nyrobbie77

After looking over things on the '97 A8 that i bought recently, found some electrical things that arent working. the sunroof doesn't move at all, the washer squirts don't work, and the high beams dont work. i haven't done any diagnosis on the sunroof as of yet... i have checked all fuses in the kick panel on the passenger side, all present and good condition.

high beams... if i pull the stalk for flash to pass, they work fine, but press the switch fwd and the low beams turn off and high beams do not come on. (yes the headlight switch is on). i checked for voltage at the harness at the headlamps, i get about 9.6 volts (engine running) when i pull the flash to pass, but nothing when i push the switch fwd to turn on the highbeams.

washers... when i pull the stalk for the washers, the wipers start wiping, but nothing sprays, can't hear pump motors running. i checked with the headlights on and doesn't seem like the headlight washers work either, not sure if they are raising up either. when i pulled the passenger headlamp i found the harness to the white washer pump unplugged and said "eureka!" well not really, and plugging it in didn't help. harness and pump connections are a little green, so must've been disconnected for a while. checked for power at the white pump, none.

so it seems on both counts i'm not getting power to either the washer pump or the high beams. i'm thinking the switches are bad, just seems weird that both are bad, but who knows how long either has not worked. i have read about the ignition switch on audipages, but doesn't seem to quite coincide with my problems. my key does spring back, altho a little wobbly in run position. jiggling the key doesn't make the functions work either.

any thoughts? thanks again in advance

silverd2

First, sunroof: If you're sure the fuse is good (should be guide on back of fuse cover...#6 on row #5?), there should be an emergency handcrank for the sunroof attached to that same fuse cover. If you pop off the overhead light cover (next to sunroof controls), you'll find a slot to fit handcrank...this way way you can at least check that mechanical functions are sound...the relay for the sunroof control is also up there with the motor.

On the bright lights and washer functions, could be multiple failures, but some things share common "systems" (kinda). Of course, they're all switches on the column, but even though the same arm controls turn signals and high beam controls, it operates 2 different switches in the column. High beams use the same harness (violet 14 pin plug behind column switch cover)as the regular headlight switch. The turn signal switch and washer/wiper control switch both use another harness (brown 13 pin plug behind column switch cover).

The headlight washers only work when headlights are on AND the car is moving above a certain speed...and, of course, use a separate pump/motor attached to the reservoir.

The above may not be an analysis of you problem, but hopefully can get you starting diagnosing your problem(s).

nyrobbie77

think i'm probably going to try replacing the switches. according to the parts manual the wiper switch is a different part number (starts with 8d... instead of 4d... but same past that) than the 98-99 as i'm not getting power too the lights or pumps i'm thinking it's prolly the switches. will double check the fuses.

i remember about the hand crank, just wasn't sure if it'd open it too.

its been fun wrenching so far on the audi. its really not much different than anything else. its just learning how they put everything together and how to get at it.

i'll let ya guys know if when i figure it out. thanks again

nyrobbie77

got a question about what washer switch is supposed to be in my '97 a8. according to the audi parts manual it lists part number 8D9953503A 01C but when i took the top steering wheel cover off i have a switch part number 4D0953503 which is shown to be for the 98+. I purchased a used switch 8D9553503D and visually the switch in mine does not have the lever on top to vary the wiper speed and also noticed on the one i bought the switch can push forward (towards the dash) one notch.

so question is what is the right part number for my car? do i have the wrong wiper switch in the car now thats causing the washers not to work? will the used one work if i swap it? the part numbers from the parts manual and the one i bought only differ by the "A" and "D" at the end, which i'm guessing is an updated version?

thanks in advance!

Adjuster

I've made switches of "other" years work on various vehicles.

You just need to find out how your vehicle is wired up, and move the pins around so they are supplied power when the switches are engaged. (Small screw driver, pick, and some time with a test light/voltmeter can save you sending back parts.)

One upside is that on a Toyota I did this with, the lights/turn signal stalk was free, I picked it off an abandoned front clip, along with a coffee can of bolts/nuts relays and other stuff that is common for toyota cars. (Ran many Celica's and Supra's off that stuff for years.)

Other upside was I defeated the fog lights "off" when the high beams were on. Nice mistake to find as I wired it up. The fogs also worked with just the running lights on too, and since it was on a 1982 Supra, with the pop up headlights, the fog lights were in the upper grille area, an made great DLR's and lights for when it as not dark enough to need headlights, but you wanted to make sure everyone can see you anyway.

