Posted comment earlier about battery acid leaking onto clutch line and brake line causing severe damage to both lines... Spoke with audi and they stated that the engine does not have to be removed for the brake line to be fixed... The most likely culprit of this leak is due an overcharged battery due to a jump or manual re-charge (note: according to audi, never replace the s4 battery with anything other than with an audi battery... Of course they would say this, but he was pretty convincing... 2nd note: I do have an audi battery in my s4, and I'm still having the issue... Audi may help pay for this b/c of that fact, but they haven't committed to it until further investigation). The total, according to over-the-phone diagnosing, was going to be b/n 1 and 2 thousand bucks at the dealer.
2000 Audi S4 electrical complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 49 of 49, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Like many other people who own an audi s4 with 50,000 miles, I am having brake light issues. Only mine are much more severe that what I have read thus far. I took my car in for it's 60000, and had the mechanic check the brake light. Leading up to the repair, I had been *losing brake fluid* almost monthly. This should never happen, for any reason. But, my mechanic took three hours and discovered that the battery was leaking sulfuric acid onto my brake line, my power steering line, and my clutch line. He stated, "only a mechanical moron would house the metal and steal cables underneath sulfuric acid." consequently, I cannot drive my car any more and the repairs inlcude the taking out of the entire engine to get to the source, which may/may not be able to be fixed. Mechanic stated that this should be a recall issue, and that the safety issue on this type of design-flaw is obvious and certain. I expect audi will not cover this defect, causing me to shell out, are you ready for this, 2-3,000 bucks to get it replaced. [xxx] the man. I'll post more when I know more.*ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My audi s4 was almost stolen in nj right by route 9 in fort lee. The drivers side door handle was drilled out to try and circumvent the alarm. Luckily, something sppoked them or the club was a deterrent. Still, it should not be this easy to steal this car like this. I've heard of many stolen this way. Audi put in a crappy alarm that does not work under some circumstances like this...
The alarm system on the 1999-2002 audi s$ is defective and useless when the door lock is simply punched out with a screwdriver.
Too many audi s4s are being stolen around the boston, new jersey, new york, philly area. There was a special on the news in boston about just how easy it is to steal the xenon headlights (1 minute). No immobilizer was added to the s4 although other audi models received one as well as lower priced sister company volkswagen's jetta starting in 1999. There is not enough security for a 40,000 plus dollar car. I have heard of many many people having their s4s stolen or being robbed of their almost 1000 dollar xenon headlights-not to mention people hurting the car (1000s of dollars damage) trying to get the headlights. Audi needs to issue a recall and retrofit the vehicle with more security.
Audi s4 auto alarm/immobilizer can be easily deactivated. Deactivation through punching a screwdriver through the drivers side door key lock, will automatically disengage the both the car's alarm and its immobilizer. So far, I personally know of more than 30 vehicles being stolen whilst using this method in the state of new jersey alone in the past year. I have personally had to take action through installing additional security modifications, risking nullification of the manufacturers warranty, in order to prevent and avoid vehicle theft.
The anti-theft system on my 2000 audi s4 has no engine immobilizer, therefore making it not nearly as effective as it could be. There are many many thefts (especially in the ny,nj area) of s4s, and it is my belief that a lot of these thefts would have been prevented if audi had made the alarm in the s4 worthwhile (after all, we did pay for an anti-theft system in the car). I know that I would worry a lot less about my investment if I had a proper factory installed alarm system in the car.
The audi s4 from 2000-2002 lacks an alarm capable of preventing easy theft. There is no immobilizer and the cars alarm can be easily bypassed and started with a simple screwdriver. S4 thefts are high, compared to the number of these cars actually made the thefts are grossly unproportional. Personally I have had to get an aftermarket alarm out of the fear that my high-performance automobile can be stolen by some kid with a flathead screwdriver.
All audi s4's produced from mid 1999 to 2002 suffer from an ineffective alarm system. The model years are 2000, 2001, and 2002. Due this defect these vehicles are being stolen at an alarming rate off of every street corner in the nyc metro area. The audi s4 was a limited production run vehicle. Less then 15000 were imported into the united states for sale by audi of north america. For this vehicle to be number 25 of the top 25 cars stolen in new jersey shows complete negligence on the part of audi. (nicb-- http://www.nicb.org/public/newsroom/whereismycar/top25bystate.cfm#nj ) the other vehicles on that list have yearly production numbers that go well over 25000 units per year. The audi a8 received an immobilizer for 2000+ models. To save a few bucks audi skipped fitting s4's with immobilizers. For this reason I cannot park my car anywhere in new jersey because I know it will not be there when I come back. Audi needs to recall these vehicles and add immobilizer systems or else none will exist in the nyc metro area. They also need to strengthen the door area around the doors lock cylinder. Almost all s4s that were stolen in new jersey, had a screw driver taken to the door near the handle. They punch and hole lift/push the lock plunger bar up and the alarm is disabled!!!!! This is unacceptable for any car let alone one that is this expensive. Thieves will often drive these vehicles at speeds in excess of 140 MPH on public highways joy riding, and creating a potential for loss of human life.
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