n00b with a ? oil/coolant light..

[ruditron]

Bare with me I'm new to the whole S4 scene and I'm currently in Iraq trying to diagnose what my wife is telling me back home....

So we just bought a new to us '05 B6 s4, had it checked thoroughly PPI..eg.. everything checked out minus some small things like vc gaskets that we had fixed before we purchased. Anyways my wife emailed me today saying she's worried about a "oil and coolant" light being on...

shes freaking out b/c its red, I know red lights on Audi's means bad bad juju. so now we're both freaking out....

Turns out the lights aren't staying on or blinking, but when you start the car and you press the 'check' button ,on the gauge cluster the coolant and oil come up on the center and are red for like 1-2 seconds. then its goes to the green OK screen... starting w/o doing the check button deal goes right to the "OK' screen

No CEL or other warning lights after that, Just during the check screen check button after start up. I have a generic OBDII scanner and its not showing and codes. Do not have Vag-com.

Is this normal? Or is my wife's car going to explode?

[ruditron]

Also Coolant and oil levels are perfect...... My wife is fairly knowledgeable with mechanics I force her to help me work on my Land Rovers and muscle cars, But the Audi is a different beast....

[Chuckleski212]

A generic scanner might not be able to read the ECU's complaint.

Hoo-rah.

[madkimchi]

tell her to read the manual? if oil and coolant are low simply just top it off. and check levels on both are fairly easy to do. open the hood and pull the orange oil dip stick wipe it clean then put it back in all the way then pull em back out check the level. for the coolant check the expansion tank.

[ECS Tuning-Audi]

Sounds normal to me. Unless the coolant light or oil light pops up while driving I wouldn't worry about anything. If she says your levels are fine there shouldn't be an issue. Also if there were any issues it would beep as soon as you start the car and the OK would not come up, rather whatever system needs to be checked would be illuminated in the center.

Definitely have her read through the manual to get a better understanding - I'm simply going off the top of my head and I may be missing a few things more specifically.

Jason

[M|R]

OP, when you press the check button it only goes through the problematic symbols on the DIC, it really does not check anything. If you have an issue, it will come up when you either start the car or are driving it.

[Amsterdamned]

That is the display cycling through, showing you what it is checking. If all is good while driving and on startup you should be good to go. By pressing the check button on the dash you initiate that sequence. It should also show you a battery and washer fluid level. At least I think that is what you are describing.

[dparm]

There is nothing wrong, the screen is cycling normally during the "check" phase.

[Time4Audi]

If she gets the green OK. She should be good to go. Maybe a trip to the dealer for a quick hello would give each of you some piece of mind.

[ruditron]

Thank you all,

I figured after she said that the oil/coolant lights popped up when pressing the check button and not while driving that it was all good. She had me worried at first b/c all she said was "OMG the oil and coolant lights are red!" She has re-read the manual and I don't think it says anything about colors specifically when doing the functions check, only if they pop up as a warning light...

So being red while going through the check doesn't hold any value in diagnosing anything correct? I'm assuming everything that cycles through the center of the display is red by default during the check?

Again thank you all for the help!

[M|R]

Thank you all,

I figured after she said that the oil/coolant lights popped up when pressing the check button and not while driving that it was all good. She had me worried at first b/c all she said was "OMG the oil and coolant lights are red!" She has re-read the manual and I don't think it says anything about colors specifically when doing the functions check, only if they pop up as a warning light...

So being red while going through the check doesn't hold any value in diagnosing anything correct? I'm assuming everything that cycles through the center of the display is red by default during the check?

Again thank you all for the help!

Relief isnt it? haha.

From my understanding when you press check, the dic cycles through the variables - and icons of them - that will be checked.

There are different groups of colors. For example, oil pressure and coolant are indeed red. Washer fluid, fuel level, brake system, the infamous "bulb out" signal, and battery/charging condition are all yellow. It then proceeds to speed signals/warnings then followed by a green OK (may be missing something, thats off the top of my head).

As long as nothing like oil pressure or coolant level warnings signal on startup or while driving you should be good to go. There should be an OK when you start the car.

I did my best to explain this for you OP. Also, thank you for your service!

[ruditron]

^ Thank you! She just sent me a video and that is exactly whats happening, SUCH a relief!

Thank you all for your help, and I look forward to being part of the community.