The schematic is from a 2002 S8.

Found it! Just off to remove and clean - thanks!

Presumably it's just the earth taht needs cleaning up?

Well, that was pretty corroded! Blue-coloured crud all over the place. Now cleaned, vaselined and WD40'd (the earth connection as well!). Started a treat after that...just hope it carries on doing so.

THANKS LOADS for you help guys - don't know what I'd do without you. Beers on me for the March meet.

Dismantled first?

I took the earth cable off before I cleaned it - is that what you mean?

+++

Great results there. Don't suppose you have any pics of what it looked like before or after cleaning? ... always useful for a sticky and the rest of us if we ever face it. :)

Oli

No pics I'm afraid - still not got used to having a camera on my phone!

But it was VERY crusty with that blue coloured muck that electrical terminals seem to foster. Had to get a file to the flat on the chassis and to the washer, as just sand paper wasn't going to shift it.

Next time you have the front o/s wheel off, it's probably worth having a look. It's just where 'the librarian' says, you can unclip whatever the purlple wire goes into then, for easy access, I removed the battery/starter motor cable junction box with just a couple of Allen keys and voila - there's the earth.

Forgot to say - in the picture from 'the librarian', the wheel arch liners are removed. You don't have to do this as there's a small 'panel' about 6-8" square (but it's not square - it's shaped) that you can easily remove - just one plastic nut and a circular clip to get access. You can identify the panel easily as it has some Audi numbering on it moulded into the plastic.

Didn't start this afternoon again FFS! Battery down well below 12 volts before I tried, so suspect that it's useless now. Off to halfrauds for a new battery tomorrow.