audijim113

After 18 yrs, it was time to upgrade my wife to a 98 A8. She's happy to have a few things that actually work. Although her car never let her down all these years, it was time to say goodbye.

First order of business is a tranny output seal which i knew was leaking. If for no other reason that to get rid of the smell. Rear diff seal will be done same time as it is in the shop.

After that, maybe just take it on a short trip as a shakedown cruise.

This will be my 4th forum. The 5K forum helped me through lots of stuff. By the time I got to the C4 forum, I even had a little knowledge to share. The C-5 forum didn't do much for me. I don't get into "modding"

This A8 will stay like it is.

pkrasusky

Reason being I'll only participate in a select few.

Welcome!

Always Overcharged

When I came as a newbie [the A8 was my first Audi] I,like all,had issues that were soon to be cheaply and effectivley resolved by sound advice and the purchase of Vag-Com.
The best advice was that the Audi is one of the simplest cars to repair if you have the information and tools.
I emailed the guy who said this as I was in the middle of a fuel pump nightmare and he suggested Elsa win and Vag-com.
I now have both and after bringing the neglected beast into spec it is a very reliable and solid car.
Email me your model year /engine/trans and I will send you a sheet on the output seal.
You will in turn contribute to others here Im sure.
Also search feature is way helpful.

jazbo123

My 98 has been great... hope you have the same good fortune.

audijim113

Thanks for the welcome. From a couple earlier post looking for buying advice, i already felt this was a good forum.

To: "Overcharged": Thanks for the offer of data for shaft seal and I would appreciate your sending it. However, certain things are beyond my capability, among them is crawling under the car. I am not talking about my mechanical knowledge, but physical limitations preclude it. Now, if someone took the tranny out and put it on my worktable, then sitting in my chair, I am sure it would be easy.

I'm not sure what the average age on this forum is, but being over 60, might put me at the upper end. If I was a young snot of 50, the seal would be on my list.

Until I can find a time machine, service will be performed by a trusted shop but thanks to the forum, I will have a good idea what is going on. If I am digging into my pockets, at least I won'd be doing so blindly.

As for "repair" information, my immediate needs would be for anyones thoughts on the following informational questions:

The CD player is different than pictured in the book. The book picture is like the one in my 99 A6 which has a cartridge with six slots. In this A8, the unit looks different and the cartridge has 10 slots. Putting some CDs in the first slots and pushing the mode causes it to start playing but sounding strange, (almost like the CD isn't turning fast enough). It will do that for a bit, then no sound at all. The radio itself works fine (unless it is on a rap station and then unintelligible noise comes out)

Does it sound like something is wrong or is this just simple thing? As for looking different, I seem to remember reading something on one of the forums about different model CD players. Apparently there is a steep price for a replacement cartridge in one of the units, but can't remember what it applied to.

Next informational question:

How do I turn off the climate control? The control looks almost like the one on my 99 A6, but my A6 has an "off" button. There is no "off" button on the A8. How do you turn it off, other than turning the car off?

Onr more:

It appears the PO changed the drivers side mirror. (I found a box with a label indicating it contained a new mirror in the trunk. Contents of the box was a darkened, spotty mirror)

Adjusting the mirror yields it won't adjust far enough down. The adjustment range seems to go from way high to med high and won't go low enough. It goes sideways fine.

Your thoughts on my informational questions are appreciated.