captdave311

Bwhahahahahaha!

After many sessions of lawn mowing between the last time I tried to get the job done and now, I'm almost done! It took me and a buddy pushing on the breaker bar to get the bolts unstuck, but we got 'em! And it only took 90 minutes for both front setups. The new rotors and pads are in and I'm quite happy. Props to blauparts.com too for getting me the right pads after they shipped me the wrong ones and I didn't notice until waaay after the return policy expired.

One last question though...the new pad wear sensor wires are all connected up but I'm still getting a dash light. Is that light something that has to be reset by a computer?

I'm curious to know if this process should be summarized and put onto audipages.com? The directions for pads and rotors there for the facelift D2 are(IMHO) woefully inadequate.

And yes, it's MUCH cooler now than it was last time I tried this!

silverd2

The pad wear light is kind of a weak spot (with age)....it will reset itself immediately if it has a perfect connection. I've had a problem with this (as have others)..the car side of the plug gets corroded with age and exposure to constant bombardment with water, salt, etc. I've had to clean, bend, whatever it takes to get perfect contact there. After my last change, I finally just bridged the wires together under the boot on the plug and am holding myself responsible for keeping an eye on the pads.
If you care to take the time, you can bridge those wires together ( on the car side of the plug) temporarily and start the car to look for the pad warning...and pretty much figure out which side is not making perfect contact. Mine worked perfectly until my 2nd pad change and then became an intermittent problem (even when they looked relatively clean) till I finally bridged em to get rid of the light.

captdave311

A potentially dumb question alert!

I get the warning light after I put the car in gear. If that's the case, how the hell do I fiddle with the wires on the car side and see if that does anything without stopping and starting and stopping and starting the engine?

silverd2

Definitely dumb answer alert

That IS exactly what I had to do....though every time I thought I had good connections, within days or weeks, I'd get the false warning again...esp after/during a good rain. Got sick it, gave up and bridged em...I'm happier that way...I am meticulous about checking things like pads very often anyway.
My wife laughs when I walk around the car at least once daily before "take off" like a pilot, looking for a low tire or surprise parking lot damage...force of habit from past experiences.

silverd2

PS ...not sure if I actually had to start the car(?) ..maybe just ignition on and put in gear? ...I "was" determined to get it working for a while...but it finally broke my spirit

captdave311

Man...when it rains it pours!

I think I'll give the connectors one or two more look overs and see what that gets me. If that fails, I'm going to jump them together! Did you use any specific method to accomplish that or should I just follow the audipages.com instructions?

Of course, since I just took care of this problem, my headlight decides it reached the end of it's useful life. I'm afraid to ask, but surely this is simply a bulb issue instead of something more complicated (a.k.a. expensive)?! Perhaps it's time to start a new thread....

Thanks for all your help so far!

silverd2

I used tap splice connectors under the boot, then removed the plastic casing, leaving just the metal wire splice. This way it's invisible and easily removable later without damage to the original connection.



On the headlights: If it's the HID lowbeam (xenon projector lamp), first switch it with the other side or have it tested at an Auto parts store. HID bulbs are not cheap, but are standard type (don't buy at dealer). IF it's not the bulb, it could be the ballast or igniter (very expensive if you buy Audi OEM)...but much more reasonable from aftermarket HID conversion companies... they combine ballast and igniter in one unit that will work with Audi headlight housing (standard type HID...Audi OEM not needed)...at a fraction of Audi OEM price.

If it's a regular halogen bulb (highbeam on headlights with HID lowbeam), cheap easy switch.

captdave311

Looks like I've got a few more things to do! As always, thanks for your sage advice!

kingers

Holy thread revival batman! Do you remember if your bolts were a different size from left to right and the pads different too?

pocketchange

One side is (supposed to be) a mirror of the other. My A8 was btw. pc