Starter relay location

[chuckrs4]

Hi all.
New to the group, just bought my rs4 the day. I know it's likely to be the starter motor but thought I'd try the cheaper option first. Where is the starter relay located? Thanks. Hopefully not the start of things to come,haha.

[chuckrs4]

Guessing it's the starter after this morning in the minus weather conditions. Everything ticks when the button is pushed and hear the relay come off after a while of pushing the button. When it finally starts it fine for the whole day.

[nij]

Have you checked your battery to see if it's holding charge? Cold weather will make matter worse and might not have enough current to turn the engine.

[JCviggen]

The starters do go bad, common thing, if you need one they're actually pretty cheap and quick to replace. Provided you don't ask an Audi dealer. Part is Valeo D7G6

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-S4-20 ... 1625237798

[cherub72]

I had a similar thing on mine, was a corroded connection on the back of the starter, took Audi 5 weeks of having it to find the fault

[chuckrs4]

battery is good, midtronics tested it. It's either poor contact at starter which I haven't managed to check or starter is going. You can hear the relays and the solenoid try to go, just a faint click but leave it a bit then decides it wants to work. Was just going to do both then that eliminates all. It quite easy to access/change? I can get a ramp at work so I know if it's a lunch hour or after work job,haha. Cheers guys

[chuckrs4]

Not corroded connections. Checked it just incase before I ordered a starter. Will be changing it on Saturday. Looks quite tight. Guessing when the 3 hints are undone, you can slide it past there? Cheers

[MikeFish]

I think the easiest way to change it is to remove the anti roll bar and engine mount.
If you do, be aware that so e of the nuts are the use once type so you should have a set of new nuts ready to replace the old ones.

[chuckrs4]

Starter changed and problem fixed. Not the easiest access for changing. Not an on the floor job anyways.

[alexc]

Been having the same problem with mine, I think the cold weather does affect it.

Good to see the replacement starters aren't a fortune!

[chuckrs4]

Think it does, mine was harder to start if 3degrees or below. Well took longer for the solenoid to decide it wanted to move. -3 this morning and started first push with the new starter. Don't waste money on a relay unless you ain't hearing it click. I ended up getting a genuine starter. Got it cheap enough through tps with surcharge.

[alexc]

Thanks, bought a service kit for it today from TPS and a relay, I'll give that a try and see, it's a strange one but the relay wasn't much so it's worth trying the simple options first.

[chuckrs4]

Let me know where the relay is,haha. No one has said if it's interior or under scuttle by ecu. Want to fit the relay just cause I can't return it. What oil are you putting in? Tps said there was a choice of 2 but wasn't sure which to send me,haha

[alexc]

Millers NanoDrive 5w/40

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-73732-mille ... e-oil.aspx

Tested it in a few high performance cars now and it's the best oil out there in my opinion.

The relay I got was the 614 Fuel Pump Relay (part number 8E0 951 253 which fits in the ECU under the scuttle, a bit of a fiddly one as you need to remove all sorts to get to it but needs must.

[alexc]

An update on the relay swap.

The 614 relays have now been superseeded by a replacement relay which is marked as 644, the new part number is 4B0 951 253. At first I thought they'd given me the wrong part but after checking with them they confirmed this is the new version.

As there are two of them located under the ECU (driver's side scuttle) I replaced them both.

Upon first test the car definitely fires with more urgency than before. Previously, even when it did fire straight away there was a minor delay from the point of hitting the button. Now it's instant. Hopefully this will have done the trick but I'm not holding my breath just yet, a few cold morning tests will be needed.

Not a particularly difficult job, I think the wipers were the hardest bit to remove as they'd seized themselves on so some ferrosol lubricant, a pry bar and some gentle persuasion got them off.

Hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem.