Hey guys,

I recently bought a used 1999 A4 1.8t Quattro manual transmission. The car has 155000 miles on it and I'm pretty convinced I got ripped off, but at this point it doesn't matter. What happened happened, and it's gonna be a lesson for the future.

I hope someone can give me some advise about some of the problems and also what an honest repair should cost, so that I can try not to get ripped off by the mechanic too!

- first thing: the car was sold to me with a non functioning emergency brake. The guy said just the wire needed to be replaced and he was giving me a new one and that it would have been very easy to mount. After having seen several pretty horrible A4s and really wanting a 4WD before getting a lot of snow I decided to close an eye. Really naive, I know. Anyway I go to the mechanic for the inspection and I ask him to mount that emergency brake wire. Turns out of course that it wasn't as easy as the seller told me and the price for the installation was $350. I pay the money and after a couple of days I notice the emergency brake is not working again. I go back to the mechanic and after checking the car he says something in the rear brakes (but I forgot which part) is worn out and as a consequence of that the pads don't close or open as they are supposed to, and that he fixed it but it would not last long and the brakes will need to be replaced (for which he estimated around $400). Any insight about what is that is not working and what would be a reasonable price to replace it? I have a feeling this mechanic is not being very honest...

- three days ago I started having this weird problem with the A/C: out of the blue the A/C button doesn't work, and the snowflake light just doesn't stay on. Right now being winter it wouldn't be such a big deal if it weren't that the air recirculation only works when the A/C is on, so now every time I stop at a red light I start smelling the exhaust coming in. Yesterday it started working again for just one minute and then it wouldn't work anymore. Any idea what this can be?

- also the exhaust smoke smells really weird, it reminds me of the smell of the smoke from my 2stroke 50cc dirtbike. A friend suggested it could be the O2 sensor and apparently he was at least partially right. After running a check with the VAG I got "17584 O2s correction behind catalyst limit reached, P1176".
I'm also getting a pretty bad mileage, around 15 miles per gallon mixed city/highway. Does the O2 sensor need to be replaced, and if yes what would be an honest estimate? Also should I expect the mileage to improve dramatically if I replace the O2 sensor or there's also probably something else going on with the engine?

- the VAG also gave three other codes:

18014 - Rough Road/Engine Torque Signal from ABS: Electrical Malfunction P1606

16891 Idle Air Control System RPM Higher Than Expected P0507

17956 boost pressure control valve open P1548

I'm not really clear about what any of these are, any insight?


Thanks a million to anyone answering!!!!

 

man...... sounds like you got a **** load of problems haha!!!! its cool though welcome to the euro world. first things first... your emergency brake.... it could be anything... it could be a snapped cable... could be a broken ratching system thing in your rear brake calipers... again i cant really tell you whats wrong through the internet... i can only give you ideas of what it sounds like... next thing... your a/c... it could be a number of things... but my best guess is that you need to replace your climate control unit... dont take my word for it though i could be wrong... and your exhaust? the O2 sensor basicly tells the computer how much exhaust gasses are present in the exhaust system so the computer can adjust the fuel air ratio accordingly... so yea i think your O2 sensor might have something to do with it. sometimes the O2 sensor can go bad and falsly tell the computer that theres too little gas being poured so the car pours more and more gas into the engine causing a gassy smell in the exhaust / black smoke / bad mpg.

thats all i can tell you... dont take my word for anything tho i dont want to be liable for anything but i've been worked on foreign and domestic cars at a independent shop for a year and a half and i now currently work at a dealership for Toyota... so my german knowledge might be a little rusty... good luck mate!

 

Hi, thanks for you answer!

Now that you said it Im pretty sure the mechanic said that its the brake calipers that need to be replaced.

I'm gonna bring the car to another mechanic when the holidays are over, but I wanted to have an idea about what a reasonable price would be for those repairs and what the codes mean so that if he's trying to rip me off at least I'll know it!

 

Non-functioning do you mean you pull it up and nothing happens? Does it make a clicking sound when you pull it up? I agree it could be a snapped cable or something with the rear calipers.

Climate control issues are a pain, unfortunately I wont be much help with that - usually if its climate control related I'll take my car to a professional since they have all the expensive tools to check your A/C and what not.

I would definitely replace the 02 sensors just so they are fresh since they probably haven't ever been replaced.

We have them available below.

Click HERE to order or for more information.


Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jason

 

I do believe that link is wrong, since he will need a B5 oxygen sensor:
OEM / Performance Parts for Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Mini, Porsche & Volkswagen - ECS Tuning

And I believe it would be this one specifically:
Audi B5 A4 Quattro 1.8T > Maintenance > Engine > Oxygen Sensor > ES#1563 Oxygen Sensor - 15160

Replacing the primary O2 sensor is definitely a good start - but if that doesn't fix it, the problem could potentially be a clogged catalytic converter.

 

This is a dum question. but can someone tell me how i can create a new thread in this forum....i cant seem to figure it out. Thanks

 

lol, go to the b5 forums page, you will see new thread in the top left corner.

 

The emergency brake now is working, the cable was replaced and the mechanic told me the calipers are worn out so they need to be replaced. They asked me $400 for the parts plus work, and I wanted to know if it's reasonable.

Is the o2 sensor something that is pretty easy to do and there are tutorials (I'm pretty handy but have zero experience working on cars) or I definitely have to get it done by a mechanic? And is it expensive?

 

$400 seems reasonable for rear calipers to me...



For the A/C, I have the same issue with the snowflake disappearing.

I took the car to have the compressor replaced because I knew it was bad (your case is different). They replaced the compressor, then found a leak at the hose to the condensor and replaced the hose and condensor. All this was $811. They then told me the evaporator was leaking and the system would eventually shut off to protect itself so I pulled the power on the compressor altogether (easy to do). The other parts in the system are the trinary switch (easy to locate beneath the passenger headlight), the filter (I forget the actual name, but it costs $30), and the evaporator.

If your evaporator is leaking, it's a pain to replace. It will take someone who knows what they're doing 5 hours to get to it, time to replace it, and another 5 to reassemble the dashboard. While they're there, they should replace the heatercore because it is literally right beside it and would suck to have to do the job twice. The evaporator can cost $40 on ebay used, or a lot more new. They quoted me well over $1000 to replace the evaporator.

The HVAC switch could be bad, like fisheye said, but I wanted to give you a heads up on what I went through trying to get my AC to function.

Also, post your car specs (1999 A4 1.8T *engine code if you have it/find it* and *modifications*) in your signature so others can help you more quickly.

And when it comes to codes, make sure you clear them and rescan once the check engine light comes back on. Some of them can be incorrect.

Audi Parts - Vw Parts - Audi Parts Vw Parts Kit Company - Blauparts® is a good site too

I would try to replace the O2 sensor yourself first, and if that fails then you can take it to a shop

 

Just discovered that the coolant is leaking, the level is way below min and I refilled two weeks ago. This is starting to be a bit too much, I guess I just have to bring it to a mechanic...