Hi, New A8 owner with a few issues. Advice would be much appreciated.

[Gaz 10]

Evening all, I'm Gaz. New to owning a 2001 A8 3.7 quattro. 

I purchased the vehicle with a known issue (s) of the indicators/cruise which are not working via the stalk on the steering wheel.  The hazards are however working via the hazard switch. I have checked all fuses in the drivers footwell but all ok. I have located relays in the passenger footwell (which was wet) but cant locate the correct relay for the indication. Does anyone know what number it is please? I have googled it but I cant see the correct number on mine. 

The eml lights also came on and is showing a P1411 and a P0431 code. Are any of you good members able to shed any light on any of the above please? Any advice would be much appreciated. 

[Dan3222]

My thoughts would be more inclined to think that the actual stalk itself would be the issue perhaps? It’s actually a common fault on many VAG cars, particularly VW, which share many exact parts with the 4 circles.

As for the codes, just google them. That’s what I do.👍

[Magnet]

Hello Gareth,

Electrical issues tend to cause more concern than mechanical issues, and the sourcing of the actual (should be in caps) fault may equate to solving a detective story plot. Such things are often best progressed by buying an hour’s services of a good auto electrician, who will be far better placed to source the actual issue than either trying to solve it yourself, or by seeking advice without the benefit of the offending car being to hand.

It is quite possible that Dann is on the right track, and indeed you could try replacing the stalk in the hope that it will solve the problem, but pessimistically, it might not, and you have wasted your money - which might have been better spent on buying in some expertise. 

I guess you bought this known-to-be-faulty car at a very reasonable price, so some bought in fault assessment might indeed be money well spent. 

Re fault codes:- They can of course be meaningful and point to the actual problem. On the other hand, it would not be wise to always accept that as simple fact, since the old ‘cause and effect’ could come into it, where the actual fault code shown is influenced by another problem ‘further down the line’.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Gaz 10]

Gareth/Dann, thanks for your replies mate. I'm pulling hair out abit, had two garages look at it now and still no success. I've changed the hazard switch, stalk itself, relay unit and still no success. Feel like I'm throwing good money away as I can not find anyone that understands them! Any further ideas anyone? 

Thank you

[Magnet]

Hello a Gareth,

I feel for your plight, and I applaud your quest to try to solve this issue on a DIY basis. Unfortunately on this occasion it hasn’t worked out for you, and as with all of us have at some points in time, you now find you have spent more money on replacing components which weren’t at fault, than having ‘bought in’ expertise to sort it - possibly cheaper.

I don’t know Gareth, but are the stalks for example, simply plug in and play, or do they have to be coded to the car? Manufacturers are clever, and do now have a tendency to deter the DIYer. 

Sorry, but I can only repeat my earlier advice and suggest spending some time investigating a good local source of expertise on things electrical - possibly at an independent, or a recommended auto electrician. 

I can only wish you well in this quest, and apologise for not being able to help.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

 

[Gaz 10]

Gareth, thanks for the reply again. Apologies I was abit unclear.... using the term "I"...... I meant I have supplied mechanics/2x auto sparks with the parts and still had no success. I have not touched anything myself. 

Is anyone from the Yorkshire region that could maybe recommend a specialist?  

Kind regards 

[Evertdev]

Hi Gaz,

I had exactly the same myself on my D2 4,2 about a year ago.   Up to then the Cruise control was a bit lumpy in operation (It's not easy to use on the stalk and I would have preferred steering wheel buttons).  Then one day the indicators stopped working which made the car illegal to drive.  The indicators themselves were not at fault, since the lights still worked on the Hazard Button.  My options were to replace with a simple indicator stalk and forget the cruise control, or replace the whole cruise control/indicator stalk.  I chose the latter.  My go to garage was 'The Mobile Garage People' based behind the BP service station on Melton Road in Queniborough (just to the North of Syston, Leicester).  Michael who runs the place did a fantastic job and got it sorted really quickly, and yes I do believe there was some sort of coding to the car that had to be done, but don't quote me on that.  The advantage with Michael will be that he's done the job at least once (on my car) and his pricing is in the very reasonable category.  I do believe I got the last one in stock in the UK (at that time) and I can't remember whether Michael sourced it from Audi or from German Car Parts.  It's worth a call to him and you can quote my name to him. He can be reached on 0800 859 5306.