(Please excuse me in advance for my ingnorance but...)<br>I've just returned from the dealer yesterday to have my instrument cluster "re-coded," (I originally went to the service department complaining of a high reving engine -- on full throttle from a dead stop, the needle on the tachometer would exceed redline and go all the way up to 8000 rpm) apparently the factory settings were for a four cylinder engine, and not the six cylinder found in my '98 2.8 A4Q!!! I was wondering if this had any detrimental effects on the car...I had been driving with this "problem" for the last year and a half and the dealer had initially told me that it was normal, the first time I had brought it to their attention. Had I just been benignly driving my 2.8 at 1.8 performance levels? Or was I damaging my car by driving under those settings? If there are any problems, what recourse do I have? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.<p>Sincerely,<br>Logan <br>Silver '98 A4 2.8 (posing as a 1.8)Qtip <p>

First of all, the car wasn't set up as a 1.8T. The shift points for either car would have mapped more properly than your car did (noticed your car is an automatic)... and would have shifted far before 8000RPM. I have a feeling someone removed the rev limiter from your car without telling you an the dealer is insulating itself against future suit. The 1.8T engine stock has an offered redline at 6200RPM and an effective redline at 6800RPM. I have trouble believing that, after a year of driving with the settings you describe on a 1998 2.8 30v A4 that you wouldn't at some time outrun your connecting rods or tear apart the bottom end of the block. If your local knowledgable tech (knowledgable on Audis) says there is some degree of damage, I would request a new engine block and request a loaner from the dealer, threatening to sue if they didn't provide both... then I'd have the Audi shop install the block, not the dealer. How could you not have noticed the "odd behavior" of your engine for a year??? I used to freak out when I shifted a few hundred RPM past redline in a car I wasn't familiar with, let alone 1200RPM beyond effective line. You can ask people on this forum, I rarely call people less than knowledgable or say bad things about other posters, but this seems to border on owner negligence (used as a common word, not a legal term, as this post does not contain formal or informal legal advice). The A4 is a well-insulated car, but how did you not hear the engine overrev? Did you check the pistons, rings... if this has been going on since you bought the car the rings are almost certainly missealed and unset, and the block has been improperly broken in. The cylinder walls have been abused, and the valve assembly has likely suffered damage from overrev -- at the very least you'll need new springs and new guides. The crank is pretty bulletproof, but I'd get the block removed and checked... probably replaced.<p>Frankly, I'm not even sure you have a warranty claim, since you've essentially sanctioned long-term abuse of the engine from the driver's seat.<p>Is this your first car, out of curiousity?<p>Frustrated,<br>Cameron

Cameron,<p>I know you're a very knowledgeable guy and all, but I think you're wrong here. Think about it - the man just says that the tachometer misinterpreted the information coming from the engine. <br>If for example the gauge will count each time a spark plug fires, then for a 4 cylinder engine it will divide the number by 4 to obtain the number of revs. If this instrument calibrated like this is mounted in a 6 cylinder engine, it will get 6 impulses for every rotation instead of 4 and thus will indicate over-revving.<p>Now I'm not saying this is what really happens in the case of the A4, but it's a plausible explanation - no need to flame the guy, he may be legit.<p>No need to flame me either, I'm just a computer geek with little engine knowledge :)<p>Enjoy your car,<br>Andrei D<br>Red 1.8T QMS

of all the mistakes at the factory, this seems like an unlikely one... and if his engine management system is designed for the 1.8T, why aren't in fuel injection intervals thrown off, his valve timings improper, etc. If it's only the pickup running to the instrument pod, okay. But this type of mistake seems highly unlikely to be made at the factory.<p>Then again, we've never heard of this problem before... so maybe it's unlikely but one got through, who knows? Still, I believe he should have saught help more quickly and should have the block checked out. If there are other elements of the system out of whack, it's better to find out at 10000mi than at 50000mi when your warranty's just expired.<p>Cameron<br>

nt<br>

nt<br>

on my previous car, a 5000CSQT, The tach in this case would read low, but I know full well what the shift points sound like. It would also read about 400 RPM at idle (I kept it about 850 and the idle speed sure didn't change), and turning off the car and restarting it would clear the problem. I fixed the problem working on the ECU (some of the contacts were looking a little loose). I have to admit though I agree with Cameron on one of his points, when the car wanted to shift above what appeared to be red line I think you should have made a point to go see the experts.

I plead utter ignorance when it comes to automobiles..., here is what was stated verbatim on the service invoice --<br>"road tested: tach. read too high. diagnosed and repaired inaccurate tach. coded instrument cluster correctly." The first time I had complained about this matter, the service department considered everything to be normal. And being an admitted ignorant automobile driver/owner myself, I took them at their word. I later complained only after driving a normal 2.8. Since this was technically my first true car (I originally drove a used '84 Buick Regal-- enough said, I am sadly inexperieced with the matter of driving a decent car.<br> This erratic behavior (overrevving) only occurred when I "floored" the throttle (which was rare), in Tiptronic mode, I never let the needle exceed redline... too litle too late I guess...<br>any further input would help...<br>A very humbled,<br>Logan

The first A4 I ever drove (a 97 2.8 Q Manual), new at the dealer, OBVIOUSLY had a bad tachometer. It seemed to be reading about double what it should be. It was revving on the tach. near readline at about 15 mph in first gear. It was obvious from the sound that the engine wasn't turning that fast. Just normal driving ran the tach almost to redline. The salesman, of course, wasn't too concerned, but agreed there was a problem. That car ended up being traded to a Seattle dealer.<p>I don't understand exactly what would cause this failure either. The speedo seemed OK.

Hmmm...I had the same problem recently (98.5 QMS) after having the instrument cluster replaced for another reason. When the dealer put the new one in, it was reading well past redline at some shift points (manual), although I could tell the engine wasn't really revving that high. When I took it back, the dealer "reprogrammed the cluster" so that it "knows it is in a 2.8-A4". Fixed the problem. Was fun to be pegging the tach, at least for a day or two, though!!!...<p><p>Spudman

nt<br>