eric strauss

… four day junket through the canyons of Central California. Erin in the S4, me in the RS5. Thursday afternoon, boiling through 120 mile stretch of sinuous road above Ojai, temperature was around 100F, but dry, windows open and AC off. Just a great physical drive. During the cooling down ride back into town, the MIL lights up - damn. All things are still driving well, but I am a solid 100 miles or more from the nearest Audi dealer and heading into more remote areas. Well, checked all hoses, oil, water, filled with gas (retightened gas cap). Not willing to bail on the weekend and Erin was with me if the damn thing went into limp mode.

So, heading home on sunday and all seems OK, but MIL is still there, just giving me indigestion… Update monday when I drop it off at Audi :-/

Happy Motoring

Eric

superswiss

This is why I keep my OBD2 Bluetooth adapter in the glove compartment and the Carista app on my iPhone. Haven't had a need yet to scan on the go, but it's good knowing that I could find out right there and then exactly what's going on and take appropriate action.

eric strauss

On the way home today (sunday), got nearly back to LA and was cruising through Malibu. Stopped for gas and on the restart, the MIL went away! Hmm… It has an Audi service in about 700 miles, so we will check it our then (if the MIL doesn't return).

Thanks for the suggestion on the OBD port reader…

Best

Eric

superswiss

You most likely had some misfires due to bad gas. It happens. If it doesn't occur anymore the light goes out on its own after a while.

eric strauss

... each day, the fill-up was from a no-name mom and pop store. The S4 was running a bit rough but didn't complain. Of course, its not spinning 7000+ rpm.

Below are a couple of shots from the Sespe range north of Ojai...

superswiss

Nice! Looks familiar. Yeah, I avoid low volume no-name gas stations as much as I can. The premium fuel sits around a long time at those places as most folks fill up with regular. Not surprising the RS5 wasn't happy.

J. Patterson

Wow--- - Beautiful terrain! Sounds like a fun weekend. I usually take my VAG Com cable with me on long drives but I HAVE been known to forget. Had a MIL show up last spring in our TDI Q7 in Sault Ste Marie Michigan. THAT is a long way from Alabama :-) Had no cable with me. Luckily the CEL went away after a day or two. I think it might have been fuel related. The stored code was for NOx sensor reading out of range. :-/ Ironic huh?

eric strauss

… So many 100+ mile loops, practically no traffic or enforcement and the weather is almost always mild. I come from 40+ years in Massachusetts, with long dark winters. This has been a treat to spend my snow tire dollars on more performance rubber. I am getting about 8-10K from a set of tires - even with rotation. Come visit!

magicmk

I read an article about three years back on top tier fuels and made the decision to only use those brands in my vehicles when I can. Sometimes in the middle of nowhere you're left to the circumstances of finding just whatever is available. I've always made a habit of avoiding those mom & pop quick stops and certain discount fuel chains, anyway.

After purchasing my A5 a few weeks ago, I was reading through the owner's manual and found a section Audi had inserted regarding the use of top tier fuels. So at least I'm doing that part right, so far.