New member 2008 A6 Avant S-line now Mmi problems after first dealer visit

[fishguy]

Just got the car mid December, have done a couple 120 mile road trips and around town driving, love the car! Only came with one key, so I ordered from the local dealer. And went to have it programmed, and oil change and inspection. On New Year's Eve, they give it back to me with a clean bill of health. On my way home the Mmi shuts down and reboots or try's to reboot, I figured maybe the battery got drained at the dealer, so I drive around for a bit. Next morning, the battery is so drained that I can't even unlock the door with the remote, then it won't release my key from the ignition. I hook a battery charger up to the front terminals and monkey with it for a couple of days since the service department is closed till Monday.. I go to autozone and buy a new battery and have the guy hook it up with something plugged into the car... Still same problems, Mmi can't load up right and still getting low battery warnings. I drove it into the dealer on Monday and they were too busy to get to it... Could I bring it in on Tuesday? Really? Then this morning the service writer calls and says oh, yeah, I talked to the tech and he had made a mention of the radio shutting down and it would need diagnostics of a couple hundred bucks, but "she missed it" in his report. The car and stereo had been working fine until I left the dealer. (With one exception, the heater and ac sometimes wouldn't kick in until the car had been driven for a bit. I was still figuring out the car(it was missing the manual as well) but now have a manual and after reading forums have learned that it has a "smart" battery controller)

I'm thinking that the tech didn't set something correctly when he programmed the keys... Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tim

[SinCityA6]

Do you have or can get access to VAGCOM? if so, run a scan and see what faults you may be getting. It sounds like the ECU lost the programming of the battery (reason for the low battery warnings) and the immobilizer is not function properly.

[fishguy]

No vag-com, anybody in the Palm Springs area I could borrow? Doesn't it make sense that this happened at the dealer? Wouldn't they be in that part of the programming to program the keys?

[D's Avant]

Try searching through this TSB link:

http://uberlame.com/a6_tsb/

Thinking there may be something in here that will help you as you try to figure this out.

Good luck... Have you talked with the dealer? May be able to scan this for you ($100 bucks) or reset the MMI.

[kocyk123]

Go to your indy shop and have them program the battery correctly. I used to have an issue with my previous battery. I was giving a jump to another car and the next time I started it up MMI was not working at all. I took it for a highway ride, came back, shut off the engine, started it up again and still no MMI. Next morning I started up the car and it was back to normal. I replaced the battery the same day and got it programmed for free by my mechanic.

[fishguy]

Thank you, the TSB link looks to be very helpful, though a quick perusal didn't shed any light. I dropped the car off for there diagnosis today, but haven't heard back yet. Looking for a qualified and reasonable independent mechanic in the Palm Springs area for the Audi, and my Rovers. I'll report back what the dealer says when I hear from them...

[4ringking]

Try this site out:
http://www.fourringsrepair.com/

I would use a shop with a few reviews.

[SinCityA6]

Thank you, the TSB link looks to be very helpful, though a quick perusal didn't shed any light. I dropped the car off for there diagnosis today, but haven't heard back yet. Looking for a qualified and reasonable independent mechanic in the Palm Springs area for the Audi, and my Rovers. I'll report back what the dealer says when I hear from them...

Any updates??

[fishguy]

So, dealer had the car for two days, 1st they said that the battery I got from autozone would not let them program it with the car, so I would need to buy one from them ($400ish installed and programmed?) so I gave the OK... Then on Friday after trying to reach the service advisor unsuccessful by phone, I finally stopped in at the end of the day. Apparently water leaked from the sunroof drain tubes under the headliner and made its way to the back of the car and onto the Bose amplifier causing a short which affected the stereo and caused the battery to drain overnight. With the new battery and replacing the amp and fixing the tubes, they want approx $4K! I'm planning on picking the car up tomorrow without the repairs and will pay for the battery and diagnostics.. I'll leave the fuse out for the amp until I figure out what to do with it... Was planning on removing the amp and seeing if I can clean it up. If I can't salvage it, I am looking for one out of another vehicle. I will need to drop the rear of the headliner to repair the tubes as well. Anybody else that's had to deal with this? I'm open for suggestions...

[FormulaElement]

That is very common for these avants. The sunroof drains that go to the rear should be checked and/or cleaned yearly.

That seems really expensive even for a dealer to fix. Definitely buy a used amp and clean the clogged drains yourself.

[SinCityA6]

One of the forum members just had the same issue, but his was a result of a leaking rear window washer tube. He was able to resolve the issue. I will look for the post and link it here

[fishguy]

Fixed it😀 Was out of town for a bit, but had a few minutes tonight to look at it. I pulled the amp out took it down to the circuit board, found some crud growing in a corner. I cleaned it off with some rubbing alcohol and q tips. Put it back together and everything is working again👍 Took me about an hour total...

The Mmi display would not load up at all, the phone, radio, car displays, back up camera etc. none of it was working. All because of the amp getting wet from the sunroof drain tubes.

I still need to repair the tubes, but in the meantime used some plastic from a heavy plastic bag to make a bit of a raincoat for the electronics.

Thanks everyone and this forum for the help!

[fishguy]

I thought I fixed it.... Everything worked great last night. Back to the same thing this morning. Maybe the crud did some damage that I couldn't take care of? I took it out again this morning and tried to clean it out some more to no avail... I guess the good news is that I know if I get a good undamaged amp it will solve my issues with the MMI and stereo. Anybody got one they want to sell cheap?