A few A3 audio questions

[orion1210]

Hi,

A few questions regarding my 02 A3 Quattro with concert HU and non bose amplified sub and rears

1) Which is the best route for an amp power cable to the boot? Especially the best place to go through the engine firewall!!

2) I know Andymac has shown which pins are the RCA outputs at the amp plug in the boot, but does anybody know which wires/pins they are at the HU end? Need to know as I want to take one RCA out of the HU to a dashmount Audiobahn eq/linedriver.

3) Do I lose any/all of my dash mounted computer display when fitting an aftermarket HU?

4) Does the concert radio need a code putting in if power is lost as I've got all paperwork delivered with the car but can't find a code?

Thanks in advance and I hope these Q's will help others in the future

 

[AndyMac]

1. There's a spare grommet in front of the pollen filter on the far right of the engine bay up under the plastic wiper splash guard. This drops down behind the glovebox. So drill a hole in the grommet and stuff a coathanger through, tape the power cable to the other end and then pull the coathanger through from inside the car, you'll need to remove the glovebox fro porper access.
2. The wiring for the pre-out connector is ontop of the stock HU. Or you can buy the Blaupunkt pre-out adapter which converts the non standard mini ISO to standard RCA connectors. There are 2 types, some A3's have the multi-part multi coloured connector, and some have a solid black one. If you have the solid black one then you'll lose the DIS and the changer connector if you unplug it to fit the BLAU adapter.
3. You only lose the top section (as if the Radio is turned off) and you won't even notice.
4. An 02 should be CANBUS controlled so as long as the HU is reffited to the same car you don't need the code. The code is on a tear off card at the front of the HU manual.

 

[orion1210]

Thanks for all the info andymac.

How do I remove the glovebox?

I'm considering just wiring my amp and sub up for the moment. Can I put my amps RCA in parallel with the stock amps rca feed thus allowing me to still have amped rears?

Thanks again

 

[AndyMac]

Remove the end cap using the ignition key, just insert it in the recess and turn it and the cap will pop off.
Remove the 4 or 5 Torx bolts
Then 3 along the top of the glovebox with the door open and one underneath next to the centre console.
If you have the airbag switch inside the glovebox, remember not to turn the ignition on at anytime with the wiring unplugged otherwise the irbag light will stay on & all airbags will be disabled until you can do a reset with VAGCOM.

Yes you can just tap the pre-outs while they still feed the rear/sub amp, but access is very limited as there's a lot of wires very close together on that loom. Much easier to unplug it and use it to feed the sub and then run a seperate small amp for the rears.