Help needed !! Engine coil light flashing.

[Leelacmn]

Dear All,

Firstly HI !! I'm a new A6 owner 2.5TDI Auto 2002. Lovely car, until...........

This morning:- i started the car started to drive off and noticed the coil light started to flash. I then noticed the ESP light was on and the ABS light on. I guess a sensor or something has caused the last 2. However i am worried about the coil light flashing as the manual tells me to get it the engine serviced.

Any ideas

Lee

 

[matt_o121]

on vw's the coil light flashing refered to a faulty brake light switch, if these problems all occurred together it may be a good place to start.

 

[Leelacmn]

Just been outside to check my brake lights, both of them knackered. Cheers Mat. I just need to find the reason why now. I guess itcould be a fuse. Where do the fuses live on these things ???????

 

[matt_o121]

your fuses are on the drivers side end of the dashboard with the door open,
however it sounds like it is the brake light switch itself, the switch i believe has two internal functions one puts on the brake lights, the second sends a signal to the ecu, if these functions are not performed together it flashes the coil light on the dash.

if the brake lights are not working i suspect the switch may be at fault.

i guess worth trying the fuses and bulbs first though!

 

[Leelacmn]

Just tried the fuses. They All look fine, i guess it must be this switch. Is this a garage job ? How much , how long etc..

Many thanks for all your help Mat

 

[matt_o121]

guess it depends on you?

try this link: www.audiworld.com/tech/elec.html

scroll down to the a6 section and click the link for . adjusting brake light sensitivity.

this talks about adjusting the switch position but would give you an idea about location and type of job it is.

however it may be worth taking it to a dealer to be checked, i dont know the price of the switch, but if its expensive best to know for sure!

if you have no brake lights -sooner rather than later!

 

[simonwjones]

mine had the same problem, fixed it last week. Definateley the brake light switch.

They only cost about £6.

It an easy job to do. First of all the brake light switch ISNT the one in the middle. Thats the clutch switch. ( supposed to make changing gear smoother).
Well I never noticed any difference as I took the replacement swicth back to the dealer with the middle one I had taken out, and told them they must have given me the wrong part as the connectors are different) That the clutch switch Sir, dont worry even our own mechanics remove the wrong one sometimes.

The brake light switch is the one on the far left.

Disconnect the electrical connector and and make a mental note of its angle. You'll know what I mean when you see it.

Rotate it anticlockwise and it will pull out.It should need about 45 degrees before it comes free.

Ensure that the plunger on the new switch is pulled fully out. They should come like this as standard.

Insert the new switch in place about the same position as it came out and push in home so that the plunger depresses against the part of the brake pedal.when fully inplace rotate the switch 45 degrees back the the same position you noted before you removed the faulty one. Reconnect the connector and give it a try.

Seems very easy, and it is but one top tip, which caught me out.

When it did mine the brake lights stayed on permanently, even when the ignition was off and the car locked. I ****** around with this for ages. The solution

Rotate the switch clockwise a further degrees or two. This last bit is the part where switch comes out of its locked position when new.

After cracking this the job should only take you ten minutes, excluding removing the lower panel under the steering column and refitting.

Just incase, remove the cover above the steering column, pulls towards you and back.

Two M8 bolts hidden under there.

two M8 bolts underneath the lower cover, one each side

and lastly remove the fuse cover to the right of the dash and the last bolt is hidden under there.

Good luck. its a very easy job and it WILL fix your problem

Simon

 

[Leelacmn]

Simon,Matt

Thanks for all your help. It still sounds like a bit of a job for me. Trust me i am ***** at cars. Where can i buy one of these switches from ??

Lee

 

[simonwjones]

I got mine from the local dealer, Honestly it an easy job easy especially as you now know the potential problems.

From scratch I reckon I could do it in half an hour

Dealer would probably charge you one hrs labour plus the cost of the switch, so you could be looking at £80-£100 quid for a job you can do yourself for under £7.

lets face your brakes lights arent working now anyway so you cant make it worse.

Go for it


Simon

 

[Leelacmn]

I had to get Audi to do the job in the end, however with your advise under my belt, i just told them to change the part and bingo it worked. Once again thank you both very much. I hope this post will help someone else in the same postion as me.

To recap, I had a flashing engine coil light, with an associated ABS and ESP light. I had the brake sensor changed and it all cleared. Job done. Cost from Audi £45 all in. However with all the advise from these guys i think it would have cost me £9, but i was in a big rush.

Once again Thanks All

Lee

 

[matt_o121]

lovely job! and not a bad price either, thanks for the update

 

[bebecheekymonkey]

Had the same problem on my 52 plate A6 1.9Tdi Avant Sport. Engine coil light came on flashing as did the ESP warning light. I followed the instructions above and brought a new brake light switch from the local Audi dealer for £7.76 incl VAT. For anyone with the same problem, just make sure that when you put the new switch in that you fully press down the brake pedal as not to damage the switch when you turn it in place a 1/4 turn. The switches are quite fragile. Once in place, release the brake pedal and it should work fine.
The only other problem i found was that the brake lights were staying on permanent. After a fustrating hour fiddling around with the switch the fault was found to be cheap Tesco's brake light bulbs that i had fitted a few days before. i changed them for a pair from Audi and it now works fine. Problem solved!

Thanks for the above post. Helped a great deal.

Cheers.

William.