i3adSaab

I'm starting a new thread to let everyone know how this goes. I just took the car in for the 5000 mile check.....I had two random problems I told them about:

1. Virtual Cockpit periodically freezes and does it's own restart.
2. Data link periodically looses connection, tries to reconnect a few times then disappears totally from the screen.

I was expecting they'd trouble shoot a bit today, then ask me to come back later.....but I got the royal treatment.....they called Audi first and it sounds like Audi totally took charge immediately. They called me back late today, will keep the car into next week and give me a loaner.

Regarding the data link.....apparently there are two antennas, one for LTE and one for 3G.....one of them was showing a short, so they were advised to replace it. New one coming in Monday, they will try that.

Regarding the VC......it's totally uninstalled and sitting in my front seats in many parts. They gave me a long explanation of what they were told to do.....but it has something to do with unhooking a computer module in the glove compartment and I think they're doing a fresh software reload from Germany.....but not positive. I have to travel Monday through Thursday, so the service manager asked if they could drive the car after they do everything, bring it home etc and try to find the problem again. I told him for sure.

The service manager told me they got instant response from Audi because of the new technology.....good to hear.

As I learn more I'll let you know.....but I won't know more for a week probably.

i3adSaab

Audi had the car for a week while I traveled, the normal superb service that I typically get.

They replaced one of the data link antennas which are apparently mounted behind the rear bumper cover. The one that got replaced was shorting out. By the way, apparently one of the antennas is LTE, and the other is LTE/3G. When I spoke later with them, they couldn't remember which one shorted, but the head guy thought it was the LTE antenna.

Second thing they did was disconnect the Virtual Cockpit from the control module located in the glove compartment. The Audi national and regional reps recommended a course of action to try to test each component, couldn't find anything wrong with anything. They were able to get the same fault code when they disconnected the fiber optic connector between the two, but the connectors looked perfectly seated, clean, and properly wired as far as the incoming and outgoing parts were aligned. After checking all this, they got a fresh download from Germany as I understand it. So far so good....only been driving a day, but it is pretty random and will probably take a few weeks to determine if they nailed it or not.

I have to say, our local guys in Nashua were really methodical with the troubleshooting. After hearing the complaints about other dealerships, I think we have a good one here.

Gbob

I am glad you have such a good dealership. Though I would expect that in the more rural areas (not that Nashua is the boondocks).
Here in the NYC area, things are more hit and miss- with more misses than hits.
Keep us informed as to whether or not the situation has been rectified.
Bob

i3adSaab

The fixes didn't work, data connection dropped twice in last two days, but curiously at the exact same distance (about 15min) and location from my house. Bad AT&T tower??

Also, virtual cockpit randomly crashed and restarted in another location yesterday......blahh...back to drawing board, will be curious to see what Audi recommends next?

Gbob

Sorry to hear this.
RE: data connection, it may just be the cell tower. Did it reconnect when you moved to another area?
What does it show when the virtual cockpit crashes?
Bob

i3adSaab

It's gotten more interesting....I've found a pattern. When my car hasn't been run for a while, then I start it and drive.....at roughly the 15-20 minute mark my virtual cockpit dies. What it does is just freeze on the screen, radio may continue playing. It stays frozen for about 2-3 minutes, then it goes to black screen and reboots itself without me doing anything. When the cockpit freezes, the data connection is also lost on the screen. This has happened now 5 times since I got the car back, driving in three different directions....so seems to be no relationship to cell tower.

The service manager is contacting me this afternoon to go over the details. But that's strange, ehh??.....15 to 20 min, it dies. You would think, if I can give them a pattern, they could find the culprit. I'm really surprised I'm the only one running into something like this?

Gbob

Wow, so do you mean that everything just goes black?-No speedometer/guages/etc.?
If so, that sounds pretty scary.
Since you know the time it takes to go bad, can you just let the car idle and see if it does it again? I am thinking that if it is something related to movement causing the disruption, then just idling should not cause it to recur.

I really feel bad for you. But, I am pretty sure it is going to turn out to be something minor that is causing the problem-like a loose or grounding wire.
Whether it is something they can find easily is the problem.

FWIW, I would keep detailed records of conversations and contacts, just in case you need to resort to having them take the car back and giving you a new one. Also, check on your Lemon Laws in your state, so you know what you need to do-Just in case.

From what you describe, I think Audi is going to help you fix this, so try to be patient. And, let us know how you fare. I will also try to do some thought experiments that may help you diagnose the problem.
Sincerely, Bob

i3adSaab

thanks Bob.....no loss of speedometer/gauges....just the menu system along the top....map goes black, phone, media, engine info. I agree, it might end up being something stupid, but I'm worried it might be difficult to find. It's a good idea to just let the car idle in my driveway!...may try that tonight.

Balthazar-B

Can you quantify what "a while" is? A day? Several days? And does this happen every time when you haven't driven for that interval?

There could be several things going on, but if you can find a definite, always-repeatable pattern, that should make troubleshooting much easier. Especially since it's something that isn't happening to everyone else.

i3adSaab

Update......

Data link was crashing roughly 15-20 min after car start, about 60% of the time. After I do a soft reboot of the MMI, it doesn't crash at all.
Virtual cockpit crashes about 25% of the time after the data link crashes.
All engine related stuff doesn't crash....speedo, rpm, engine info on the left tab, etc.

Audi discussed with regional tech and quality guys, they all feel it leads back to the control box for both data/cockpit. So today they replaced the MMI control unit in the glovebox, and loaded updated software. So we'll see how this goes. I'll be pretty shocked if this doesn't solve the issue.

By the way, while my car was in they performed a TCM update on the gearbox.....it was reprogramed with updated temperature sensor software. I think it's called the 37K1 TCM Update??