Starting Problems, Electrical Problems. Any Help/Opinions Appreciated

[SlimPDX]

All these problems started a little more than a month ago. I've had my 2009 A4 for almost 2 years now and haven't had any major problems. But then about a month ago, my car started dying and I searched around the forums and came to the conclusion that it was just the battery. On February 3rd I brought my car in to a reputable local 3rd party shop and they changed the battery no problem. The car was good for about 2-3 days then it wouldn't start again, so I guess it was the alternator and wanted to get it checked at my O'Reilly's, they tested it and said everything was fine. So then I brought the car back in to the shop that installed my battery and they said they didn't code it into the MMI correctly so they just did it again. I get the car back and it's good for another couple days and then again, it just dies so I jump the car every time.

**The weird thing about when I jump it is I don't even need to have the other car turned on. Right when the jumper cables hit my jumping points, the car will start immediately after. **

I bring it in again every 2-3 days consistently for the next couple weeks, they tell me they can't really come to a set conclusion but think it has to do with a short and not anything drawing power and that I should just bring it into Audi.

I was going to bring my car in anyway to fix an oil leak so on February 20th I brought it in to Audi, they said they'll check it out after they do the oil stuff and should have my car back at the end of the day. Well at the end of the day they say they couldn't get to it and they'll check it out Tuesday. At the end of Tuesday they said they still can't find anything and will need it for another day. It continues until Thursday when they say they're going to monitor the car to see if anything is drawing power. Friday morning hits and they say they found power was drawing from the amplifier and they just hard power reset it and it was no longer drawing. I come on Friday around 5 to pickup my car and it's fine.

That is until this past Wednesday when it wouldn't start in the morning. Again I jump it, and now everything is back to just how it was a month ago. The car was back except one thing I noticed was the 12V sockets in both the console and front part of the car were not working for both Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday afternoon, I took out the fuses, they looked fine so I just put them back in and they worked. The car is fine until last night when I was trying to go to the gym, it wouldn't start again. I jumped it once again without even turning on the other car, the car starts right up when I just connect the cables. I seriously have no idea what the problem could be, possibly a short? But I do not want to bring my car back into Audi and have them keep it for another week.

Another thing that was reoccurring is that the radio has been cutting out every couple seconds. I have videos of the radio and also of me trying to start it which was just a long clicking sound.

I was just wondering if any of you guys had any ideas, I really just want a solution. Sorry for the long narrative but I wanted to go in detail on what was happening.


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[SlimPDX]

Update: dead again just right now, but this time completely dead. Started right when I connected jumpers, would upload video but not really sure how to.



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[pierreb]

I would swap the alternator if it's original. And also scan the car with VCDS. Maybe also find another place to take the car for service.

[van462]

Do you have a voltmeter? What is the voltage at the battery when it will not start.

[SlimPDX]

I would swap the alternator if it's original. And also scan the car with VCDS. Maybe also find another place to take the car for service.

I've scanned it with the Carista app and these are the codes I pulled:

CAN network gateway:
02230 - Digital Radio (DAB) (R147)
03041 - Energy Management Active
00384 - Optical Databus
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Ignition authorization:
02812 - Steering Column Lock, supply voltage terminal 30
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
01330 - Central Control Module for Central Convenience (J393)

Central electronics:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Body/convenience system:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
01134 - Alarm Horn (H12)

Driver's door:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Front passenger's door:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Rear left door:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Rear right door:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Driver's seat:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage

Steering wheel:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Back-up camera:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Tire pressure monitor:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Parking brake:
01321 - Control Module for Airbags (J234)
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

ABS:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00473 - Control Module for Electric Park- / Hand Brake (J540)

Parking/steering assist:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage

Airbags:
13635840
9483264

Engine:
04629
04261

Infotainment display:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Media player:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Radio:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage

Navigation:
02445 - Disk drive initialization error
00532 - Supply Voltage B+
02927 - DVD Read Error

Telephone:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Voice control:
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Sound system:
00446 - Function Limitation due to Under-Voltage
00532 - Supply Voltage B+

Pretty much consists of Supply Voltage B+ and Function Limitation due to under voltage


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[SlimPDX]

Do you have a voltmeter? What is the voltage at the battery when it will not start.

I don't have a voltmeter, but I can definitely pick one up to check. I just went over Audi's notes and they told me the entire week they had it it hadn't not started or needed a jump. But in the notes they said one morning the start up was extremely slow and measured at 11.15 Volts


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[van462]

You could try unplugging the amp ( or removing the fuse powering it) to rule it out. Granted you won't have any music for your drives. I have heard of the factory amp turning into a drain source before. The 11.15 volt reading is really low for 1 weeks time. Normally you will read around 12.6 volts on a battery at rest (car powered off for a few minutes and I will open a door just to have a little amp draw) just after shutdown it will still read a bit high due to it just being charged at 13+ volts.

