Back in Minneapolis - Road trip report... (long)
08-10-2008, 07:22 PM
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Back in Minneapolis - Road trip report... (long)
The first leg of the flight to Philadelphia must have been overbooked or something because our tickets were bumped up to first class. I took that as a good omen 
Picked up the S8 from Bruce Friday evening and my co-driver and I were back in Minnesota by 3:30 Saturday afternoon. 1,205 miles in 20.5 hours including stops for fuel, meals, and one "hiccup."
A big, green, powerful monster...from a guy named "Bruce"...The <i>Aluminum Hulk!</i> Yeah, I know "aluminum" doesn't rhyme with "Incredible" but they do have the same number of syllables. This kind of thing was hilarious after 19 hours of driving. I guess you had to be there.
During the night I got a warning light the manual said was for "Dynamic Headlight Dimmer Control". I think that has something to do with the self-leveling headlights. The warning light went away and the headlights appeared to be pointed correctly, so I hope that was just a minor glitch and I don't have to worry about it.
As I was leaving a toll booth at 5:00am 160 miles outside Chicago, the car sputtered and stumbled and seemed to have no power. I pulled over to the side of the road where it eventually stalled and could not be restarted. It had all the symptoms of running out of fuel but the gauge insisted we had a quarter tank. I walked back to the toll booth and flagged down an attendant who called a maintenance truck for me. Two gallons of borrowed gas later, the car was running again and the fuel gauge dropped to empty.
At the next gas station I put about 21 gallons in it. It seems that the tank was indeed empty. For the rest of the trip, I relied on the distance traveled rather than the gauge and I'd check the fuel gauge verses the gallons added at a fill-up. The fuel gauge was almost always incorrect.
After a little searching on here, I've come to understand that there are two fuel level sending units. Having just purchased the car, I'd rather not run off to the dealership or even an indie until the treasury fills back up a bit. This is something I can live with for a little while if I have to. I also have a fair amount of automotive experience and a DIY attitude- if that wasn't obvious from the way I stubbornly flew out and drove the car back If someone can point me to some procedures for testing the sending units so I can figure out what's going on, it would be greatly appreciated!
Aside from the above issues, the trip went smoothly. Bruce represented the car faithfully and was very patient in answering my questions. I'm still amazed at how clean the engine bay is. Every hood I've ever opened I've smelled something: a little coolant, a little oil, whatever. After 1,000 miles of continuous driving the was nothing, I mean not one whiff of anything under the hood aside from hot metal or plastic.
There are a couple other little odds and ends that need attention. The kinds of things you would expect from a 7 year old car loaded with gizmos. I may be asking about those later on.
Overall it's a helluva machine that runs and feels great. I've had a clutch in my other vehicles for many years and I was hesitant about switching to an automatic but the tiptronic is helping with the withdrawal symptoms.
Hopefully I'll get several years of enjoyment out of this car. It's been great so far.
Picked up the S8 from Bruce Friday evening and my co-driver and I were back in Minnesota by 3:30 Saturday afternoon. 1,205 miles in 20.5 hours including stops for fuel, meals, and one "hiccup."
A big, green, powerful monster...from a guy named "Bruce"...The <i>Aluminum Hulk!</i> Yeah, I know "aluminum" doesn't rhyme with "Incredible" but they do have the same number of syllables. This kind of thing was hilarious after 19 hours of driving. I guess you had to be there.
During the night I got a warning light the manual said was for "Dynamic Headlight Dimmer Control". I think that has something to do with the self-leveling headlights. The warning light went away and the headlights appeared to be pointed correctly, so I hope that was just a minor glitch and I don't have to worry about it.
As I was leaving a toll booth at 5:00am 160 miles outside Chicago, the car sputtered and stumbled and seemed to have no power. I pulled over to the side of the road where it eventually stalled and could not be restarted. It had all the symptoms of running out of fuel but the gauge insisted we had a quarter tank. I walked back to the toll booth and flagged down an attendant who called a maintenance truck for me. Two gallons of borrowed gas later, the car was running again and the fuel gauge dropped to empty.
At the next gas station I put about 21 gallons in it. It seems that the tank was indeed empty. For the rest of the trip, I relied on the distance traveled rather than the gauge and I'd check the fuel gauge verses the gallons added at a fill-up. The fuel gauge was almost always incorrect.
After a little searching on here, I've come to understand that there are two fuel level sending units. Having just purchased the car, I'd rather not run off to the dealership or even an indie until the treasury fills back up a bit. This is something I can live with for a little while if I have to. I also have a fair amount of automotive experience and a DIY attitude- if that wasn't obvious from the way I stubbornly flew out and drove the car back
If someone can point me to some procedures for testing the sending units so I can figure out what's going on, it would be greatly appreciated!Aside from the above issues, the trip went smoothly. Bruce represented the car faithfully and was very patient in answering my questions. I'm still amazed at how clean the engine bay is. Every hood I've ever opened I've smelled something: a little coolant, a little oil, whatever. After 1,000 miles of continuous driving the was nothing, I mean not one whiff of anything under the hood aside from hot metal or plastic.
There are a couple other little odds and ends that need attention. The kinds of things you would expect from a 7 year old car loaded with gizmos. I may be asking about those later on.
Overall it's a helluva machine that runs and feels great. I've had a clutch in my other vehicles for many years and I was hesitant about switching to an automatic but the tiptronic is helping with the withdrawal symptoms.
Hopefully I'll get several years of enjoyment out of this car. It's been great so far.
08-10-2008, 07:42 PM
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Good to hear you made it home okay. Try running some techron to clean the senders.
Audi is notorious for having bad fuel senders. If you want to check the senders the two gas compartments are located in the trunk under the carpet. Left and Right. Easy to access, but make sure your fuel tank isn't too full or some gas can spill out.
08-10-2008, 07:46 PM
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Re: Back in Minneapolis - Road trip report... (long)
Yep - watch the mileage - happened to me after about a year .. .
23.8 gallons . . . i think i'll have that drummed into my head for quite some time.
23.8 gallons . . . i think i'll have that drummed into my head for quite some time.
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08-11-2008, 06:03 AM
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Glad the trip went well. I am SO SORRY about the gas thing, but never happened to me!
I guess the sender(s) picked a great time to go flaky on you....right in the middle of the 1K mile trip. Ugh.
Nice meeting you, it was a pleasure, thank for buying it, and enjoy! It was a killer car, loved by its previous owner for sure. Maybe you can get free meals for life at the Mexican restaurant chain the guy was CEO of.
Bruce
Nice meeting you, it was a pleasure, thank for buying it, and enjoy! It was a killer car, loved by its previous owner for sure. Maybe you can get free meals for life at the Mexican restaurant chain the guy was CEO of.
Bruce
08-11-2008, 07:30 AM
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It could have been so much worse...
My first thought was the transmission! And it picked a relatively nice place to sputter and die. There were plenty of long stretches of highway with nothing for miles and miles.
This morning it seems to be reading accurately again, so hopefully it's just a little gummed up.
Everything else runs great. It was nice to meet you. Thanks again.
This morning it seems to be reading accurately again, so hopefully it's just a little gummed up.
Everything else runs great. It was nice to meet you. Thanks again.