Garyware

Am perplexed, and looking for suggestions.
'03 allroad, 2 weeks old. Today the "check engine" light comes on. Solid, not blinking.
I fiddled with gas cap, looked for loose wires under the hood, switched cruise control on and off a few times. Drove a few miles. No luck so far.
Car runs and sounds just fine.Smells a little funny, a chemical smell, like windshield washer fluid -- OR -- my imagination.
I am 4 hours from the dealer. Anyone have an idea of something I should look for before I blow a whole day taking it in for service?

Aaron6speed

....as I was driving a Bonneville loaner.....

HPH

...a guy with a brand new A6 2.7T rushes in and cuts in front of me in the waiting line and goes ballistic about how his CEL light is on and ohmygod what kind of car did you sell me anyway?

So the service guy treats him with kid gloves and writes him up and tells him that they'll have him out of there just as soon as the techs come in (this was first thing this morning, when the service advisor was the only one there).

Guy stalks out in a huff, service advisor turns to me. We chat about my 40K service and new brakes, and he finally says "we'll get on this right away, after we reset that guy's check engine light."

The message I got was that this happens, they don't know why (whatever turns the light on is a one-time glitch of some kind). I had something similar with two oil sensors -- they lit up (and beeped -- scared the hell out of me) but both times it was bad sensors, not an oil problem.

So if everything seems OK -- and this includes fluid levels and seals; it sounds like you're on top of this stuff -- I'd not get too excited. Could be that a diagnostic tool (the VAG-COM, for example) would let you reset the thing.

NYallroad

I was far from home with the my 2 & 5 year olds in the car. It made me nervous driving home but the car ran absolutlely normal. After a call to the dealer he said it could wait till it was convenient for me. A week later they found a misfiring spark plug (at least thats what they claimed). The tech said a solid light is better than a continuous blinking light for what its worth. Car has been perfect since.

GMcB in Seattle

So I've got an '01 with 22K on it (I know I don't get around much...). But, I've had about 3-4 check engine lights come on over the last two years. Every time it happens, I call before I arrive. The service guys call their tech in who plugs in the VAG and they diagnose from there. Two were related to an emissions sensor and the others were related to the loose fuel cap (very early in ownership). The last time it happened, just a week ago, they diagnosed the an emissions leak (second time...). I scheduled a separate visit for it. This time they diagnosed a faulty emissions sensor (actually it had debris in it that caused the fault). Replaced it and I am good to go.

The moral of the story is that my dealer is really good about looking into the Check Engine Light because I call before I show up - and they are prepared to deal with it then and there. Some dealers are really good about immediately looking into the Check Engine Light - and then if it can wait, scheduling a follow up visit - if needed. Others maybe aren't so good.

For what it's worth...

Garyware

Thanks, guys

Richard in SoCal

It was stuck open. These days that light coming on can indicate dozens of things. Best to just take it in as soon as you can. As long as it's not blinking you should be able to drive the car with no problems.