Homelink computer

[Frey7190]

One day out of the blue my homelink stopped working... So i looked for a possible problem, fuse was ok, visor was fine, until I took the "black box"aka the homelink brain out of the front bumper. When I opened it up, all the metal was corroded and the box was flooded in water.. So it was for the birds.. I need a new one, cuz im sick of having that remote visor leaving those two lines from the clip on my visor.... plus it looks bad

Where can I score this part w/o going to the dealer?? I checked ECS out... No luck

Thanks!

[onceover]

mine isnt working either. wheres the unit located in the bumper, i couldnt seem to find it. could you post some pics?

[Frey7190]

sure.. let me see what I did with those pics... I think there in my phone...will post within the hour

[onceover]

awesome thanks!

[Frey7190]

So finally (by the time iTunes loads, syncs with iPhoto, ugh its a headache) this is how it looks;

What happened to mine was the seal that covers the connector to the plug let water seep in and this happened;

when I opened it (which took forever b/c the box not only is closed with 4 torx but has this gummy goo that closes up all tight) it was all down hill from their. The metal that was all in was corroded and some of the main lines were actually so eaten up by the water that all you saw was the imprint of where it used to be!


Finally, the location.. you have to take out your Right headlight and once out remove the black piece that is under your headlight (it basically hold up the light, and has two screws so you can adjust hight... Once out, feel along the bumper, you will feel a black box with a small connector.. thats the box! Use, I think a T20 or T25 torx to remove the box from the car and unplug the connector and see whats up with it

Let me know

[Frey7190]

Its located here:

[onceover]

great, im gonna go look now

+rep for oyu

[onceover]

what did you have to take out in order to get to the unit? i took a peek and the air intake and headlight are all in the way.

you can get to it with the bumper on right?

[Frey7190]

oh ya! you need to remove the headlamp tray that holds the headlight in.. The two scres holding that in are right in the front of the assembly.. you need on of those "L" (forgot what there called) tools that are 6 sided... Once you pull that tray out right underneath that, screwed to the bumper is the homelink.

If you need pics, ill do the removal and show you guys.. let me know

[Frey7190]

great, im gonna go look now

+rep for oyu

Thanks!

[Frey7190]

what did you have to take out in order to get to the unit? i took a peek and the air intake and headlight are all in the way.

you can get to it with the bumper on right?

u need to remove both the air tubing.. not the box, just the tubing and remove the headlight... underneath the headlight is the headlight tray.. remove it and viola, screwed to the bumper is the homelink

[Slobo7x]

Thanks again, hopefully someone just unplugged mine by mistake.

[Slobo7x]

grhhhh...here is a picture of mine, 2 wires missing and a detached capacitor.


I think i can fix it though, we'll see.

[risc427]

What's the part number on the top of the unit? I can't tell from your pic, it's a tad too blurry at the beginning of the number.

[Frey7190]

What's the part number on the top of the unit? I can't tell from your pic, it's a tad too blurry at the beginning of the number.

Ask Solobx7... I forgot to write it down sorry

[Frey7190]

UPDATE: ok so I went to my stealership and got an oil filter for my car, and thought while I was their to ask for the price of the homelink...

I wasnt expecting him to say $765! JUST FOR THE BOX! I told him, "no no just for the black box" and he's all like "yes sir, thats just for the box" ... (I was speechless)... So I told him if they could work on the price and the lowest they will go is $530! I was like "umm I think ill pass on that for the time being since I dont park my car in the garage.."

ALSO btw the part number is: 8E0-919-511-A

[Frey7190]

bump

[SpacemanSpiff]

Are you at all familiar with soldering boards? Yours looks to be in much better condition than Slobo's... I would think you could easily fix that mess with a little creative engineering (and some epoxy to seal it back up water-tight this time).

[Frey7190]

I would have given it a try had I known it was going to cost over $500! I thought the darn thing would have been around like $100-200.. I ended up throwing it away and just keeping the plastic black box that way I could have the cables connected to it so they wouldn't be roaming freely in the engine compartment.

[Frey7190]

UPDATE: I removed my headlights to work on them, and I took pics of the Homelink in its locations like people had asked for..



