A3 8P Instrument cluster not illuminating

[MrGo]

Hi all, I'm hoping that someone can help me out with my 2009 A3 8P. It was working great before but today when i unlocked the car, there were some warning lights on (Steering wheel, airbag, battery charging and a few more) without the key in. When I tried to turn on ignition, the instrument cluster had no lights and the dials did not work at all. Everything else (lights, radio and a/c) works and the car cranks first time but stops after running for 2 seconds.

I tried disconnecting the battery and shorting out the positive and ground wires together which did not work. Fuses in both engine bay and driver side were fine and I did not see any corrosion on any wires and fuse boards were dry. I even tried reconnecting the multiplug behind the instrument cluster which did not fix it. I ran a scan which showed no communication with the instrument cluster so I thought it meant that the instrument cluster was gone and left it for the day. A couple hours later, I found the the left side DRL and right rear fog light was on even though the car was locked and the the light switch was off.

I've replaced my battery earlier this year and it is fully charged as I had a long drive the day before. The car started first time 3 times but cuts off 2 seconds later as well which I'm assuming is probably the immobiliser. I'm not sure what is the issue now so I was wondering if anyone might have an idea what else to do before I commit to sending the instrument cluster. TIA

[cliffcoggin]

Thomas.

Such failure of the instrument cluster is a common fault on A3s. Look online to find companies which will repair it for about £280.

[MrGo]

Thanks, that's what I was suspecting, do you know if and how it's related to the left drl and rear fog light staying on? I couldn't think of a reason why they would be related and the autoscan does not show anything else apart from no communication to instrument cluster

[MrGo]

It seems to me to be such a random combination of lights as well, being one sided and mis matched lights on the front and back. The high beams also do not work with key out but can't remember if that is normal

[cliffcoggin]

11 hours ago, MrGo said:

 do you know if and how it's related to the left drl and rear fog light staying on? 

The instrument cluster interacts with the rest of the car's electronics so it's likely to be the cause of some lights staying on. There is no certainty to that, but I suggest the first step is to get the instrument panel fixed.

Don't expect logic from damaged electronics; consequent faults will often be random. Similarly a defective battery can generate random and apparently unrelated faults such as loss of air-con, de-tuned radio, loss of cruise control and so on, even though the battery can start the engine perfectly well.

[MrGo]

23 minutes ago, cliffcoggin said:

The instrument cluster interacts with the rest of the car's electronics so it's likely to be the cause of some lights staying on. There is no certainty to that, but I suggest the first step is to get the instrument panel fixed.

Don't expect logic from damaged electronics; consequent faults will often be random. Similarly a defective battery can generate random and apparently unrelated faults such as loss of air-con, de-tuned radio, loss of cruise control and so on, even though the battery can start the engine perfectly well.

Thanks so much, I'm relatively comfortable with the mechanical aspects of the car but am quite new to electronics so this has proper stumped me.

Guess i'll give the battery a quick charge and try again to rule it out and if it doesn't help, I'll then send the cluster off for rebuilding. 

Do you happen to know how I can get the security code for the radio as well? It seemed to have de-tuned itself when i reconnected the cluster

[cliffcoggin]

56 minutes ago, MrGo said:

Do you happen to know how I can get the security code for the radio as well? It seemed to have de-tuned itself when i reconnected the cluster

As far as I know the security code can only be found in the handbook that came with the car. Maybe Audi or some sort of specialist can help find a lost code. Perhaps another forum will chip in to advise on that point.

[MrGo]

Just an update, it's all back to working fine now. Thought I would give the battery a charge and change the fob battery and try once more.

Cluster was still dead but pressed the left button for date adjustment on the cluster and held it for a while and it jumped back to life. Still not sure what happened but fingers crossed it doesn't happen again

[cliffcoggin]

17 hours ago, MrGo said:

fingers crossed it doesn't happen again

I bet it will.