mikeh

Go figure? Yes all is fine. Pfaff tuning suggested that I disconnect both battery terminals and touch the leads together for 30 seconds. What that does is disipate any stored energy in the capacitors and does a re-boot of the system. Connect the battery terminals back and take the car for a drive.

I was planning on doing this on the weekend but didn't get around to it yet when the problems went away yesterday on their own. And the dealership was going to charge me $2k plus for a new gauge cluster?

K04-S4

The dealer likes to sell expensive parts along with expensive installation labor

Typically dealer diagnosed electrical problems that you describe would be cluster in nature if they were persistent. Agreed there is no relationship between changing the power steering hose and the issues you observed afterwards as no major electrical connections would need to be disconnected to perform the required work, unless they did a safe practise battery disconnect while working. The dealership usually charges for a scan and if they did then it should be on your original bill. They definitely would not reflash your ECU without listing it on the bill. No codes would have been thrown for empty power steering fluid so there was no requirement to perform a scan. Also agreed the possibility that a electrical connection was shorted while working could have caused the wierd electrical issues and a battery disconnect with capacitive discharge would be a good first step, but again as you observed it appears not needed after several engine restarts. I would have been curious to see what codes were present when engine was entering safe mode after startup and they may still be present if interested in checking. As for the burning oil smell after picking up the car, it would be power steering fluid on the hot exhaust causing the odor and yes it burns off after a few good runs. If the dealer did any cleaning, they would have used Brake Clean in a pressure bottle to wash off the affected areas. In all fairness since the car was being driven while all the PS Fluid leaked out, fluid would have sprayed all the way to the back of the car which would have included alot of wet exhaust pipe which would have been expensive billable time to completely clean.

Glad your S4 is well again Mike!

mikeh

All seems well for now. As for the power steering fluid smell...... I did pay $550 for hose replacement. Charge me another $50 and clean off the oil. I asked if they would have been satisfied with "go drive it for awhile" or if my name was Bill Gates and I owned Microsoft?

High end cars, high end dealership ..... clean the F$#%ing oil!!!!!!

K04-S4

If they charged $50 specifically to clean the oil then I agree that you should not be smelling burnt oil after picking up your vehicle. $50 at dealer labor rates would be about 20 to 25 minutes billable time and they should have been able to Brake Clean enough of the oil off to not smell it burning on the exhaust.

Did you get the scan results or did the dealer clear all codes as part of the "one time" free scan on your return visit?

mikeh

No scan results. Group members here have a scan tool and will get it scanned soon.

sakimano

quit calling it oil! It's PS fluid!

Mike, want me to check for codes tonight? I'm not doing anything later.

mikeh

Thanks, caught this too late to respond. Will BBM you and set it up.

K04-S4

PS Fluid is for Chevy's

Audi Power Steering Systems on these cars use G4000 unless your still running the old G2000.

Let us know the scan results. It may be mute as the dealer scanned Mike's car on his return visit and did not report the DTC's that were present at that time. The dealer may have cleared any DTC's and some DTC's will self clear with enough fault free engine starts.

07_RS4

Precise reason why I stay away from the stealership, and I still have warranty. I prefer to bring my Audi to my trusty indy shop.

Glad to hear your sorted itself out Mike!

mikeh

UPDATE - my PS fluid dumped again yesterday. Car got towed today to a mechanic shop (not the dealership) and I am awaiting the results.

I can't help but think that it was poor workmanship from the dealership but hope I am wrong.

Will keep you all informed.