Audi A3(99) Service light

[Audi A3 Al]

The service light has just come on in my car and its annoying. Im not planning to take the car in for its service for another couple months just yet and I was wondering if anyone knew how to get it off. In my previous car you would use the key in the ignition and turn it back and forth in some order, im hoping the Audi is the same.

Anyone with any information would be great.

Cheers.

[Audi A3 Al]

There seems to be an awful lot of people viewing the threads but no seems to be answering - WHY IS THIS??

I was previously a member of the planet-audi forum which seems to have closed down, planet-audi was an excellent forum with plenty of advice.

If anyone has any ideas where those members went please let me know.

I also noticed a female (no offence Baby G) has put a random thread up on the board and has had plenty of responses - WHY??

If I grew a pair, and changed my name to 'Sexy Sarah' do you think i'd have hundreds of replies??- Quite possibly!

[stuart]

Hi

What engine is in the car? does it run fixed or variable service intervals?

Stuart

[pande_monium]

Okay,

Here's the routine to get rid of the INSP or OIL blinkers! It uses the 2 buttons on the instrument cluster (the speedo/clock/tacho), they are numbered as under (also see attached pic):
1. Clock adjustment button
2. Trip odometer reset button
3. Trip odometer display

The routine is as under:
1. Switch ignition off
2. Press and hold down reset button for trip odometer (2) in instrument cluster
3. Switch ignition on while button is pressed down. "Service OIL" appears in the display of the trip odometer (3)
4. Release button
5. Pull setting knob for time (1) in instrument cluster until "Service OIL" indication is reset. "- - -" appears in display (3).
6. Press reset button for trip odometer (2) again, to advance to next service event.
7. Release button.
8. "Service INSP" appears in display (3).
9. Pull setting knob for time -1- until "Service INSP" indication is reset.
10. "- - -" appears in display (3).
11. Switch ignition off.

This should work. If it doesnt, try the other way around (press clock button and release after turning key and then pull trip reset button. It normally depends upon your car being a LHD or a RHD car.

If your problem is sorted, let me know by dropping a note on the forum. Hopefully others will see it and save themselves a few quid. You may also want to add to my rep ;-).

Last but not the least - Regularly servicing your vehicle is good for maintaining its life AND its resale value.

All the best
Ankur Pande

[Audi A3 Al]

Ankur Pande,

You're a star!! - it works. The car goes in for its major service at the end of the month so i suppose i could of been patient and waited, but at least its done now.

Cheers.

[HUTCH]

try visiting an independant garage who has the required diagnostic equipment. Someone using a Bosch KTS 650 should be able to help you
I suggest you look on Bosch website for Bosch Car Service centres they should be able to help and are located nationally
Hope it helps

[gallagher]

Just like to say thank you for this post. I have been trying to figure this out and it worked for my 2000 Audi A4 2.8 !


THANK AGAIN !

[declan]

Is there a similar sequence for a MK 4 Golf does anybody know. I've covered almost 10k since August 08 when we had the car serviced. It's only been 5 months, and the service interval counts down way to fast. 10k would have been at 67,100 miles, but it's warning us that the service is due in 600 miles and the clock is only at 66,010. The service would be 500 miles early if we go bythe service interval display, and over the life of a car I reckon there's an extra service in there that isn't really required.

Anyhoo, I can happily ignore it until the mileage actually reads 67,000 but if there is an easy way to reset the interval that would be ideal.

Ta!

[declan]

Well I gave it a go. The dash on the VW Golf is very similar to the A3 in the picture, so I tried it.

Held in button 2, started ignition, let go of button 2, service interval display now reading "SERVICE NOW"

Fiddled with button 1, it doesn't push in on the golf although I did press it for several seconds to see if maybe that worked, then I turned it right then left.

Service interval reminder is now clear. Not sure of the exact sequence, as it was trial and error, so sorry for the vague description, but it can be done, pretty easily...

[Sven]

Hi,
I have an Audi A4 T Sport 2000 model (B5)
I followed the above instructions to clear my service light and bingo.

Just one thing. Make sure you press and hold the buttons firmly.
Many thanks
Stuart
aka Sven:Blush:

[dngood]

I've got the Service OIL displayed on my '97 1.8 (non turbo) A3. The car's just been serviced about 2 months ago - Does this just mean that the garage forgot to reset the service light, or could this be something more serious, or should I just do the reset?

