Enable day time running lights DRL's

I know nobody. I alone in my town with an Audi, so I'm relying on forums for help and instructions.

I suspect you need to recode the convenience system to enable this function. Know anyone with a VAG-COM kit?

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

I just bought a "clone" VAG-COM cable from eBay for $20-$25 shipped...now I've downloaded the shareware Ross-tech software onto a laptop and am looking forward to playing around with some of the settings on my '98 A6 Avant Quattro and '97 A4 2.8Q, like changing the country code to display kilometers instead of miles, resetting the service indicators, etc.

A local fellow was going to offer his VAG-COM stuff for me to use (in exchange for some beer! lol) but since I already had the laptop and just needed the cable, I think this will be far more convenient...can do it on my schedule, etc.

Might be worth the $20-$25 to get a cable for your TT!

Bart

Thanks, I'll check in on it. It's my understanding though, that not all the necessary relays and connections are the same and present on the US cars as compared to the Canada/Euro ones. I understand it to be more than a program function to achieve my goal. Not sure myself. It would be nice if all I had to do was change a program. Jerry

Sounds rather interesting - is there a page anywhere that shows just what settings you can change on each car?

Definitely check on it - I'm in Canada, but have bought these 2 Audis from the U.S. so they've needed a few of those changes. I think I paid $80 for a local shop to change the first one, so buying the cable for $25-ish seemed to make sense to me. But in my limited Googling on it so far, there are plenty of things that can be done with the cable & software, so I wouldn't be surprised if this would solve your problem. Good luck!

Bart

Sort of... you have to dig around for a while, but there are a few sites that have some good detailed info on what you can do and how to do it. I haven't done much yet - I was having some laptop issues but managed to get the software on the laptop to recognize that it's connected to an Audi "computer".

If you get one of these 'clone' USB cables, you might be distressed that the software won't find the car computer... turns out that the clone USB cables actually emulate a serial cable, so try one of the COM1/2/3 ports instead of the USB port when connecting.

That took me a while to figure out...

Bart

Hehehe... so where might one aquire this software? eBay or something?

No, the software's available as 'shareware' (or maybe even freeware - I didn't notice anything about sending in payment if you like it). Essentially you're getting an older version of the Ross-tech software for 'free', but you'd pay for the more recent version. Certainly if you're running a mechanic's shop you'd want the pay version, but I can barely change my oil so I don't need much! :D

I got the CABLE off eBay for cheap, and some of them have links to where you can download the software.

Good luck!

Bart

True enough! But then you're talking "real" money for the Bentley stuff, no?

Without Bentley, you're looking at $25-ish (if you have a laptop already, or can plug in a desktop computer & monitor near your car!), so that's pretty minimal for guys like me who would barely know where to start with Bentley... :D

Bart

The Audi repair CDs from Bentley have sections on coding with tables that show which bits or combination of bits control which feature(s) to be enabled. Also provides DTC codes for all functional units, plus diagnostic routines for same.

The combination of the Bentley CD and VAG-COM is very effective in de-liaring dealer techs ;-)

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

Very cool - wish I could do all that. It's mostly Greek to me, though. I figure I can handle convenience settings & the like, and that's worth the $25-ish for the cable and a little time to download the software and look for the right codes to use.

I'm sure your initial investment has paid for itself several times over by the savings on repairs!

Bart

Yes, it is the full, licensed version of VAG-COM, and their dongle as well, and a bought version of the Bentley S4 CD, all running on one of my laptops.

The VAG-COM kit was the first thing I bought when I got my S4. The second thing was the Bentley.

With the two of them I was able to diagnose the only problem I've had to date

- a MAF that had aged out of adaptation range - as well as modifying some of the S4's convenience feature settings.

Cheers

/daytripper '00 s4 6spd

Ahhhh! So, any tips where I might get this shareware? Or what it's called so I can Google it?

Thankyou!