707chris

To clarify, does the D3 has the same issues as the D2: Junction Box corrosion, Alternator Regulator?

jakematic

The ignition has to be on to do a VCDS scan.

The lawyering business ain't what it used to be due to the general disdain (I can think of far stronger words) for lawyers.
He or she may have fallen on hard times, or like many with the means just don't want to invest in an older vehicle.
Shame to see maintenance let go that badly...

Sounds like you got a deal though.

707chris

I was under the wrong impression I guess.
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-s8-d3-platform-discussion-60/a8-eating-battery-2822418/
Read on this you could

MP4.2+6.0

Few cumulative posts I recall on alternator specific confirmed problems. The few there are that I recall over many years may be on the water cooling as much as anything electrical.

With a good battery put an ammeter on it to check draw when off and all normal consumers shut down. From what I saw in a TSB if you are at more than 40 milliamps look for issues. If not, likely okay w/ the new battery unless you have some intermittent issues. Again, my rough guesstimate is 90% of the weird electrical charging and goofy symptoms stuff removes with a new battery when you follow the threads over the years, at least for ones who post the conclusion.

jakematic

Worth a shot I suppose - good outside the box thinking.
You'll just have to select the vehicle manually instead of letting VCDS query module 19.

mishar

Not that I've heard of.

You don't necessarily have anything draining your battery. It is obviously bad and it can "drain" itself.

707chris

I hope you are correct! I replaced the battery and went to the shop my brother works at to have it coded. 100% and no lights! There was a massive fault list but I attributed it to switching batteries. I will go in for an additional scan later. This morning I was super bored and wanting to make some progress. The previous owner stated he spilt some fluid on the MMI so I disassembled it and cleaned it. This is the grossest circuit board ever!

Gross

Cleaned it up and reinstalled, still a sticky button so will redo another time but was fun taking it apart and reassembling! Good time for a reward beer haha. Cheers everyone.

MP4.2+6.0

That looks like your standard Bilg Gulp or Starbucks bath. Needless to say they don't mix well with MMI boards. Hope it still works for you, but anything beyond water spills often kills them pronto.

And yes as Misha commented previously, battery can just lose its own charge as it is headed south. Classic sign of needing a new one if it is more than 3 or 4 years old, often when discharged once too often with lights or something left on. I replaced mine with same issue of not holding a charge even overnight on the day I got the new one, and with zero other issues before or after.

707chris

Let the car sit for a couple days, came out and tried to start it and it was dead dead. Had to drive around for 30-45 to get it fully charged. It also decided to change its language to French too. On top of that, the compressor finally blew and the driver left strut so the rebuild kit and new strut is on order. This was yesterday. This morning it started it up fine (along with a little tensioner noise) but changed itself to french again. So I guess I'm back to getting VCDS from Ross-Tech and finding the drain. Also the MMI didn't "improve" after the cleaning and obviously did not have any effect on the drain except maybe extending it for another day? Or that could also be due to the new battery. Will update after more progress is made.

MP4.2+6.0

Hopefully overlaps your discovery of the French MMI option--brought to you courtesy of Quebec for North America Audis. As I said before, board pic tells me prior spill was a lot more than just water.

Was just at Apple store getting phone replaced for bad camera yesterday when another guy walked in with a Mac Pro and said it was flaking. While I was waiting, tech came back with bottom cover and showed him a very similar Starbucks spill all over it. Oops.