Close up:

[Jeff]

Bump.

Same issue here. Ended up just installing a new homelink-compass-dimming Gentex mirror instead....but I still would like to fix it. Does anybody have a spare transmitter box they want to sell?

[Frey7190]

Jeff eBay has one its 200$ but it works too.. Just search Homelink Audi

[Jeff]

Jeff eBay has one its 200$ but it works too.. Just search Homelink Audi

Yea I saw it before I posted. It's listed for a TT, but I can't make out the part number on the picture. I've been looking for a while now, but $200 is a lot of money for that little unit.

[Frey7190]

^^Jeff, if you look at previous posts you will see I said the box runs about $700, and the part # is also above... $200 is a steal.. If I actually parked my car in the garage I would buy it but no need for it now

[JMRQuattro]

wow i just found out i had this feature like 2 days ago. Come to find out my homelink receiver box is broken as well I'm gonna try to find one at a junkyard. I am willing to bet you could find one for way cheaper than you could ever find one for sale anywhere. Luckily there are a couple VW/Audi specific junkyards around seattle. For anyone else trying to find one i would suggest trying to find one at a junkyard. You may have luck finding it.

[A4natomical]

Is there a way to tell it's broken? I just moved, so I tried programming it; I went through all the steps, and the hazard lights flashed three times, but the garage still won't open?

[skeeball]

FWIW, all you need to remove is the headlight. You can easily work around the intake snorkel (although that is easy to remove also). My homelink was intermittent and is now mostly dead. I just picked up a barely used one for $35.

Also, for future reference the correct part number is 8E0 909 511 A. It's $580 at GAP, but like Seatown says, I would try and find a used one.

[skeeball]

If it's broken the LED on the visor won't light at all.

[JMRQuattro]

I also just found out it's the same part all the way through 2009. And i'm assuming that means it's in more than just the A4 as well. So if in the case you look in a junkyard you could look for any model audi new enough to have homelink. I'm thinking the chances are pretty good.

And it's possible that it may be the same part for VW as well. I'm thinking about calling VW and asking if they use homelink. Does anyone know if it's an audi specific feature?

EDIT: Ok so i searched and VW uses homelink as well, although i couldn't find anything about the receiver box specifically. Most of the stuff when i searched came up with just the visors. But i'm assuming it is the same little box. I don't see why it would be different. So it should be a fairly easy part to find.

[Kittrell]

Also, for future reference the correct part number is 8E0 909 511 A. It's $580 at GAP, but like Seatown says, I would try and find a used one.

There it is, I ran what he posted against GAP and didn't pull anything.

[Smitty2A4]

I wish I could make those three buttons do something else, I don't have a garage so they are useless. Its a very cool feature that I think is exclusive to the 3.0?

[JMRQuattro]

^^ nope. 1.8t's have it too. I'm pretty sure the 3.0's just have the exclusive power folding side mirrors.

[skeeball]

Same part in all the Audis (A4, TT, Q7, etc). Can't find the part in the Passat, Golf, or the Beetle. Different part in the Toureg. I'll have to do more research.

[JMRQuattro]

^^ same, i'm still looking for it. If i can't find anything about it from the internet like i've been trying, i'm going to call vw with the part # and ask them.

[skeeball]

I'm searching ETKA and the part isn't on those VW's. Looks like that feature wasn't offered on them. Except the Toureg and it has a different part.

[JMRQuattro]

I'm searching ETKA and the part isn't on those VW's. Looks like that feature wasn't offered on them. Except the Toureg and it has a different part.

from what i searched on google it should be on GTI's and other models because i found a link to a thread about the homelink visor on vortex for an MKV GTI. So they must have homelink.

[Kittrell]

from what i searched on google it should be on GTI's and other models because i found a link to a thread about the homelink visor on vortex for an MKV GTI. So they must have homelink.

No homelink on the ceiling shot. Dug through a few other auctions that saw pics at various angles, didn't see it anywhere.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2008-...3A1|240%3A1318

[Kittrell]

Here it is on the Touareg, not on the GTI overhead console in any pics I could find.

[skeeball]

The Touareg module is up in the headliner behind those buttons.