I attempted to suggest he follow those possibilities already brought up by others including yourself. To accept a dealer’s resolution can be very expensive as I’ve described in my own cases. Learning how to work on one’s own car can be rewarding in more than one just related to money. My experience with Audis has been quite recent and shocking when I went to the dealer. I’d never experience that relatively higher costs with these “type” vehicles.
What I thought about hours later was to point him towards two or three Audi forums that have been helpful to me. However, in saying that suggestions for making repairs on my two Audis have been more effective from the CarTalk community than the Audi ones. In fact there’s one individual on one of the Audi forums who will not answer the most simple question without bowing down to him and paying a high price for subscribing to his site. He also has fenced around his repair shop with signs not to enter unless a “patron” to him. Weirdest thing I’ve ever come across.
You and Mustangman and a few others have excellent responses on CarTalk regarding my Audis, which I appreciated a great deal. And as you have seen I am a bit of a motormouth—it’s a long time habit.
If you have a Quattro model, has the LOW FUEL dash warning icon come? If so then there’s 2 to 2.5 gallons remaining in the tank. If not you might consider driving around locally until it does. However, be aware that the fuel level warning icon is directly wired to the FUEL GAUGE.
The wiring diagram can be searched for: Bentley_Audi_A4_B5_WiringDiagram
Download the PDF then search for FUEL LEVEL.
If the ICON appears then the sensor is OK and most likely the instrument gauge is faulty. If it does not then perhaps the level sensor is bad. Or there’s an open wire.
CEL with an emissions code are annoying to diagnose. Many cars catch a code after passing 100K miles. A code usually points to 6 or 8 components which isn’t very helpful. To narrow it down requires removing the components one by one and testing it. With today’s labor rates that’s expensive so even good mechanics throw parts at that problem. I found the best method is to ask the senior dealership parts guy to check his computer and see which component is ordered most frequently.
I have a terrific “dealer throws parts at a problem” story. A friend called me during an infamous Richmond heatwave and said her Accord was blowing hot air and the dealer said they would replace the compressor for $2K and if that didn’t fix it they would go from there.
I told her there was an auto a/c shop 4 blocks from there. They replaced a bad vacuum switch for a heater door for $85 and off she went.
The fuel sending unit in the tank is analog. It’s nothing more than a variable resistor with a wiper attached to a float arm. I simply suggested the use of a pot which does nothing more than mimic the wiper/float arm.
As for Low Fuel Lights, those are generally accurate as they work with a thermistor on the sending unit. Not much to go wrong with those but it does happen.
Most cars have about 2 gallons remaining when the LF light comes on but that is not a given either. Found out some years ago on my Sonoma that when the LF light comes on the gas station better not be any further than 6 miles away…
This is almost as funny (but in a sad way) as the guy who asked which was more reliable: a used recent model Jaguar or Alfa. The answer of course is that it doesn’t matter, its going to cost you an arm and a leg to get it fixed either way. But to answer your questions…
Nobody I know whose bought with a car made in USA or Japan has faced this problem, even with a car that’s 12 years old. If they had, they would start carrying a 5 gallon tank of gas and get really familiar with how to use the trip odometer. You’d certainly not catch me paying $1,600 to fix what amounts to a faulty fuel gauge.
I am sure its possible to narrow down the problem further… Like consider that what you may need is just a new fuel level sensor. You might consider an after market fuel sensor and gauge too.
Yes, you are paying too much, its time to either find an independent shop, (stop taking a 12 year old car to the dealer), or its time to pony up for a new, more reliable and easier to fix car. Can I suggest you start with anything with a US or Japanese nameplate?