> About once a year my Audi A6 spontaneaously winds down its > windows and puts > on the interior lights, the doors stay locked.
I bet Audi denies any problem, eh? More memories (this is so much fun)... Back in the late 70s and early 80s a lot of Ford and Lincoln-Mercury vehicles would have their engine die while driving, with no warning, just as if someone turned off the ignition key. In several cases it was due to a plugged fuel filter. But in nearly 30% of the cases I found it was due to the Electronic Ignition Module, which controlled the primary ignition circuit being sent to the Ignition Coil. The units back then were only covered by a 12,000 mile 12 month warranty (no emission control warranty at 5 year, 50,000 miles gov't required warranty yet). The cars affected had purchase prices starting at the $5,000 range and up, and the Ignition Modules had a retail price of about $125 - pretty pricey for the day. So many technicians would take a car with a dies while driving problem and replace the Ignition Module, Distributor Stator and Fuel Filter all in one shot, explaining the Stator "burned out" due to the Ignition Module failing (pure bullshit), and the fuel filter was a "maintenance requirement" (actually true, and a good idea as the filter may be okay but the rubber fuel line feeding it was cracking and in danger of spewing fuel onto the ignition distributor - POOF!). When these Ignition Modules were replaced under warranty they were sent back to Ford for testing on their "special machines". If their machines failed to confirm a verifiable Ignition Module failure the dealership was charged back the warranty cost for a "unnecessary repair". I found early on that I could effectively test these Ignition Modules in a rather unorthodox manner. I would hook up a diagnostic oscilloscope to the Secondary Ignition Coil Wire, take a brass mallet (brass to prevent damage to the cast metal housing of the Ignition Module), and strike the Module's housing with the mallet. If the ignition pattern on the oscilloscope fluctuated at the time of impact, the Module was defective. Otherwise the problem lay elsewhere. I found this to be nearly 100% effective from my observation. At this point in time Ford was still denying there was a significant problem with their Ignition Module design, and was persisting in sending back Ignition Modules to a lot of dealerships as their machines were not testing for heat, vibration and shock impact effects. They persisted denying a problem with their Ignition Modules, and in sending back units they did not verify as defective, and a lot of dealerships were eating lots of money caused by Ford's ineffective tests and denials. After about a year or so of this "Gil Hale Brass Mallet Testing", and me not replacing all Ignition Modules for Dies While Driving issues willy-nilly, a Factory Engineer from Detroit stopped out at our dealership in little old San Bernardino, CA. I was called into the Service Manager's office and told this guy (Lee Sanders) had come out as we had a warranty return rate of nearly 0% with our Ignition Modules as compared to nearly 40% with all other Ford and Lincoln dealerships in our area. The Ford Engineer all but accused me of perhaps refusing to work on the cars with Dies While Driving, thus pushing the problem to other dealerships out of fear of having non-defective parts sent back to us. Insulted, I laughed in a scoffing manner, and told Lee in no uncertain terms that I was not refusing any work, and I had actually developed a diagnostic procedure that was obviously nearly 100% effective. "How can you be sure of that claim?", came his next question. "You came here to see me, did you not, because of a nearly 0 level of returns?", came my reply. "How do you do it?, asked Lee. "If I show you, you must promise to take me seriously.", I responded. I invited him back to my stalls, where I had a car in for a Dies While Driving complaint. I already had the oscilloscope hooked up. I fired up the car, told Lee to watch the scope pattern, took out the brass mallet and struck the module. "What the hell are you doing?!", Lee demanded. "Testing the module, this one is fine.", I replied. He was in shock at my methodology, and said he could not believe this was actually being done to diagnose a complex electronic unit. So I told Lee to pick any module under my bench shelving (non-warranty replaced units), and I would swap it in for the car's own unit to prove my point. He picked out about 5 old units, which all failed (via a pattern flash on the scope) upon the mallet's impact. I then put the original module into circuit and "retested" with the mallet - the pattern on the scope did not flicker. I then pulled the fuel filter out and had Lee try to blow through it. Sure enough it was plugged, hence the most likely cause of the Dies While Driving concern. Well, Lee thought he had seen the Second Coming and lived to talk about it. He scampered back to Detroit, and the next thing I know the quarterly Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) sent to all Ford/Lincoln technicians had an article on my procedure, except Lee's name was on the article - with no mention of how he came across this technique. Almost immediately Ford/Lincoln claims for failed modules that were actually good dropped significantly. Ford was able to cut costs by millions of dollars due to using my technique. Years later I was in a meeting as a Corporate Liaison for AAA (made it into white collar corporate America!), discussing the positive impact of good factory to technician communications. By happenstance Lee Sanders was in that meeting with his 2 bosses. I innocently told the story of how Lee and I communicated about the Ignition Module testing, and how it came out in a TSB shortly afterward, hence proving effective communication with field technicians was a good thing. "Lee,", said one of his bosses, "you told us this was your own idea." He was fired on the spot. Turns out Lee had claimed the idea was his own, and got a boat-load of "reward money" from Ford for saving them millions. I never saw a dime, but he lost his job on the spot. I had no clue until then of how much Ford had saved, much less of any reward programs for folks who came up with significant money-saving ideas. I was still very young (28), and naive, so I never thought to file suit back then. Now I wish I had <g>... Anyway, the overall point is that despite Ford's refusal to admit a failed design in the face of obvious failures, eventually a means to effectively test their units proved the failure was not nearly 100% with Dies While Driving symptoms as indicated by the frequency of replacing the Ignition Modules. If Audi is claiming their electrical system is not having a problem it is only because it is rare enough to not cause significant market share loss, or nobody is dying (resulting in losing lawsuits) due to this problem. Deny long enough and the problem fixes itself via a return to the recycling process after 10-15 years or so. I saw that happen lots of times with poor automobile designs. Ah, the memories...... Gil > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Andy Davies > Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 5:21 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: [NF] How do you tell when a 'softie marketing droid is > lying... > > > > ...Two days later I get in the car; battery is dead again... > > About once a year my Audi A6 spontaneaously winds down its > windows and puts > on the interior lights, the doors stay locked. > Google shows a few people describing the exact same symptoms, but no > explanations. > There is said to be an overheating response that does this (?) but it > usually happens at night/ in the rain so the seats get wet. > I considered disconnecting the battery when I'm away on vacation but that > would trigger the radio's security cut-out and probably > eventually kill the > onboard 'computer'. > > These things, as my grandma used to say, are sent to try us! > > Andrew Davies MBCS CITP > - AndyD 8-)# > > > ********************************************************************** > > This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and > intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom > they are addressed. If you have received this email in error > please notify the system manager. > > This footnote also confirms that this email message has been > swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. > > Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] with any queries. > > ********************************************************************** > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
