Internal Lighting Issue

[mikeS]

HI , I am new to this forum and hoping someone out there who can advise me.

Problem, - none of the internal lights work, add to that the main instrument display dulls down when the engine starts , otherwise it is bright as does the MMI display.

I have checked all the fuses with a DVM and they are all ok . I have an elm327 device and i ran carscanner app on my cell phone , it doesn't pick up any DTC fault codes, I did a reset to see what that would do if anything and the lights flashed on and then off.  Just wondering if anyone has had experience of this and can advise.

[cliffcoggin]

Is this a recent change in behaviour or a problem that has been present since you owned the car?

[mikeS]

Fairly recent about 7 months ago , but as it was just lighting I tried to look into it more. Recently I was loaned an elm327 unit and downloaded carscanner app. I could not see any fault codes but worked put yesterday if I do a reset of the ecu the lights flash on and then go off, all of the interior ones that is. So yo me that says , fuses , lights cables must be OK. But not sure why this only happens when is the ecu that's reset.rest of car seems to be OK.all external lights are good.

[cliffcoggin]

There is a chance that the instrument cluster is faulty. It's a common problem on A3s, which can be repaired for less than £300.

If you want to be certain of the diagnosis you are going to need a better diagnostic tool than that. The usual recommendations are for OBD11 or VCDS I think they are called. Stevey Y will be able to confirm if he reads this.