Finding a power drain can be a challange. Since you have an ODB wifi adapter have you tried apps like car doctor to read parameters, usuually you can read voltage realtime with them. (I am an android guy, so I know nothng of the apple world)

[SlimPDX]

You could try unplugging the amp ( or removing the fuse powering it) to rule it out. Granted you won't have any music for your drives. I have heard of the factory amp turning into a drain source before. The 11.15 volt reading is really low for 1 weeks time. Normally you will read around 12.6 volts on a battery at rest (car powered off for a few minutes and I will open a door just to have a little amp draw) just after shutdown it will still read a bit high due to it just being charged at 13+ volts.

Finding a power drain can be a challange. Since you have an ODB wifi adapter have you tried apps like car doctor to read parameters, usuually you can read voltage realtime with them. (I am an android guy, so I know nothng of the apple world)

Do you think replacing the amp with an upgrade would stop it from draining? I've been wanting to upgrade my sound system and this would be a good reason to do so.

And I have not looked into those apps, I will definitely take those into consideration. Thanks for the response!!


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[van462]

I wouldn't replace anything until you try disconecting it to see it is actually the problem. Things you will want to know before looking for the cause of the drain. Voltage during charging. Voltage 1 hour after shutoff and then on a schedule after that of your choosing. This will give you a baseline if you are solving anything. You could then remove fuses (or entire row of fuses) to see when the drain rate changes.

[SlimPDX]

Update: car was just checked with multimeter at 8.54 volts.

Car was fine all weekend and for today but when I left the gym the car would not start.


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[SlimPDX]

I wouldn't replace anything until you try disconecting it to see it is actually the problem. Things you will want to know before looking for the cause of the drain. Voltage during charging. Voltage 1 hour after shutoff and then on a schedule after that of your choosing. This will give you a baseline if you are solving anything. You could then remove fuses (or entire row of fuses) to see when the drain rate changes.

Alright I will try to test that out! Appreciate it, not really good with all this stuff but I am learning.


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[Crucible35]

Update: car was just checked with multimeter at 8.54 volts.

Car was fine all weekend and for today but when I left the gym the car would not start.


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That's an over discharged battery. 12v batteries shouldn't go down below about 10.5v....this will damage the battery and in most cases will not allow the battery to hold a charge. Still an electrical issue since something is draining/over-discharging the battery.

[SlimPDX]

That's an over discharged battery. 12v batteries shouldn't go down below about 10.5v....this will damage the battery and in most cases will not allow the battery to hold a charge. Still an electrical issue since something is draining/over-discharging the battery.

So just test to see what's draining it? I really wish there was an easier solution to this. Appreciate the response!


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[Crucible35]

I wish there was too....but often it's a process of elimination. I would continue with the suggestions offered above in order to pin-point the odd draw on the battery.

[SlimPDX]

I wish there was too....but often it's a process of elimination. I would continue with the suggestions offered above in order to pin-point the odd draw on the battery.

Looks like I won't be worrying about the amp draining anymore, or anything to do with the MMI for that matter. It started with radio cut outs randomly, but today my MMI went blank and I just have a black screen, I searched and saw other people had problems with this and it related to heat. But I'm in the Pacific Northwest where it hasn't been over 55 since winter started really, so obviously it's not heat related. I've tried resetting the MMI but it turns on for about 5-10 seconds and then just goes blank again. The MMI buttons won't even light up.




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[Dr. Awesome]

A short in your radio system could drain if it is bypassing or ignoring the signals to turn off completely. Just because you radio/MMI is blank doesn't mean it isn't drawing power still, I would pull the fuse for it. Then I would run the car, check current draw on that fuse (using low impedance Amp measurement on either side of the fuse), then turn the car off and see if it still draws anything. Your meter should be fused so it is still protected if there ends up being a hard short. If you radio system has a short it could be reducing voltage in the system low enough that it cuts out, but might not be enough to clear the fuse.

Also check the voltage under the hood vs the voltage at the battery terminals. If you have a loose/bad connection on the battery cable you could be dropping voltage across the bad connection (but would probably only show up when the battery is under load).

[van462]

This car also has battery management. If it detects low voltage, it shuts down non critical systems like coming home and leaving home fog lights, a/c systems radio and others. Check your voltage and codes. If voltage is good pull the fuses for MMI and see if that fixes the drain issues and troubleshooot from there.

