longlife indicator

[kippermoon]

just had my 170 a4 tdi serviced at 18500 miles,think there was another 100 or so left on the indicator.question is after the reset its showing up at 12600 miles till its next service......surely this isn't right for the long life service?
just trawling the forums and I've read that they might have done a manual reset with the dash buttons and not vag-com hence the 12500k miles till the next service.
I'm guessing its a handy way for them to get their customers in more regularly

[Marc1]

Hope you get an answer mate. I'd be interested to know myself too, as my car was serviced when I bought it (tho not from the dealership) and they didn't set the service indicator, so I manually reset it myself and it set at ------ for a while and then after about a day it showed 8500 miles til next service, which is very strange.

[me8cat]

All long life service indicator mileages can increase as well as decrease during driving. It is dependant on various driving figures and also oil testing qualities. Keep an eye on it but if you are sure that you are not getting a similiar mileage after driving a couple of months then return to garage. If light is reset manually using dash buttons then fixed servicing becomes active. (Same as Marc1's car). On some audi's when light is reset then a display of ------- is shown until vehicle is driven approxiamately 60miles. Then dash computer makes its first calculation based on driving style, oil quality etc. Settings etc change dependant on engine type and vehicle model year. If you give me model year of your A4 then I should be able to advise you on correct resetting and adaption channel figures to put your mind at rest.

[kippermoon]

All long life service indicator mileages can increase as well as decrease during driving. It is dependant on various driving figures and also oil testing qualities. Keep an eye on it but if you are sure that you are not getting a similiar mileage after driving a couple of months then return to garage. If light is reset manually using dash buttons then fixed servicing becomes active. (Same as Marc1's car). On some audi's when light is reset then a display of ------- is shown until vehicle is driven approxiamately 60miles. Then dash computer makes its first calculation based on driving style, oil quality etc. Settings etc change dependant on engine type and vehicle model year. If you give me model year of your A4 then I should be able to advise you on correct resetting and adaption channel figures to put your mind at rest.

the car was driven around 200 miles over 4 days,i think before the miles and days showed up.was as you say --- before this.
its a 2007 b7 a4 170 tdi.

its just i thought it strange coming up at 12500k after the 1st audi service as the car was bought by myself with a few thousand miles on it after being a demo or im guessing a courtsey car.
i would have thought it would have done more short/cold runs then as a demo in its early life but it still was indicating 18,600 miles to 1st service.plus i have paid for the lonlife oil so im sure the grade can't affect the indicator.

i also remember reading on here or another audi forum many moons ago that doing a manual reset will allways give a reading of 8-12k,but doing the reset via vag-com properly will give anything up too 18600.

[me8cat]

Manual reset puts fixed servicing time of 9000mls or 365days until lamp comes on.
Adaption channels for dash for longlife sevicing are:
Channel 45 should be set to 4, this automatically changes all adaption channels to correct settings for long life servicing. Minimum 9000mls, maximum 19000mls (30000mls on some models) and 730days maximum time. Car will decide exactly when it is due and will be anywhere between these values.

[Marc1]

Great stuff me8cat, that clears things up nicely for both of us, me thinks

Goes to show the computer etc is cleverer than I thought if it works things out based on driving style and the quality of the oil.

Sorry to be kind of hijakking, but does this also mean it will be able to tell if the service indicator has been reset but not actually serviced? I was kind of a bit paranoid that they hadn't actually serviced it, but I think that was just me.

[me8cat]

Great stuff me8cat, that clears things up nicely for both of us, me thinks

Goes to show the computer etc is cleverer than I thought if it works things out based on driving style and the quality of the oil.

Sorry to be kind of hijakking, but does this also mean it will be able to tell if the service indicator has been reset but not actually serviced? I was kind of a bit paranoid that they hadn't actually serviced it, but I think that was just me.

It wont be able to tell you that it has old engine oil. It basically works off the oil level sensor in the sump. It works by timing how quickly the oil heats up to a certain tempreture to determine the oil condition. It does this by reading voltage/resistance values and cannot be viewed. If it does still have old oil (Not very likely) then the service light will come on considerably quicker.
Also note if you go on holiday for a couple of weeks and the car is sitting at home then it will take this into equation as well and reduce distance to next service. Once you are home and start driving again this value will again start to increase. Blah blah blah, sorry to bore you lol.