Adjuster

Oh, on a more helpful note, my 98 A8, had the same deal, with the lights worked fine on low beam, but only worked on high beam if I "flashed to pass" and held the arm back.

Push it forward, and nope, they stopped working one day. Replace the switch/stalk and you should be good to go.

ON the sunroof? I'd try it with the crank, and see if it moves. Check the connnections with a volt meter, and see if there is power at the switch. If the switch does not meter it out, replace the switch. If it goes to the motor? Then you have other problems.

Electronics troubleshooting for me is always check the ground first.
Then work from known power, to what fails to work, and there you go.

silverd2

Don't know if this is your problem and really don't know if those switches are interchangeable, but there was a major wiring change made late in 97 (for 98 models?), which involved different wire and plug designations on the switches...plus very major changes in the central electrics panel (under passenger feet), including different relays for the wiper/washer circuit and different relay panel layouts. See for yourself in wiring diagrams for each. That's the best I can tell you..really not familiar with the particulars. Hope this helps:

97 diagram:



98 diagram:

nyrobbie77

i decided to stop by audi today to see if i could figure out this part number thing. they said that after june of '97 there was a part number split from the 8D9xxx part number to the 4D0xxx part number for the wiper switch. my build date is 4/24/97 so according to them i should have the 8D9xxx switch, NOT the 4D0xxx thats currently in it. so thinking it has the wrong switch and thats why the squirts don't work, i tore apart the column following the instructions for the ignition switch replacement. turns out the 4D0xxx switch is actually correct. the plug types between the two are completely different. mine has the brass studs that the harness slides over rather than the traditional type of connector that the 8D9xxx switch has. so even tho my car was built a couple months earlier from the official switch to the 98-00 style switch, looks like the 4D0xxx is correct. i put everything back together and noticed when i pulled the switch for the washers the headlights dim (electrical load). so i took another look and noticed that nearly all the washer fluid is all over the ground and the resevoir is nearly empty. i think i must have a bad o-ring around the pump...

i will order a new combo switch for the headlights to fix the high beam issue. i also noticed that the ignition switch has been replaced at some point. its the black colored switch and no paint marks on the mounting screws. i'm not too worried about the sunroof yet, its still pretty cold out. plus i just found a broken rear coil spring, and got some rattles in the right front when going into the driveway, probably bad stabilizer link. gotta fix the safety issues before i worry about the sunroof

thanks again all. i will update with what fixes my issues.

nyrobbie77

just wanted to update my thread a little. i'm waiting on someone to ship me a used headlight switch, hopefully that will also solve my cruise control not working.

fixed the washer squirts. replaced the pump and all is working fine. when i was testing power to it previously, i had been checking the wrong pump. doh. wish i could say the install was easy... had to pull the headlamp and air box because the hose going to the headlamp washers was routed incorrectly in front of the windshield washer pump and sandwiched between the resevoir and the aluminum brace in front of the resevoir. more missing screws found... hate lazy mechanics

i took down the trim panel to check out the sunroof. knew something was up when i tried to remove the map light cover to access the screws and the entire panel came down... screws werent put back in to secure it. did i mention i hate lazy mechanics? how hard is it to put back in the screws you took out?? first i noticed that i'm missing the sunroof tool, then saw the sunroof motor was unplugged. plugged it back in and tried the switch, nothing... but then i noticed that there was no wires going to the sunroof switch. seems the switch/potentiometer has come apart. guess i need to look for a new switch and start there.

Adjuster

I sold my 2004 A8L, and bought a paid for 2001 S8 with just under 75,000 miles. (Miss my 35,000 mile D3, but not the nearly 700.00 per month payment, or high insurance costs, and the 01 S8 is faster, and dare I say it, I like being back in the D2 platform again... The dash is more user friendly, and setup better than the D3 dash that is amazing looking, but not as easy to use until you get used to it.)

OK, back on topic.

Cruise control on my "new" S8 did not work. I looked at replacing the switch/stalk, but reading on the A8Parts site, they said to just use the switch many, many times, and it sometimes cleans off the oxidation, and the switch will work again.

Sure enough, took about 30 miles or half hour of "massaging" the cruise buttons, on/off, set/resume etc. And it started working and has worked since!

Keep in mind, the high/low beam part worked fine, as did the turn signals, and light control/on/off stalk, so I don't think the switch was worn out, just dirty/corroded, and now has cleaned up, and is working fine.

If you are going to replace the switch anyway, see if "using" the switch for a few hundred cycles will clean up the contacts, and perhaps save you some money.