2002 Audi A4 Gas gauge zero after battery episode

Tiny
ARCHAE86
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 AUDI A4
  • 6 CYL
  • AWD
  • MANUAL
  • 50,000 MILES
My 2002 A4 Quattro 1.8T has its original battery.

Today I accidentally left a thermoelectric cooler plugged in after I turned off the engine. It is nominally a 4.5 Ampere drain. A little over two hours later I heard beeps like the intrusion alarm, and found the car only partially responsive to door lock/unlock from the fob. Noting the dim dome light, I turned off everything and waited a half hour before attempting a start. The engine turned perhaps once. So I put on a charger for a few hours, then started the car and checked for effects.

1. The clock forgot date/time--easily fixed
2. The trip computer forgot data--no problem
3. The alarm beep for low fuel quantity sounded immediately after start, with the pump symbol on the dash. The gauge reads below the lowest tick, and the remaining miles before empty field in the trip computer reads zero.

This last has persisted through three start/stop cycles, including two five mile drives. As I filled the tank less than 50 miles ago, I believe it has about 15 gallons in it.

As the battery is stamped with an 80 Ahr rating, I think I just got a cheap warning that I need to shop for a battery soon, certainly before cold weather.

The gasoline gauge thing puzzles and alarms me. I own a code reader (ScanguageII) but it does not return any fault codes.

Any ideas?
Sunday, August 17th, 2008 AT 12:39 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi archae86,

You need to use VAS 5051 Vehicle Diagnostic, Testing and Information system in mode "Guided Fault Finding" to test.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Thursday, August 21st, 2008 AT 10:54 AM
Tiny
ARCHAE86
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
This gas gauge situation has resolved.

I drove the car about six times totalling a hundred miles with zero change (gas gauge sitting still well below the lowest mark, "miles to empty" showing zero).

Then I added all the fuel I could--about 3.5 gallons. Immediately after refill the needle read a little below a quarter tank, and the miles to go about 80.

Both indicators quite gradually and steadily returned to normal over about the next 25 minutes of driving (split in three drives).

So it seems in my particular episode that adding fuel was crucial to starting the recovery process.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Thursday, August 21st, 2008 AT 11:23 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links