Dark central instrument display 2011 A6 Avant Quattro 3.0T

[Alphapenguin]

I've had Siegfried since 2013 and he has less than 68K miles. Always dealer serviced and not a lick of trouble other than both front seat rear pocket shells became detached years ago and I'm tired of reattaching them with two-sided tape, velcro or super auto adhesive, all after the dealer fixed them until they fell off again. Typical teutonic plastic crap. But that doesn't diminish my love for the car.

But now, out of the blue, the rectangular central display is dark. I've done the right stalk reset button, the mode toggle, the CHECK button on the dash, even checked fuse #15 in the driver's side fuse panel (US market LHD). Fuse was intact and none of the other actions yielded any results. I'm reluctant to drive this car with so much critical information and alerts missing. It chimes at regular intervals (that's new) and the ODO trip reset button doesn't reset on the speedo.

My Audi dealership (who's been Siegfried's exclusive service provider) wants $200 just to perform a diagnostic, although they're kind enough to roll it into the eventual cost of the repair. Woo F Hoo.

I'm at a loss. Recommendations? Siegfried is an unhappy camper.

[B. Rock]

Run a component check w/ VCDS. I had a dark MMI and that's how I found the module that was the issue. Could be a similar situation, the car is probably smart enough to know what's wrong (or at least point you in the right direction).

[jbain2]

I’d suggest the same thing. Find someone in your area to run a quick scan if you don’t have VCDS.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine

[Alphapenguin]

Thanks for the advice. To be clear, I'm referring to the center screen between the tach and speedo, not the MMI display in the middle of the dash. My son has a VCDS with cable and software for his Audi A4. He's on duty in Africa right now, but good news, his tour is over next month and I'll be visiting him mid-January.

Otherwise, the dealer $200 diagnosis should just about cover a new VCDS. Then, assuming it's the center screen, I'm faced with switching out the entire cluster or only the center screen. I can deal with anything on my MGB and MGC, but Siegfried is my daily driver (retired, so daily errand and pleasure driver) and I ordinarily depend on the dealer for service, but a $200 diagnostic fee rubs me the wrong way, so this is unexplored territory for me. But removing the instrument cluster seems pretty straightforward.

If I weren't going to borrow my son's VCDS, I suppose I'm looking at one of these guys:<https://www.europaparts.com/brands/ross-tech.html>

My son just texted me. This is his unit. <https://www.europaparts.com/ross-tech-vcds-vag-com-hex-net-professional-kit.html>

Again, thanks and I welcome any additional tips. Siegfried is perhaps the only Audi model of his type in San Antonio and I want to keep him in top shape.

[B. Rock]

Correct. I was only using the MMI as an example. The testing procedure is the same.