A699avant

I replaced the red multi information display (MID) in the middle of the instrument cluster. When connected it shows up fine but then shows gibberish then nothing. Did I install it incorrectly or is there something else I may have wrong.

1999 a6 avant auto 2.8

Harleyguy

Did you do this yourself or did you ship it out for repair? When Module Masters in Moscow, Idaho does the replacement they do a full blown bench test before returning the dash panel to you. They also have a stellar warranty.

georgeb944

If you did the work yourself, you probably screwed up a solder joint.

A699avant

I did do the work myself but each joint is clean and separate. The only reason I dont think it's my solder is it turns on fine only after the power was disconnected for 5 minutes then turned on. If I turn the car off and on again the screen is red but without information. It display perfectly for almost one minute. I will put another new screen on and see if that's where my problem is. Also thinking of getting another insterment cluster to see if that's the problem.

Harleyguy

To reiterate: if you have the model that they can service, Module Masters can replace the display for $150 with a great warranty. If it displays then dies it is most likely the replacement and not the instrument cluster. Module Masters can also trouble shoot your cluster while they have it. The ones they CAN'T work on are the ones with an analog clock. +1 on what george said. These are very finicky to work on and doesn't take much to mess up. It is also helpful to the rest of us if you mention specifics on the car (year, model, engine, and any other variables).

A699avant

Make model year and engine are at the end of my post. It is the one with the analog clock so I must do it on my own

Harleyguy

My bad, sorry I missed that. Although it is possible that you got a defective module, not very likely. The symptoms that it works for a short time then goes out indicates to me a bad module or bad installation. As george said it is pretty common that solder connections get messed up during replacement.

A699avant

I don't doubt its faulty but the removal is time consuming and I dont want to take it out and de sloder and re solder if theres a chance its something else. I only paid $20usd for it from wish.com it was a trial oh what if it works kind of thing. I paid $700 for the car and did a timing water pump a d tensioner job that he said would have cost $1500. My first European car and I am no Audi tec. The job went without a hitch because of detailed instructions from Bentley. The service mode where the front end comes off to access important services switched me to European cars from now on

Harleyguy

As I recall if you change out the entire instrument panel you will need to have it re-coded to work with the car. Probably won't be cheap either.

A699avant

New cluster only requires to be installed with key on for half a hour. But this is only the screen. I do appreciate all input and want to be sure I'm expressing that