BrianAudiA6

Just purchased a pre-owned Audi A6 2.7T. Was previously a one-owner,leased vehicle (VW Credit - Audi Financial Services). Just failed the GA emmissions inspection because "the on-board computer is 'Not Ready'". Instructions are to drive the vehicle for 1-2 weeks. I've put 1,000 miles on it since I've had it and during that time never experienced any sort of fault indication. I'm getting conflicting information on how to resolve. The maintenance manager at the emissions station put a scanner on it and read that the "Catalyst", "Air" and "O2 Sensor" read either "NOT READY" or "NOT DONE". I made sure the car was warmed up significantly (joy ride!) and he scanned it again but same thing.

One Audi dealer told me that it happens all the time and the "codes need to be reset" ($90). Another told me that isn't common but they would be happy to scan it for me ($90). Another said it should "drive itself out" over time. I don't expect putting any more miles on it will help since I've put 1,000 on it without any known problems. I was told that there could have been any sort of fault or condition (gas cap loose, battery replaced)that might have caused the codes to be "not ready".

Any advise? Hate to have to pay the Audi Dealer $90 just to reset some codes if that's the case. If I was a cynical person I might even suspect that Audi Financial sets the codes as "not ready" as a matter of routine in order to force the next owner to bring it in for service!

Thanks in advance for the help.

silverkris

You might want to find a friendly independent garage who may offer to run the codes for free by hooking up a 1551 tool, and then make a decision what to do then based on the findings. The hourly rate for labor is usually less than at a dealer.

I had the old "Check Engine" light problem crop up and went with an independent garage (New Dimensions in Santa Clara, CA) who hooked up their VAG 1551 tool to the OBD port under the dash, found the faults, and then offered to replace the coolant and temp sensors (which are cheap parts) + labor ($89). Whereas the Audi dealer wanted $139 just to do a diagnostic.

DWC_2.7T

Emission-related items are required to have extended warranties in several states; here in CA its 7yr/70K miles; even covers the turbos.

BrianAudiA6

Thanks for the suggestion on the warranty. It does look like it should be covered under the 8yrs/80,000 miles section of the Emmissions Performance Warranty. It says it is covered if the vehicle "...fails an I/M test resulting from a malfunction of an...on board diagnostic device (OBD)...". Dealer never suggested it might be under warranty when I asked about it. I'll check again and report back. Thanks.

AudiTech4Hire

I am sure that when your car was being looked over before it was sold to you,that it might have had some faults and the tech erased and cleared the faults,when this happens the readiness code is automatically set to "not ready".

There is two ways that the readiness code can be set.(1) With a 5051 or vag.com scantool, and setting the parameters that are needed for the ECM
to set the readiness code to "test completed" or "ready",and usually takes about half to an hour
to complete,or (2)Alot and i mean alot of driving
between 30-50mph and usually you got to stay between 2nd and 3rd gear only.also no short trip driving because this will never reset the readiness code.So if you live in a big city, and you do a lot of stop and go,it doesn't matter how many miles you put in your car it will never set the readiness code. You might be better off taking it in to your dealer. Hope this helps

silverkris

Good to hear that it would be covered under warranty. My previous post was postulated for the case if it wasn't under warranty, you can disregard it.

Good luck and let us know what happened.

Andy@Ross-Tech

<ul><li><a href="http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/tour/readiness.html">http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/tour/readiness.html</a</li></ul>

BrianAudiA6

I'm glad to report a very happy ending. Went to a different Audi dealer and explained the situation. My car had actually been maintained at this particular dealer (prior owner)so that helped. Dealer fit me in the same day and within an hour had cleared the codes and washed my car! As AudiTech4Hire postulated, according to the tech, the codes just needed to be reset. He said that this is fairly common when cars are being prepared to be sold due to pressure washing, for example. Anyway, I told him that I wanted the "repair" to be considered under warranty and he didn't charge me anything. The service was so good at this dealer that they may have just picked up a new customer...

Took it back to the emissions inspection station and passed with flying colors.

Thanks for the help.