Think about yourself driving quietly on board your Audi A8 and abruptly an engine warning light shows up on your dashboard ! The most frequent response is the worry of risking a major issue. To know what accurately this light refers to, you will have to learn how to read an Audi A8 fault codes, you may have already read about OBD system, this is precisely what we are going to talk about. Our editors have chosen to produce this article to help you quickly discover the origin of this default code and to give you peace of mind. To perform this, we will first take a look at the nature of a fault code on Audi A8, then how to read an Audi A8 fault code, and finally how to erase this fault code in order to turn off the light on your dashboard.

read-fault-codeaudi-a8

What is a Audi A8 fault code?

A fault code is a generic or standard code which is identical to all manufacturers , they are also named DTC (Data Trouble Code), the purpose is to make sure that any diagnostic OBD can understand them. They will be symbolized by a standard format, such as example: P0255. Each data will have a particular interpretation. Default codes are codes issued by the calculators of your Audi A8. These ECUs will continuously monitor your vehicle’s exhausts, pressures, mixtures and when the values exceed the limits set by the vehicle’s ECU, the fault code will show up. The advantage of knowing how to read a fault code on your Audi A8 is that you will have gain access to to complete info about your motor vehicle which will let you to discover what trouble you are facing.

How to read a fault code on my Audi A8?

In this second part we will now focus precisely on what brings you on this site, how to read a fault code on Audi A8. To gain access to this valued data you will need to to get a diagnostic tool, also named OBD 2, named after the socket on your Audi A8 to which you will have to connect. These diagnostic tools are easily available in the market, you will be able to find some in Bluetooth version which connects to your phone and some standard versions with a reader associated to the socket, as far as price is concerned, you will be able to find models between 30 and 100 euros. Once you have bought an OBD2 diagnostic reader, you will need to discover the diagnostic plug on your Audi A8, it is based on the left side of your steering column on the lower part of your dashboard, behind a hatch. It is easy to locate because it is triangular shaped and has 16 pins. All you have to do is connect with your diagnostic tool to read the fault code of your Audi A8.

How to erase the fault code Audi A8

Finally, to conclude this document, we are going to describe you the process to do to erase a fault code on your Audi A8. Once you have navigated through the menus, you will access the list of active fault codes on your car. Nevertheless, you will have to ask yourself an essential question, is it really useful to erase this fault code on Audi A8? In fact, erasing a fault code without resolving the issue is like closing its eyes to the fact. Moreover, the computer of your Audi A8 is made to take decisions depending to the data it records, if a very important fault code is present, it will possibly adjust the engine comportment to preserve it. So if you delete the fault code, remember to fix the problem to which it is associated. Some OBD diagnostic tools do not allow you to do this. You have a dedicated navigation menu on most diagnostic tools that should allow you to clear this fault code on Audi A8.

To find more tips on the Audi A8, take a look at the Audi A8 category.