It uses some to clean the laser for the adaptive cruise, but I wouldn't think it would use that much.

Don't know, my guess is whenever it has blocked sensor vision.

I live up North in Canada and with all the salt they put down on the roads, we use a lot of windshield fluid during winter. With the Q8, I have to refill the tank, which holds about 5 litres (1.3 US gallons) on average every 1-2 weeks. If you take into considerations that every 5 times you use the wipers/fluid, it also triggers the headlight washers who squirt 2x in a row. Plus every time you start up the vehicle after being stationary for a few hours, it also cleans up the passenger side Lidar unit in the front grille. So all of that combined makes for frequent refills. I would say it uses up at 2 to 3 times what my previous SUVs did.

I haven't upgraded my old VCDS cable to support the Q8 but once I do, I will check to see if there is a way to get the headlight washer not trigger as often for example...

So it just automatically does this?

I find this interesting as well. Why only the passenger side LIDAR? Why not also the driver's side unit?

Passenger side is laser, driver side is radar.

That explains it. Thanks.

Do you just buy a new car when it's time to refill the washer fluid?

I wonder if our Obdeleven people can see if there's anything for this.

Customer states:
• The washer system sprays automatically.
• A pump noise can be heard when driving slowly.
• Excessive use of washer fluid.

Technical Background
The vehicle is equipped laser scanner that has its own
autonomous cleaning system.
If the laser scanner recognizes dirt on its screen, a
message is sent to the Vehicle electrical system
control module, J519 (address word 0009) which in
turn instructs the control module for windscreen
washer pump, J1100 to clean the laser scanner.
The laser scanner is only cleaned while driving at
slower speeds.

On the A6, A7 and Q8 vehicles the laser scanner is
located in the right upper single frame area (Figure 2).
On A8 vehicles the laser scanner is located in the
center lower single frame area below the front license
plate holder (if equipped).
As a result, the customer can get the impression that
the headlight washer system activates itself.
Depending on weather and road conditions the laser
scanner might clean very frequently.
As this also leads to a higher consumption of the
washer fluid, the customer might be concerned about
excessive washer fluid use.

Production Solution
Not applicable.
Service
Please explain to the customer that the laser scanner cleaning is normal behavior that is necessary due to it
being an optical system that cannot “see” through dirt. Depending on weather and road conditions, large amounts of washer fluid can be used by the system regardless
of ACC being actively used or not.