2018 Audi Allroad

[MiniDave]

These pics show what I found when I went there this morning......

[MiniDave]

In this pic I pulled the headliner down far enough to see up inside, the bright blue tube is the drain tube. View is looking forward from the back edge of the headliner

[MiniDave]

This is where the blue tube goes down thru the C pillar....you can just see the blue tube in the first pic, then another view looking down along the edge of the C pillar where it goes down thru the body shell

[MiniDave]

This was somewhat interesting, this flat orange cable is the high voltage (48 volt) cable that goes to the starter for the stop/start feature.

I hesitate to call it a feature because I don't like it and try to remember to shut it off whenever I start the car. It doesn't use it much if the weather is really hot and the A/C is trying to catch up but on a cool day like today it pretty much works at every stop light.....it can be a PITA.

Look at all the electrical bits under the back seat! I have no idea what any of these are for......

[MiniDave]

Oh, and the reason for the delay? They claim they broke a seat back release cable and had to order it, and it won't be in till next Wed.

Why does that impact the sunroof drain repair? No idea......

[MiniDave]

Got our 2018 back from the Audi dealer today, and I'm still not convinced that the problem is sorted......I got the old hoses and saw no damage, cracks, hardened rubber bits (in fact the old tubes were far more flexible than the new ones) and so on. It was explained to me that the outlet end is where the problem happens. There is a sort of rubber valve that's supposed to let the water out that gets clogged up, then the water backs up the tube and goes where ever it wants too. In our case with such a slope to our drive it heads to the back corner of the car.

The new and improved hoses have a different valve at the end that supposedly will not get clogged up.

Seems to me the easy button would be to just go to the outlet end and use a pick or something to open it up and let the water out rather than take the whole interior of the car apart to change these tubes. They did give me the old hoses, and I will be writing a strongly worded letter to Audi about their poor design and the cost of the repairs ($1800 - they cut me a break. $1327.50 in labor, 141 in tax, the rest in parts etc.)

I still need to repair the corroded wires in the back and see if I can get the rest of the various things back there to work again and stop putting up 15 warning lights and chimes every time she starts the car.

I know she's glad to get it back and all, but she has her eye on another 2018 for sale at the local Genesis dealer.....it's red! Has 39K vs the 19K on this one.....I don't see the point but I know she'll never "trust" this car from now on.

Here's a pic of the old and new hoses showing the problem end....

[MiniDave]

So my silver 2018 Audi Allroad is still throwing codes by the handsfull, I took it to a buddy who has one of those real code readers instead of my HF scanner and it indicated a possible problem with the ride height sensor in the left front, so I went online and found a factory replacement for about 10% of what the dealer wanted for one and yesterday in the 25* temps I managed to change it out. No improvement....

So Ima take it down to his place again and read and clear the codes one more time and see if anything different pops up from the last time. If nothing obvious pops up I'll take it to Audi and see what they say.

I'm wondering if the body control module is bad, since it was under water in that rear corner.....the dealer's price on that is also 3 times what I can buy it for - from other Audi dealers!

More as it happens, but I know Rose would like her car back working properly......so would I.

I did fix the broken and corroded wires, and that restored the "kick to open" feature on the back hatch.

[94touring]

Probably what water damage. What a pain.  I hate all the new car sensors. Bunch of crap.

[MiniDave]

The ride height sensor made sense only because two of the issues are with the headlight self-adjustment and the suspension.....the shocks are adjustable and the default seems to be "rock hard"....we also see warning lights for the "Pre-sense" and the side park sensor among other things - tho those have nothing to do with ride or headlight adjustments!

I had not encountered what the pre-sense does till one day slowly backing out of a parking space between a monster truck and a monster SUV, all of a sudden the brake slammed on and a car went screaming by behind me at about 45 mph! Saved a wreck for sure.....

Altogether there are currently 5 warning lights on, and a further one that blinks when stopped at a light with the brakes on....that one is a park sensor warning too. On start up we get warning chimes for each of these problems, one after the other - it's annoying to say the least, then as you drive the warning lights cycle thru on the dash, one after another, endlessly.

So, if resetting the codes doesn't do it (and I doubt it will) and if we get the same results on the reader, then it will go to Audi. After paying $2k to fix the drain tubes, I expect this could cost as much!

I also removed the left rear inner wheel well liner so I could locate the ends of the drain tubes, now I know exactly where they come out so I can inspect them from time to time. I also found where a chipmunk has been nesting on top of the liner while he munches on pin oak nuts from the front yard. I cleaned that out and the three large mud daubber nests I found as well. I think those were in the car when it came up from Louisiana based on the color of the mud and the fact we've never seen wasps buzzing around the car.

[MiniDave]

So once we got the leaks sorted I was still having some left over issues. After a consultation with both the You Tube Mechanics Academy and the service guys at Audi, we concluded that the potentially immersed body control module is the problem - Rose thinks that's only part of the problem, and she is the consummate internet researcher so she may be right, but I digress.

I looked long and hard all over the net and found a module with the exact same part number as mine, and from a 2018 Allroad for about $100, I ordered it and it came in today. I know that these modules have to be coded to the car, but I installed it anyway. It didn't work, so I get to change it back so I can drive the car over to the dealer and let them do it.

One of my buddies who has a very fancy scan tool says they've had very little luck coding used modules to a different car (he mostly works on MINIs), but the Audi dealer said they do it all the time, although once in a great while it fails to work. His opinion is that when that happens it's because of a bad used module and not the fault of the process or the tools.

I may be able to get it in Monday even tho they are currently scheduling work into the second week of Feb right now, we'll see on Monday when my friend/service writer/next door neighbor is back to work.

One other note, I do not understand why mfrs use 5 completely different methods of latching the wiring connectors to the module for the 5 sets of wires I need to move..... each different and each requiring a completely different method to release them! PITA!

