Audi A3 Dash problems - cluster dead! URGENT

[tdisportuk]

Hi all,

Recently one morning when i started my car, everything fired up then within a second the cluster was 'dead'

whilst driving the back lights jus flick on and off then eventually does nothing. All the warning lights work normally such as handbrake light, etc etc

the DIS, and all guages are completly powerless so cant see how much diesel is left, speedo etc etc!

Any ideas? audi are talking £550+

It has been scanned with vagcom and the only error its showing is 0003 - control module malfunction.

Have had the scuttle lifted as was told the ecu is mounted under it, it seems fine no water damage etc etc.

Everything else in the car works.

Car in question is a 56reg 2.0tdi a3 sport.

Many thanks

 

[Khufu]

Have you tried unplugging cluster & pluging it back in again? Its not hard job, maybe there's a dodgy connection on the multiplug.

 

[tdisportuk]

thanks for the reply, Yes i have, pulled out the connector and plugged it back in. When i fired it up it came on for split second then off again

 

[Khufu]

Could be a bad connection inside the cluster. Time for magnifying glass & solder iron....

 

[tdisportuk]

hmm crap! are they easy to open?

 

[scottie123]

Hmmmm, perhaps one of these

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0121286/hammer.jpg

Sorry, couldn't resist!

It sounds a bit serious mate. I would imagine they would be tricky to open, but as it aint working, what you got to lose?

 

[tdisportuk]

bump!

 

[hollows wife]

clocks are easy to open 4 torx screws the just plastic clips holding them together and where the blue plug is slide a flat blade screw driver down the side to open the clips

5 minute job

 

[vw754]

Hi all,

Recently one morning when i started my car, everything fired up then within a second the cluster was 'dead'

whilst driving the back lights jus flick on and off then eventually does nothing. All the warning lights work normally such as handbrake light, etc etc

the DIS, and all guages are completly powerless so cant see how much diesel is left, speedo etc etc!

Any ideas? audi are talking £550+

It has been scanned with vagcom and the only error its showing is 0003 - control module malfunction.

Have had the scuttle lifted as was told the ecu is mounted under it, it seems fine no water damage etc etc.

Everything else in the car works.

Car in question is a 56reg 2.0tdi a3 sport.

Many thanks

I had a very similar problem and it was moisture that attacked the central convenience module located right hand side behind side panel in the boot...take it off clean and wd40 the connectors,the washer pipe for the rear windscreen runs above the unit and can leak causing these problems......also check for any water in the boot.

 

[tdisportuk]

Many thanks for the help guys, will check up on the boot one today and report back with findings.

this is the biggest headache so far!

 

[tdisportuk]

btw is there a wiring diagram for the clutser available?

 

[kreativeJ]

did you ever manage to find the solution to your problem? I've got the same issue.

Thanks

 

[dk1234]

Any updates on this? I got an EPC warning light and my dash not working when I started my car a few days ago. It was quite random. I had my ECU replaced by Audi just over 150 miles ago. I'm wondering if that could have played apart in getting this problem.

 

[traindweller]

Do you have automatic lights? I had problems with my a3 dash (only flickering) and it turned out to be the Rheostat built into the auto light switch. Mine is 54 plate and the switch was about £75 new from Audi but fixed it with no further problems.
Not sure how you can test it or whether you can bypass test but to get the switch out you turn to the top, push in and turn or release until it pops out.

Not at the car at the moment but if this does not work for you let me know and I will go and check how to do it again.

 

[dk1234]

Do you have automatic lights? I had problems with my a3 dash (only flickering) and it turned out to be the Rheostat built into the auto light switch. Mine is 54 plate and the switch was about £75 new from Audi but fixed it with no further problems.
Not sure how you can test it or whether you can bypass test but to get the switch out you turn to the top, push in and turn or release until it pops out.

Not at the car at the moment but if this does not work for you let me know and I will go and check how to do it again.

Nah, no automatic headlights, just normal ones I think.

 

[traindweller]

Not sure then, but on mine the rheostat also concerned the brightness of the dash lights so in my case dash lights flickering on and off as it was failing.
Do you have the dash adjustment by the light switch and have you tried fiddling with this in the off chance it gives some sort of indication of fault or change.

 

[audiproblem]

Had the same problem with only warning lights showing on the dash (and radio was working). Other dash lights, screen and dials were dead.
First check your battery charge (well over 12volts). Then remove + and - wires from battery and connect wires together. Do not connect battery terminals. Wait for 30 minutes or so and reconnect the battery. Everything were working after that.