Project Audi A4 Quattro: Part 2 – VAG-COM Fixes, Cam Follower and Coil Packs
Shortly into our ownership of this Audi we began to become annoyed by some of its beeps and bongs. Why does the seatbelt chime need to sound when we've only just put the key in the ignition? It's not as if the car is running or we're in any danger.
Thanks to the magic of Ross-Tech's VCDS Software and VAG-COM cable we've been able to code away our annoying seatbelt chime, program remote window control and one click unlock from the key, diagnose two misfiring cylinders, and clear our check engine light. It's now past time to return this tool to Jeff (my apologies).
The VAG-COM cable proved to be instrumental in allowing us to diagnose vehicular troubles and allowed us to reprogram a few of the car's quirks.The VCDS interface itself is very easy to use, be sure to visit the Ross-Tech site for the latest version of the software and Audizine for a simple walk through for reprogramming various features of the car. Using the VAG-COM cable you can perform a full diagnostic on your car, code High Beams + Fogs, program an aux cable interface for your iPod and much more. Here are a couple of screen shots from the process along the way.
Start here with the options to select the appropriate input for the VAG-COM cable to your laptop. 99.9% of you will be choosing USB.
After choosing the Central Convenience module I was able to enter the new code to allow one button lock/unlock and remote operation of the windows from the key fob. The latter will be nice for allowing some heat to escape prior to getting into the car on hot summer days.
Our check engine light remained lit even after we had resolved the issue with cylinder misfires.
Just a couple minutes later with the VAG-COM. Look Ma! No check engine light!Oh right, about that check engine light. Our car has suffered from misfires on two occasions. The first time that trouble occurred we had speculated that this may have had something to do with the coil packs but we wanted to have Audi check the car over due to a PCV valve recall campaign that was still active for the car. Audi techs duly checked things out and replaced the PCV components under warranty but this did not resolve the misfires. We then went ahead and replaced the two coil packs that showed the misfires and resolved the issue. Life was good for a few thousand miles until the misfire returned which we now seem to have resolved for good by replacing the remaining two coil packs. Score one for the base motor, we only had 4 coil packs to replace rather than 8 as we would in an S4!
These are our two most recently failed ignition coils, this means all four have now been replaced with the latest Audi coil pack revision. Part Number 07K905715F.
