Dusan Skoric

So, there it goes, one day at night I turned off my 2004 audi A4 convertible, pulled the keys out, while leaving I took one last look at my car and I saw fog lights came on, I ran back, remote door lock not working, opened hood, removed contacts from battery, and took it next day to dealership.
Usually I take it to regular cheap mechanic for brakes, shocks, etc. but when it comes to electrical stuff, I go to dealership.
I figured it must be some fog light relay, few hundreds, and move on, but it was not meant to be, diagnosis was Comfort control system module failure, $1750.00 plus 135 for diagnostics.
Can someone post some pictures of where is that damn thing location, how to replace it, and is it true that has to be programed after replacement.
On eBay I can find it used for 150 bucks, I usually don't like buying used electrical modules and relays, and I don't know if it is a good idea, new module in service department in dealership is 780 dollars, this is kind of thing we need on forums, advice for DIY because it is a long road between 780, and 1750 dollars for installation, I need to see how big is a job to replace it
Thanks.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

Make sure you have VCDS to check the failure first before jumping to conclusion. Dealers always want to replace things. You may only need to reset the failures.

Cheers,

Louis

Dusan Skoric

Thanks for your help, yesterday while I was getting ready to pull the carpet, I noticed that is not an easy job, carpet has some thick foam padding under, seat has to many screws, temperature was 32 degrees, and I have no garage, it was just a nightmare, but I noticed that carpet was wet, and I figure it must have something to do with module, I put large blower inside, let it run for five hours, and I solved the problem, at least for now.
I guess there is some leakage going inside the car from the rain, I checked under battery, its all dry, problem with Audi is that all engine parts are very tightly packed, and there is not much free space around to see where the leak is coming from.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

water escape hose somewhere. All the electronic stuff under the seats and floor pan have to be dry. I think you fixed it, just make sure to find the leaks.
Glad it works for now.

Cheers,

Louis

Dusan Skoric

Thanks Louis, if problem comes back in the future, I was thinking taking the module out, and change its location, from under the carpet, to place it maybe under the seat, and instead of pulling the carpet and removing the seat, I would cut square into the carpet, and pull the module out that way, but in order to do that I would need precise, exact location of the module, so I can cut the carpet right above, on the spot.
I just don't know how long is the wire harness, and if it would allow me to pull module through the carpet, and place it under the seat?

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

I'm sure the connectors are wet that caused the problems. I don't think the actual module inside the enclosed box is wet unless the water level inside your car is like flooded or something. I'm sure the bottom of the box is also elevated with thick washer of plastic of some kind. The thing with electronics, either it works or it doesn't, if your module is dead, it'll never work at all. So, just make sure the bottom pan (where you sit) doesn't have any holes due to rust or something like that, that causes water to enter the inside of the car. I used to have a VW rabbit while in college and the floor was rusted through, I had to put a board on it for my feet not to fall through... :-), amazing time.

Cheers,

Louis

ajg617

This is a timely thread. Audi had my wife's 05 Cab all week long. Everytime the car is out in very heavy rain, the CEL comes on with a code indicating a faulty coolant sensor (which I have replaced in August), brake boost code, and fuel trim code. No evidence of water inside the car. So they had it all week under a shower and as it turned out one day outside in very heavy rain. So they replaced a relay, one vacuum hose, vacuum brake boost pump. I get the car back last night and can't lock the doors. VCDS codes are:

2 Faults Found:
01811 - Supply Voltage for Door Controller; Drivers Side (J386)
37-00 - Faulty
01812 - Supply Voltage for Door Controller; Pass. Side (J387)
37-00 - Faulty

Can't even lock the doors from the inside switch. Can only manually lock the driver door with key. But both fobs make the lights flash on unlock and the fuel door lock slide when unlocking or locking. Carpets are bone dry.

Follow-up. Just for kicks I figured I'd check fuses. Interesting that slot 22 (doors) fuse was empty. 15 amp fuse in, door locks work. Now why the dealer took it out in the first place I'm not sure. Doors locked fine when I brought it in.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

When your car has electronic problems, dealers only shotgun the parts, replace them on your expense and when they have a bad day, they forget things on your frustrations. You have a VCDS, you should use the forums when the problems occur. It's not the money to pay for the dealers, it's the bad work they do to the car on their bad days or their incompetency. I don't like to depend on someone else working on my beautiful Audis. And BTW, none of them failed anything at all, why? None of them are taken to any shops or dealers ever, sorry... I lied, they did visit tire stores for new tires.

Cheers,

Louis

ajg617

Yup and it has saved me a lot of money over the years. But this time 4 out of the 6 car fleet were having problems. Simply haven't had the time and proper facilities to do some of the work (like prop shaft on my C5 Avant). The A4 went in for a water leak that I thought was into the ECU box (dry and drain was clear). MMI just toasted on my C6 Avant. I'm trying to chase that down now but the diagnostics in Bentley are awful. Dealer normally is very good but they are so crowded with maintenance lately (and I'm not sure what that is all about) it's hard to get an appointment and the last two trips I've gotten the cars back with either work not performed or things not done right. Can't even get a hold of the service writer I deal with. Have to leave a message. The C6 was in for 3 weeks. The B6 was in for a week - should have been a lot less.

srfairbrother

I am sorting out my recently purchased 05 Cab and was having door locking issues. I ran VCDS and got the same codes: 01811 and 01812. Reading your post, I checked the fuses and slot 22 was empty. Got a fuse, put it in, and door locking is restored. Slot 22 in 05 Cabs must be haunted.