New to the A3 club... mystery features...

[riceo]

Hi guys,

been lurking here for a while while I was looking for an A3. Finally bought a 99 1.8T sport. Got a few questions that I can't seem to find elsewhere. If anyone knows the answers I'll be most grateful

1 - The car didn't have it's manual with it, so i'm learning new features every day. The car seems to have parking sensors, but I don't think they work. There appears to be the sensors in the rear bumper and when I engage reverse gear I get a long beep, but that's it. Do any A3s come with parking sensors or is this an after market addon?

2 - I don't have a traction control button on the dash. Will my 8L model come with ABS / some kind of traction control?

3 - Someone fitted a K&N Induction kit. When I change gear I get a noise that kind of sounds like air is shooting out the filter. It kind of sounds like someone stopping a fan by force though, which worries me a bit... Broken DV valve or normal side effect of an induction kit?

Thanks again!

 

[Prawn]

Hi mate.

Parking sensors were an option on the A3, although very few had it, it's a pretty rare option.

I've got them on mine, you should get a single beep when you engage reverse, then they'll start the typical proximity beeping around 1 metre before you hit something, going to a continous solid beep around 150mm from whatever is behind you.

if they're not working, I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to suggest.

a 99 8l will be a pre facelift, so no form of traction control on the AGU engine. ESP only came in on the AUM I'm afraid.

Is it a kind of fluttering noise you're getting with the induction kit>? This would imply most likely a split diaphram in the DV, or possibly a split vac hose leading to it. I'm yet to see an unmodified AGU without a broken DV though!

the air filter will increase DV noise, but if it's working it'll be a 'woosh' kinda atmospheric type noise. if it's broken, you'll get a compressor stall noise which is a flutter, like when you don't run any form of DV

 

[danA3T]

Hi mate.
a 99 8l will be a pre facelift, so no form of traction control on the AGU engine. ESP only came in on the AUM I'm afraid.

I don't mean to be an a*se but my 99S 1.8TS had an "ASR" with a light on the dash that came on in unfavourable road conditions which I believe was a primitive traction control. Though it was kinda ineffectual and had no button to disable it. But as you say, newer motors had ESP with a button to disable it which I figure was like proper traction control.

 

[danA3T]

The car didn't have it's manual with it, so i'm learning new features every day.

It's done to death a bit on the forum but the search isn't much cop so you may not find it.

A much-loved feature is the ability to operate the windows and sunroof if you have one from the remote. e.g. to open, hit the unlock button and keep it held down, the windows should open, and keep the lock button held to close them up. Handy for hot days to cool the car down before you get in.

 

[mk1chopper]

Your car should have abs, easy wasy to find out is find a nice empty bit of road where its safe to perform an emergancy stop and performone with the intention of locking up, the abs will cut in on lock up and you'll feel abs working. It might have some form of traction control which uses the brakes, esp works by cutting and holding power when things get out of control, which in away defeats the purpose of the haldex 4 wheel drive on 1.8tqs and the S3.

 

[JD09]

It's done to death a bit on the forum but the search isn't much cop so you may not find it.

A much-loved feature is the ability to operate the windows and sunroof if you have one from the remote. e.g. to open, hit the unlock button and keep it held down, the windows should open, and keep the lock button held to close them up. Handy for hot days to cool the car down before you get in.

This might not be activated, however, so try it and if it doesn't work, you can plug it in to VAG COM (find a member locally).

 

[Prawn]

I don't mean to be an a*se but my 99S 1.8TS had an "ASR" with a light on the dash that came on in unfavourable road conditions which I believe was a primitive traction control. Though it was kinda ineffectual and had no button to disable it. But as you say, newer motors had ESP with a button to disable it which I figure was like proper traction control.

Yea you're right, I think the late pre facelift cars (after the mild facelift of door handles and digital clock in July 98) had ASR, but it was only able to grab the the brakes on the front wheels as far as I could ever tell, it certainly couldn't limit engine power like the ESP in my AUM can

 

[A3Tom]

Mine has that ASR if thats what jabs the brakes in slippy conditions...makes a right racket!

 

[riceo]

Cheers for the replies guys, I'll give the ABS a test next time it rains. I was going to do this anyway, but not getting an ABS test light when turning the ignition on made me wonder whether it was installed at all. I'll go test the DV now.

I've also got a new temp sensor on order, as the car sometimes doesn't start if it's warm, and the coolant gauge tends to do hover at around 60 degrees, then moves to 90 after a few hours... then will drop back to 0 while still driving lol... either the temp sensor is gone or it's got one hell of a coolant system

 

[rossbrownlee]

when you have an induction kit fitted the reicirculation noise is significantly louder as far as i know.
you should get your car scanned on vagcom or similar, would highlight any standing logged faults, that might help you out with the park assist maybe.
another suggestion (that will probably be unpopular with the biased members on here) is go to audi. They were doing free health checks, not sure if they still are but you never know. At the end of that you will get a list of faults and there is no obligation to having the work done by them.

 

[riceo]

Thought i'd give you guys an update on the car in case anyone is interested!

I bought an ebay cable for vag-com. found a few errors:

- Turbo overboost. I replaced the DV and it hasn't come back so I assume the sticky piston on the old one was the problem.
- A few intermittent errors on the engine. I cleared them, and again they haven't come back.
- Two parking sensors are shorting out. I'll take a look at them tomorrow.

The ABS problem is really weird. I looked up the MOT history and found that a few months back it failed on an ABS light being on. It was re-tested the day after and passed, so I have a feeling something dodgey was done.

When I turn the ignition on I don't get an ABS test light come on along with the airbag light etc, and the ABS isn't working. Vag-com says the front right sensor is faulty so I'll get that replaced. I'm thinking that either the abs light is blown or has been unplugged. Does that sound about right?

Oh I've also replaced the water temp sensor today. fingers crossed it fixes the problems when starting hot!

 

[Dani_B19]

Regarding the parking sensors, i had the exact same thing when i got the car back from the bodyshop, they had not fitted one of the sensors right, i.e. not plugged it in fully, plugged it in fully and worked fine again.

 

[riceo]

Ooh could be a simple fix then :O Thanks mate!