B6/B7: Homelink Fix

[noznab]

I've been meaning to post this for about 2 years now, so I don't remember all of the sizes for the screws/bolts but its pretty straightforward. Basically the symptoms are when pushing any of the buttons on the visor the LED light does not blink. This means the unit isn't getting power even though their fuses are ok and the module is working. What I learned is over time as your control arms wear they slowly get so much extra play they will actually chafe against the wires in your wheel well that power the homelink system and tear the connection.

The first thing you'll want to do is jack up the car and remove the front driver side wheel. After that you'll have to pull the wheel well liner. It's just held in by a few torx screws, and I think a philips head at the top of the wheel well near the outside of the fender. Don't be afraid to give it a good tug when you pull it out once you've removed the screws. If you look to the top right you'll see a plastic shield that conceals some wires-- mine was cracked. Here's what the shield looks like when it's removed:




In this picture I already removed the plastic piece but you should basically see this:



IIRC, the plastic piece is held on by two nuts. Remove those and you'll see the wires hanging like this photo. If you look closely you can see where I found the tear in the connection.



Strip a little more of the casing off so you can twist the two lines together and re-solder the connection. Make sure you use shrink tubing to cover where you made the repair, then just wrap it in electrical tape. Again, what happens is over time as your control arms wear they slowly get so much extra play they actually hit the plastic shield and crack it. After that it's only a matter of time before they chafe against the wires and tear the connection. This is why the homelink doesn't get power. If you're still having trouble after this try swapping your actual homelink box located in the passenger side of the engine bay, attached to the core support.

[bangoman]

Didn't even know this was possible! (My garage door is not homelink compatible) Thanks for the DIY and heads up

[dextrek]

Wow, I had no idea. I am gonna try this tonight and see if I can fix mine!

[crabpot]

Great time for this thread to be created, this happened to me the other day when I was trying to open my garage. Turned off the car and restarted and it worked just fine, but I'm carrying a spare garage door opener for the time being because I thought I was locked out of the house for a minute.

I'll have to look into this.

[papadelogan]

I was thinking I was going to have to do this and then I read my owner's manual. For those new to Audi (like myself - just bought yesterday!) here's a very important thing to try:

You have to have the car turned on (but not running - KOEO - Key On Engine Off) to do the programming.

I've read about half a dozen or so threads about HomeLink not working, can't program, etc. and then when I found that you need to be on but not running, I tried again and VOILA!!! I'm all programmed up now!! Try the easy stuff first, and if none of those work, then move on to the "harder" items, though with the details and pics provided in this thread, it's not that hard at all.

[mr shickadance]

mods if you can copy this and put it in the b7 tech section that would be the tits

[rockchalk1339]

Hasn't happened to me but good heads up and post. Thanks!

[jayM]

thanks for the DIY. It worked for me.

[beachwagon]

Ditto, great resource.

[mcpcartier]

So my Homelink stopped working this week...what a pain. I was scratching my head because the all the buttons on visor illuminate but the LED that lights up when you press a button never lights up anymore.

A little search in the forums and found this gem. Hoping the wires supplying power to the module have suffered the damage noted above so it's an easy fix. Will take a look at it this weekend and post an update.

[markskyline]

The B7 I just got already had the home link not lighting up. The previous owner said it hadn't worked in a few years but wasn't sure why. Thanks to this post my home link is working! Both wires were damaged and separated. The plastic housing was all cracked as well. Soldered some new wires together and she's working again.

Thanks for the info!

[CorneliusRox]

Hell yeah, thanks man! You saved me a lot of time tracing the wires from top to bottom! At least a couple hours of time!

I ripped the fender lining off, and found the plastic protector for the wires. It looks like you can do this all without removing the fender, but I dont think it is worth the effort. Just remove it and life will be easier.


So when I found the cover insulation, it was already separated, but I couldnt see any wires inside of it that were broken. It honestly looked like it was there for no reason, so I cut into it until I found the wires way down. I am thinking they must have been pretty tight and that probably had something to do with them breaking.


I added about 4" of wire to both so that they had some room to make the bend without being in tension. Then I wrapped them in a bit of electrical tape to help protect them.


Routing and clipping done and time to go back together:


Success!!!

[redmcoupe]

I know this thread is a little old but I'm having a problem with my Homelink not lighting up in a 13 allroad. Anybody know if they all wired in the same place?

[Van Black]

Dumb question: HL doesn't work, fuse OK, ground OK, 11.2V on one wire and 0.3V on the 3rd, is that cool?

[Terry.Reese]

You are my hero! mine works, but I still have to be so close to the garage that the original one is still more useful, but at least it works now!

+1

[kevin1970beetle]

I know I'm bringing this post back from the dead but does anyone have these pictures still?

[neilpaku]

You are my hero! mine works, but I still have to be so close to the garage that the original one is still more useful, but at least it works now!

+1

I saw your comment Terry and wanted to pass on that we found we could get the garage door to open with some distance e.g. 10-15yds, but that the button required a sustained push. Just a tap is not sufficient for our car at least.

[q_dubz]

pictures from the OP can be found at the top of this page:

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Tele...?sort=3&page=8

[rannylac]

Had the same issue after I got my 2011 Audi A4 Quattro fixed for a timing chain replacement. When i got the car back, it had 3 errors - Parking Brake Malfunction, TPMS malfunction, and stabilization malfunction of some sort. When I opened the engine hood, i see this wire dangling. It was to the MAF sensor in the cold air intake. As soon as I plugged that in, voila!, the 3 error codes went away! Then I noticed my Homelink wasn't working anymore. I then thought, hmm, I'm sure they removed some parts in the front engine cover and didn't put it back properly either. So I first removed the over the grille cover as if I was replacing the cold air intake piece and voila again!, the Homelink module was under that piece of the cold air intake manifold (i.e. the mouth). So i just pushed the wiring so it's snug and just followed the step by step in the manual to program it. As soon as I pushed on both the outside buttons of the homelink garage door opener inside the car, I immediately have the light come on like it should be and I know I've fixed the issue.