frqflyer

I really got hooked on the idea of 3rd row diesel and the recent TDIs coming back on the market were too good to pass up at a price I found. I've owned Porsche before, which kind of made me leary about Audi's based on the many non drivetrain issues I've had with it that started right after the 3 year warranty ended while I had maybe only 20k on it. This is my first Audi and I found a nice Prem Plus in the config we wanted, namely with 4 zone climate / warm climate package. Interior is near mint, exterior very good. 110K miles on it didn't scare me with it being diesel the TDI warranty and I do most of my own repairs. Felt like I got it for a song for $10k if I don't run into bad juju with it. So far it has been an impressive SUV, especially for it's age.

I have a couple questions I'm hoping someone can help answer...

1) after I had it a while I noticed an Ethernet cable that is wedged between the headliner and windshield. It looks like it belonged up in headliner and got disconnected from something or someone had added it for some unknown reason. I can't trace it because it runs into the headerliner near the roof controls, only the jack and about a half inch of cable it visible. Any ideas what that is or for?

2) the Sirius module seems to have failed. I knew this before buying it. It just saying "linking" on all channels and never links up. The others I tested got the preview channel no problem. Any chance a reset of the MMI or module settings could fix that? Could it possibly be related to that ethernet cable or does it sound like I need a new module?

3) any tips on what to run thru on a Q7 with this many miles besides the obvious (oil, trans fluid, brakes, etc). This is my first diesel so DEF and particulate filters and the like are new to me. Based the MMI the last time the inspection interval was reset (assuming this often means when the last time it was at Audi service) was 55k ago so I want to give it once over on as much as I can before taking it to a service shop to inspect and reset the "service due" warning.

Thanks!

frqflyer

One more thing I forgot to ask... Is 4 way climate a warm weather package by default or the other way around?

I've read conflicting reports on how it works, but it seems like there is a second evaporater and blower in these units, but they run on the standard compressor. If the compressor running at a higher duty cycle to take advantage of the extra coolant/capacity?

Is there a second cabin filter or is it the same cabin filter regardless of 4 zone option or not?

dreadlocks

1. sounds like aftermarket radar detector or dashcam power hookup.
2. no idea, I find sat radio is garbage and so is the company selling it.
3. bg245

frqflyer

Thanks for the reply. I have a quart of bg245 on its way now. The Sirius isn't a huge deal, I have a standalone receiver for another car I could use worst case. We normally use it for long road trips where the cell service is bad (streaming no go) and the two radio stations that come in clear for a hundred miles or more are either in Spanish or fire and brimstone preachers.

I'm not even sure if there the module is a separate unit or part of main audio unit at this point. I posted a pic in another thread where I thought it would be found but I think what I am seeing is the Nav module?

I was surprised to learn that it couldn't do bluetooth audio. I picked at a Tuner2Air unit and solved it but even a 2008 Edge we had at one time had that ability built in. The MMI is one of the most cumbersome interfaces I've dealt with. It's not terrible, but also not the greatest. I haven't played with the voice command yet so maybe that will make it easier to use.

dreadlocks

Yeah those older MMI units are pretty miserable, I just load songs off SD card or internal HDD.. bluetooth is garbage in my 2010 VW so I'm not surprised its not in an audi of same vintage either.. I've got the 3G+ MMI and its tolerable, at least does bluetooth and mapping just fine.

I think that device you photo'd is the backup cameras, gps/fm antenna inputs, etc..

frqflyer

I was very surprised that BG245 actually made a difference. The overall response is much more peppy and most notably at low speed and from dead stop there was a little hesitation at times I figured was turbo lag. I didn't have a huge sample size on my MPG before but at worst it went unchanged and appears to have increased by a small amount. It didn't feel like anything was wrong but more like you would expect at low RPM on a gas turbo. Thanks for that tip! Interestingly I drove a few others with similar mileage and they all felt about the same as mine before it was treated so I'm guessing it is a common build up. It probably didn't help that they were all sitting in VAG lots for a long time before getting fixed and making it back to market either.

My car is in great shape and looks well taken care of, but it also has a mostly undocumented service history with 4 previous owners so it is impossible to know mechanically what has been done to the car.

I'm thinking with 122K miles it wouldn't be a bad idea to flush the ATF. I've read some info where people say don't mess with it if there isn't a problem and others saying it should it should be done by now. Any thoughts on that?

drjonez

Always a good idea in my book....though not a power flush. A few drain and fills makes the most sense (since you're removing 1/3 - 1/2 the fluid at a time).

dreadlocks

drain and replace same amount that came out, dont flush.. you get more than 1/3rd to 1/2 half out through gravity.. only thing that would remain is whats in the trans cooling loop and thats not enough to worry about.

also do the diffs and transfer case too while your under there.. diff's are not sealed so crap eventually contaminates em.

BG245 is great, run it every 20k or so at least to clean out the injectors/pumps.

paulpack4885

Just FYI but I got something very similar for my 2011 TDI, it pulls too much power when the car is off and eventually killed my battery, and the battery is kind a PIA to change if you haven't looked into it yet. I end up just unplugging mine when I'm done driving which is also a PIA but overall I really like my car so I deal with it.

WhatsAuSERname

If the difference aren't sealed how deep of water can these safely go through? I'm looking at purchasing one and want to do light offroadinh with it.