richard b

Yesterday, my 96 A4 QM failed to start for the first time ever. (Figures; it's been off warranty all of 60 days.) On the third start of the morning, it turned over and over, but wouldn't even threaten to fire up. Seemed like a sudden failure to get either spark or fuel. Since my dealer service sucks, I had it towed to a local garage. Predictably, by the time they looked at it, it started fine so they couldn't diagnose the problem by observation. The check engine light had come on though, which I took to mean that the computer had recorded the failure and its cause.<p>The garage said they couldn't access the diagnostics due to Audi's use of a proprietary hookup of some kind, and recommended that I get the dealer to check the error codes. So I go to the dealer. They look at it promptly, and the service manager comes back and tells me there were three error codes (one was a misfire; he was vague about the other two), but they were inconclusive. He recommends that I make a service appointment for two weeks from now. To do what, I ask? In case it fails again, he says. But since you've already seen the error codes and don't know what what caused the failure, how will you diagnose the problem if it doesn't occur again between then and now? We won't be able to, he says, it has to fail again.<p>Does this make any sense? Do I really have to wait til it won't start the next time. And what if it heals itself again after it fails the next time? Shouldn't the OBD error codes have told them something useful? And is an Audi dealer my only alternative?<p>Naturally, my biggest fear is that the ECM has developed an intermittent problem for which there will be no fix.<p>Any advice would be most appreciated.<p>richard b<br>96 QM