[SlimPDX]

A short in your radio system could drain if it is bypassing or ignoring the signals to turn off completely. Just because you radio/MMI is blank doesn't mean it isn't drawing power still, I would pull the fuse for it. Then I would run the car, check current draw on that fuse (using low impedance Amp measurement on either side of the fuse), then turn the car off and see if it still draws anything. Your meter should be fused so it is still protected if there ends up being a hard short. If you radio system has a short it could be reducing voltage in the system low enough that it cuts out, but might not be enough to clear the fuse.

Also check the voltage under the hood vs the voltage at the battery terminals. If you have a loose/bad connection on the battery cable you could be dropping voltage across the bad connection (but would probably only show up when the battery is under load).

Thanks for the awesome advice!! I'm pretty sure that it just has to do with the MMI because today marks 1 week that I haven't had to use jumpers and my MMI still won't turn on. I'm assuming since the MMI is off then the amp can't draw power.


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[SlimPDX]

This car also has battery management. If it detects low voltage, it shuts down non critical systems like coming home and leaving home fog lights, a/c systems radio and others. Check your voltage and codes. If voltage is good pull the fuses for MMI and see if that fixes the drain issues and troubleshooot from there.

I will pull the fuses and see if that could maybe reset the draining system and also make the MMI screen turn back on. Thanks for the help!!


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[IHave2Turbos]

In the mean time get a trickle charger and leave it plugged in all night to stop from killing your battery.

You will def. need a new battery because it has discharged so low it likely won't ever "come back".

[IHave2Turbos]

After researching a bunch of info I have started a DIY here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...raining-Issues

[SlimPDX]

After researching a bunch of info I have started a DIY here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...raining-Issues

Great thread!! I will forsure be using that for awhile until I can find the definite fix.

Update: After pulling the fuses and plugging back in last night, car MMI turned back on and it was fine. Didn't drive after that last night, but this morning it started up fine and my MMI was finally back on after nearly a week. On the drive to class, radio cut out slightly for a second but surely wasn't as severe. On my way home the radio also cut out again but was just a short cutout again. I have noticed MMI battery says it's draining again and also on my radar detector now that the MMI is on it ranges around 13.1-13.5 volts but when it wouldn't turn on for the past week it was at 14-14.4 with no problems. Went to the gym and when I was leaving a bit of a shuttered/slow start with headlights flickering a bit. Fully expect the car to not start tomorrow. Looks like my excitement has quickly went away.


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[IHave2Turbos]

Have you also checked the fuse in the amp? Swap them out with new ones just for piece of mind one could be flaky.

[SDF1]

Sounds like a problem I had with my 2009 a few years ago.

Combination of Ignition switch and ground issue was my issue
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...gnition+module

Replaced ignition starter switch 8K0909131C

look here too
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...gnition+module

[kt883]

read up on youtube on how to chase power drains/parasitic drains

The MMI being out is likely as a result of the energy management eliminating non essential draws.

also you can upload videos using tinypic - just dump video file from phone to computer then upload them and choose resolution then paste link here


Has your car been in any accidents or had repairs where oem harness' would have been fixed?

have you had any radio work do where harnesses would need to be spliced or cut?

[SlimPDX]

Sounds like a problem I had with my 2009 a few years ago.

Combination of Ignition switch and ground issue was my issue
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...gnition+module

Replaced ignition starter switch 8K0909131C

look here too
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...gnition+module

Thanks so much for the links to those threads!! Looks like we have the exact same problem, I'll be ordering that part today, appreciate it!


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[SlimPDX]

read up on youtube on how to chase power drains/parasitic drains

The MMI being out is likely as a result of the energy management eliminating non essential draws.

also you can upload videos using tinypic - just dump video file from phone to computer then upload them and choose resolution then paste link here


Has your car been in any accidents or had repairs where oem harness' would have been fixed?

have you had any radio work do where harnesses would need to be spliced or cut?

Thanks for the info on how to do the videos!

I don't think my car has been in any accidents or had those types of repairs, I've had it for nearly 2 years and haven't had any accidents and it had a clean title when I got it.

I haven't had any MMI/audio work done either, I was thinking of just replacing the amp.


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[SDF1]

Let us know how it goes.

[SlimPDX]

Well I partially found the source. I brought it back to Audi because frankly I haven't had much time to really work with it and I wouldn't really know what I would be doing.

Audi is now saying that the amp is damaged from water and needs to be replaced. They also said there is a leak somewhere and want to charge an additional $300 to find the leak. But after some research I've found it to be fairly common through sunroofs on Avants and Q series Audi's. They also want to replace the amp for $700, I'm sure I can replace the amp/upgrade it for much cheaper. That's where I'm at right now, looks like I have to look into getting a new amp installed and I have to find the source of the leak just to be sure.


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