Hello all,

I bought a B8 S4 a while back and the “push to start” and the “touch door handle to lock / unlock” features have never worked as long as I’ve owned it. To elaborate, touching the door handle does nothing. Grabbing the door handle does nothing. And if you press the push to start button without the key in the slot it says "Convenience Key Defective! Use Ignition Lock"

It has always annoyed me but I’ve never gotten the motivation up to fix it because it's a daily driver and I just needed her to take me to and from work. But I’m doing the PCV right now it’s got me itching to fix other stuff.

So I’m asking the squad for help in diagnosing exactly what I’d need to get the systems operating properly. I have done some research and I want to get a consensus on the situation before wasting money on parts.
So the codes were all cleared using VagCom and all of these codes return after clearing. IIRC the door handle codes show up almost right away but the push to start related code doesn’t return until you try and use the push to start without the key in the ignition.

So here are the codes and my thoughts after the research I've done so far:

03283 Antenna for Access _ Start Authorization; Left
011- Open Circuit:
I gather that this is commonly the convenience control module having a fault and that to fix it I either need a 600$ convenience control module or to disassemble and replace a corresponding component on the circuit board. That there’s one per antenna so by reading this code I know which antenna is faulting and I need to replace that transistor. I did take off the driver door and confirm that everything was plugged in. But I’m not sure how else I can troubleshoot other than going to the control module. I have also replaced the key fob battery with a fresh one, plus the error indicates a problem in the vehicle and not in the key. Also I've read that even going for a crashed S4 might not work for a direct module swap because there can be different options (having the antenna or not) and there can be programming involved to make the module work, but I've not seen a guide on how to do said programming.

03285 Sensor for Contact with Door Handle; Front Left
011 - Open Circuit:
front left sensor for contact with door handle, my understanding is that this requires replacing a component in the door handle. Has anyone had this error and fixed it by buying the right component? If so where did you get the component from?

00192 Rear Left Door Handle Touch Sensor (G417)
011 - Open Circuit:
Rear left door handle touch sensor.
My understanding is that this is a different sensor than the above (and located on a different door of course), but generally same situation, replace the part of the handle that contains this sensor and issue should be resolved. Again has anyone had this fault and replaced the sensor in the handle and got their system working again? If so where’d you get the component from?

It is my understanding that the only thing preventing the push to start functionality is the 03283 related fault. And it won't work until the issue is resolved.

Regarding the grabbing the handle or touching the exterior of the handle, it is my understanding that either fault (00192 or 03285) will cause the entire "unlock or lock by touching the door handle" system to disable itself. So if I wanted a fully operational system I would have to fix both issues.

I would greatly appreciate any support that you guys can provide in ensuring I’m fixing the right thing. There’s nothing quite like throwing parts at a problem without understanding the issue and wasting money.

Thank you for any support you can provide!