Thank you for your attention to this matter.   

[MiniDave]

Took the Audi to the dealer this morning to get the new body control module installed and coded to the car, I sure hope that fixes what's bothering it, but we'll see.

However, today I learned - you cannot order an Audi with a solid metal roof (no sunroof) BUT you can order it with a solid glass panel roof (like a Tesla for example) with a retractable shade for those hot summer days. For someone who just wants the additional light and open feeling without the noise (and potential leaks) of an opening sunroof - this could be the answer.

[MiniDave]

So the Audi is still at the dealership, which I don't find encouraging......the only word I've gotten so far was that it was in the shop on Wed - it takes 5 min to change the module, but I understand coding it to the car can take hours?

At any rate, if I don't get a call on Monday I'll pop over and talk to them in person.

[MiniDave]

New wrinkle in this Audi story......the tech installed the module and went to code it in, after a few moments he got a message that said basically "contact Audi before going further", which was a moot point since the machine would not GO forward with the coding till after he contacted Audi, got "permission" and received a code that would let the machine resume the install coding process.

He says he usually gets the reply message from Audi same day, sometimes it takes overnight. Apparently Audi makes sure the module I bought is correct for my car or it will not let it be installed. If it's not compatible I'll be buying a new one from Audi. Big Bux. Tech says he's only had one module that he wasn't able to code in so far in all the years he's been doing it, and it wasn't one of these but rather the one that recognizes the key.

Man, cars are complicated these days.

[BruceK]

Man, cars are complicated these days.

They sure are. In fact everything seems to be.

[MiniDave]

So, we may have found the problem......damn squirrels - or mice or chipmonks.....I'm going to the local Honda dealer and buy a roll of their "rodent proof" tape. I know it's kinda spendy, but it's still cheaper than having Audi work on the car!!!

Once this is all sorted and everything is working correctly again, the next thing I need to do is replace a motor mount. These are not only liquid filled but electronically controlled as well......I know Honda uses this design too 'cause my son had to replace a few over the 300K miles he drove his Odyssey. Mine is just beginning to seep, so it can go a while yet.

Oh, and the new BCM I bought didn't fix anything after it was finally coded in.

[94touring]

Yeah that's a problem

[MiniDave]

I ordered two rolls of Honda's rodent proof tape, once the car comes back I'll spend some time re-wrapping as much of the wiring as I can reach.

I've also seen little cans of "repellent" of some kind that you can stick under the hood etc, unsure if I'm going to need those too. That Honda tape is pretty expensive - I paid $83 for two rolls, but an hour of diagnostic time  at Audi is $250, so if it works it's worth it.

First time I've had to deal with this on any of our cars in the 32 years I've lived here. But not the first time I've had to fix "broken" wires on this car - when I got back from our trip to Rushmore in '24, shortly after I had a bunch of warning lights come on, that turned out to be the wires for the outside air temp sensor in the grill. I wondered then what might have caused them to break but did not think it was rodentia....

Apparently you have to wear gloves when wrapping this stuff on your wires as it's infused with some kind of pepper oil and you don't want to get it on your hands - or anywhere else!

Oh, and I had the pin oak tree that's over the driveway trimmed up too - $1500 worth! Getting tree work done has really gotten spendy....but there's no way I can climb a 100 ft tall tree and trim branches - that's a younger man's game now.

[cdnmini]

Not sure what they use to make their wiring, but mice, red squirrels and chipmunks love German wiring.
Dont ask me how I know...
That tape is crazy expensive!

[94touring]

Maybe the car was traded in due to wire eating rodents and you're having to deal with what issues are still there?  I've never personally had a car eaten up by rodents. I've had my fair share of harness issues.  That rear driving light on the bus I finally gave up trying to find it and just ran a new wire. 

[scalpel_ninja]

Problem with rodents is that they leave behind pheromones that attract new rodents. I bought a Mercedes GLS450 that had signs of a rodent starting to live in the engine bay: footprints in the dust on the engine cover, some damage to the insulating foam on the firewall. No visible damage to the wires and so far no issues over the past 3 years.

Whenever the car is planned to be parked for more than a week, I have to first spray the engine bay and around the tires with repellant to prevent new rodents from trying to enter.

[MiniDave]

No question I've had rodents up in the engine bay, the car lives under a pin oak tree, and every year it gets bombarded with pin nuts, and when they drop from the top of the tree it's like a bomb going off when they hit the car!

My 2009 MINI looked like it had very fine hail damage as the dings were tiny, but you could see them in the right light, all over the car.

In the fall I have to clear out leaves and other tree debris up in the plenum and around the wipers, under the back edge of the hood almost daily. and I've found evidence that there's something been up on the plastic cover over the engine munching on the nuts as I find the shells all over it.

[MiniDave]

Maybe the car was traded in due to wire eating rodents and you're having to deal with what issues are still there?  I've never personally had a car eaten up by rodents. I've had my fair share of harness issues.  That rear driving light on the bus I finally gave up trying to find it and just ran a new wire. 

Well, everything worked perfectly for a year, then when it failed it failed big time all at once.....the chewed wires make sense for that.

[MiniDave]

Whenever the car is planned to be parked for more than a week, I have to first spray the engine bay and around the tires with repellant to prevent new rodents from trying to enter.

What do you use? How quickly does it wear off? Does it smell when you start driving again?

I read that peppermint oil is supposed to be effective at putting them off?

[Dan Moffet]

Not sure what they use to make their wiring, but mice, red squirrels and chipmunks love German wiring.
Dont ask me how I know...
That tape is crazy expensive!

I recall the wire insulation is Soya based. Probably even tastier when warmed!

[94touring]

German wiring...made from various nuts and wrapped in squirrel bedding lol.