not. None of the switching fixed anything. Im guessing it's the relays associated with the fuse panel. Going to have to order a couple to get them here before I have to take my car in to a dealership/mechanic to fix it. Unfortunately, no local stores carry the relays. So, I either drive 45 mins to get one, or wait 4 days.

Any other suggestions for possible causes/fixes?

 

oh also, taking a look behind the fuse panel.. I saw 3 relays. Which of them should i replace? or should i just replace all 3?