I checked the oil level, and it seems to be in the middle of the hatched area of the dip-stick.

Thanks for your help,

Dave.

[pande_monium]

I've got the Service OIL displayed on my '97 1.8 (non turbo) A3. The car's just been serviced about 2 months ago - Does this just mean that the garage forgot to reset the service light, or could this be something more serious, or should I just do the reset?

I checked the oil level, and it seems to be in the middle of the hatched area of the dip-stick.

Thanks for your help,

Dave.

How much have you driven in the past 2 months? I do a lot of miles (typically 40k+) and my light pops up every 3 months. Its not related to time... but the number of miles you've done since the last service.

If you have *NOT* done 10k miles in the past 2 months, then, yes, the service centre may have forgoten to reset it.

Not a lot of non-audi service centres know how to do it, especially the not-so-big ones or the non-WAG-specialists.

I'd ask them if they KNOW how to reset the counter. If they say yes, then ask them why they forgot to reset it for you. If they say that they DID reset it, then there could be an issue. However, if the car's working perfectly fine... it's your call to investigate it further or just reset it.

I normally do my servicing myself (or get it done in front of me). So, I always reset the counter myself.

[pande_monium]

Just like to say thank you for this post. I have been trying to figure this out and it worked for my 2000 Audi A4 2.8 !

THANK AGAIN !

No Problems. Glad I could be of help.

[dngood]

Thanks for the quick reply - it sounds like they just forgot to reset it. They've offered to reset it free of charge though :)

Will give the procedure a try, but I'm sure this'll fix the problem.

Thanks again,

Dave.

[pande_monium]

Thanks for the quick reply - it sounds like they just forgot to reset it. They've offered to reset it free of charge though :)

Will give the procedure a try, but I'm sure this'll fix the problem.

Thanks again,

Dave.

No problems bro. Glad to be of help.

[dngood]

OK, I just tried this, steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 work OK, but step 5 - pullingout the time button to change the display to "- - -" doesn't work - whatever I do with the time knob the display remains the same. Going on and pressing the odo button again (step 6) gives moves to the INSP option, where again the time button doesn't reset.

I've checked the time button - in normal mode, it moves the clock forward correctly, so it seems to work OK.

I've also tried the buttons the other way around, but this doesn't work either.

Any ideas - it's a 1997 1.8 SE A3 if that makes a difference.

Dave.

[pande_monium]

OK, I just tried this, steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 work OK, but step 5 - pullingout the time button to change the display to "- - -" doesn't work - whatever I do with the time knob the display remains the same. Going on and pressing the odo button again (step 6) gives moves to the INSP option, where again the time button doesn't reset.

I've checked the time button - in normal mode, it moves the clock forward correctly, so it seems to work OK.

I've also tried the buttons the other way around, but this doesn't work either.

Any ideas - it's a 1997 1.8 SE A3 if that makes a difference.

Dave.

I think this method doesn't work for pre-98 cars... I read this somewhere on this forum itself.

Did you try swapping the buttons around as I've mentioned in the instructions?

[dngood]

Yeah, I tried the buttons the other way around - no luck :(

I'll see if I can get it back to the garage that didn't reset it.

Thanks for your help,

Dave.

[csg123]

been trying to find out this for ages for my '99 a3, nearly gave up and give in to taking to dealers. thanks ALOT. craig:approve:

[A3 1.8 T Sport]

I only brought my car recently (from a mechanic who said he serviced it) and so when the "Service Oil" light showed up, I was a bit concerned even though car was running fine. But read the post and followed the steps and no more service light.

Thanks

[A3 1.8 T Sport]

I only brought my car recently (from a mechanic who said he serviced it) and so when the "Service Oil" light showed up, I was a bit concerned even though car was running fine. But read the post and followed the steps and no more service light.

Thanks


Hi Again,

Got the service light problem sorted (thanks again), but now the trip display isn't working. When I start the engine the display shows "OK" but then it disappears and I can't see any of the other info, temp, mpg, etc.

Not sure if I made a mistake whilst following the instructions or if it is unrelated, but any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[newbie09]

hi all

i have a 2004 audi a3 2.0TDI and the sequence i tried in this post to reset teh service light didnt work :confused:

does anyone have one that definitely works for a3's? i have had it serviced but in a non audi garage and they couldnt reset it so i need to get it reset asap

Thanks

Sarah