A6 Final Edition Electric Issues

[rossmalone]

Hello everyone,

My 04 reg A6 Final Edition has developed several electric issues and I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced them and if so, how did they over come them.

The issues:

* Airbag light is constantly on for no reason.
* ESP light comes on randomly and stays on, will not turn off.
* Gear selection indicator between the dials sporadically flashes on and off. Whilst it is flashing it doesn't tell you which gear is selected but seems to drive fine.
* The alarm goes off for no reason.
* The parking sensor sometimes beeps continuously when you first put it in reverse, but more often than not makes no noise at all.

The person I bought the car off has recommended that I disconnect the battery over night and that should reset the computer and everything should be ok. Am I right in thinking that disconnecting it will lock the radio? I don't have the radio code to hand so would rather try that last - is there another way of resetting the system. I'd also like to avoid dealerships.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

Thanks in advanced!

Ross

 

[amimmortal]

I'm no expert, but based on searches on this forum, and some advice I've had previously, it might be related to the convenience module.

It's located under the front passenger seat, and can be prone to failure, particularly if there is damp in the carpets (which can be caused by a flooded plenum chamber or a broken rear screenwash hose, both of which I've had).

Cheers,

A.

 

[Inskip75]

I would agree with the above and check this module is ok - mine is 2002 and the radio is ok if the battery is disconnected - just need to set date and time again, but not 100% sure if 2004 is the same.

 

[TYphoon GB]

I would agree with the above and check this module is ok - mine is 2002 and the radio is ok if the battery is disconnected - just need to set date and time again, but not 100% sure if 2004 is the same.

My 2004 is seems to be OK for over 2 hours

 

[TwistedMind]

Check for damp carpets, sounds like a water ingress problem.

 

[danhar707]

yep, i had the wet carpet in pass footwell too. body/convenience ecu was full of water! car was like chitty chitty bang bang....hazards flashsing, windows winding down, madness. rinsed in DI water and dried out...all fixed. root issue was leaking washer tube for rear window.

 

[Canuck51]

Hi!
I just had the same problem with my 2002 A6. All indicator lights stay on after a flood through the fan plenum.
Where is this ecu (convenience control module exactly. Can you describe the location or send me a photo?
I really will appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Alan

 

[gtiboy]

Its located under the carpet in the drivers footwell , pretty easy to get to .
I had the same problems and had to dry it out (put it in a bag oF rice for a few days )
pretty easy repair imo.
I had both go the gearbox ecu(passengers footwell) and the convenience module when mine flooded fromlack of maintenance i the plenum chamber (happy days ) not!
Took the units out and opened them up to dry carefully .
Left in bags of rice and in a dry warm place .
After a few days all the water and electrical components have like a green crust on them brush off with a soft toothbruse carefully and WD40.
And hopefully it should all be well ! (fingers crossed)

 

[gtiboy]

Its located under the carpet in the drivers &nbsp;footwell , pretty easy to get to .<br>I had the same problems and had to dry it out (put it in a bag oF rice for a few days )<br>pretty easy repair imo.<br>I had both go the gearbox ecu(passengers footwell) and the convenience module when mine flooded fromlack of maintenance i the plenum chamber &nbsp;(happy days ) not!&nbsp;<br>Took the units out and opened them up to dry carefully .<br>Left in bags of rice and in a dry warm place .<br>After a few days all the water and electrical components have like a green crust on them brush off with a soft toothbruse carefully and WD40.<br>And hopefully it should all be well ! (fingers crossed)

 

[Canuck51]

Thanks gti boy for your help so far. I hope you can help me some more.

How much of the carpet do you have to remove and where do you start the removal?

 

[gtiboy]

I took the front door sills off and the seats (disconnect battery) and managed to prise the unit out with a little persuasion.
did this both sides and make sure the carpets are dry before you put the units back in i put mine in plastic bags just incase.The carpets arent that thick its the soundproofing thats about and inch think and needs to be dryed thoroughly other wie its back to square one.
I did mie in the garage witha fan heater o for a night and then left it to dry naturally .Thats a little difficult with the present weather we are having.

 

[Canuck51]

Thanks a lot. Are the seats hard to take out? Is the carpet split under the seats or do you have to pull it back from the very front of the foot wells?

 

[gtiboy]

10mm bolt in between your legs . Pull the seat back and you will see it at the end of the runner (disconnect the battery !!!!)
Cannot stress the battery enough, if you dont the air bags will go off (and we dont want that )
There is then a conector under the seats for the air bag /electric seats and heating elements disconect this CAREFULLY .
It is a little fiddly but persevere.
the carpet is all one piece and the only way to remove fully is take all seats and centre console out then you will be able to take it all out ????? thats what i did as the insulation is thick and takes some drying out especially if its saturated like mine was.
Also before you do all this make sure you clean the plenum chamber out and pull the grommets out totally as this is the cause of the problem .If you dont clean this out then im afraid we will be having this conversation in the near future ?(half an hour to do this or 2 hours in my case as i am a little OCD )
Air bags light could be the module deep i the dashboard could be flooded too ??? hope not.
Have fun

 

[Canuck51]

Thanks a lot for your help. I took the seat out, but just cut the carpet and removed the black box with the circuit board inside. This car is 12 years old and the loose carpet covers it anyway. It was all wet but there was no corrosion. I am hoping it will work when it is dried out.

The box it not even sealed. It really is a poor design.

I will take some photos in case anyone wants to see what it looks like.
Thanks again for your help.

 

[gtiboy]

it will be fine (fingers crossed) i had mine under water literally and the gearbox wass slapping into gear there was that much water in it .When i finally removed it the water dripped out of it, must have been around one third of a pint of water dripping out and mone was fine .Only issue i have is the gearbox selector in the dash signals the gear selected some times and on others it all highlights up so you dont know which gear the car is in eg D 1 2 3 4 or 5 but hey, it shifts around fine with no issues after that much water.
Good luck