Ganso

Hello again,
A while ago I made a thread and got no replies, which is fine since the issue seems to be really rare. In the meantime I've communicated with the brand and an auto mechanic. The brand would want around 3k euros (3.3k USD) to fix the issue as I'd have to replace the Instrument Cluster from factory and program it (alongside some issues that have surfaced since then, and I'm about to disclose). The auto mechanic said it was an IC issue and I'd either have it replaced with a second hand one (because the brand that made my IC was pretty garbage) but had no idea if the other brand ones would work on my car. Additionally, his vagcom couldn't connect to my ECU after a certain point - to which makes me wonder if it's just an ECU issue.

Recently the car has acted strange aside from that, the ESP light came permanently on and the car feels more "heavy" to drive, as if dragging a little. I tried finding answers online and found nothing, maybe some things about "limp mode" but otherwise nothing.

Maybe connected to the ESP issue, I noticed that the fans turned on only after the car was off. Once I turned the key to start the car they'd turn off, but once I stopped the car they'd fire up full force. They would last 15-30 mins before shutting off and have at one point drained my battery (had to jumpstart it with a friend's car). This forces me to disconnect and reconnect the negative terminal of the battery for a second, and then reconnect it. The fans then shut down and won't last the aforementioned 15-30 minutes.

The other day I disconnected the positive terminal as I tried to find the earth connections to see if it was just poorly maintained but couldn't identify them by myself. I then noticed that the cooling fans' fuse was missing from the box atop the battery box but the car would start fine. I drove it a little bit before purchasing another fuse and replacing the one I lost. This time around, none of the issues I described seemed to return which I thought was a victory. Unfortunately this morning they surfaced once more which led me to the creation of this post.

I'd appreciate any help given as I'm really stumped as to what to do now. I'm waiting on the new IC but even then I'm not guaranteed it won't happen again. Thank you for reading.

Ganso

Addendum: I should say that I lost the fuse while I was tinkering with the battery. I then replaced it with another fuse.

Ganso

Hello again,
I should say this is fixed, alongside the issue I've linked in the main post. For those having similar problems in years/months/days/10 seconds from now, this is what I did:
- I took out the dashboard and checked the maker (taking out the dashboard can be done by moving the steering wheel to its most down and forward position, removing the small plastic bracket and unscrewing the screws. You can then just pull it out and access the plugs behind the dashboard which you can disconnect.) An indicator can be the type of screen you have on the dashboard.
- If the back panel is White, going with a segmented screen on the front, there's the problem. It should say Jaeger in the back. From what I've been told those are the crummiest of the dashboards made for the A3 8L.
- Replaced it with a VDO brand dashboard (black back panel). This should include an board computer, and, an indicator is the large screen that occupies the space the Jaeger wasn't using. I also had to get the handle replaced to accommodate for the new board computer.
- Should go without saying that you absolutely need the SKC/ECU pin number so you can program the new dashboard. I was unable to fetch it from the dashboard (long dead I'd say) or the ECU (was a Siemens 33 something, I can't exactly recall). As such, I needed to ask for help to replace the older code I had with a different code I knew. Yours can be easier to fetch these files using VagCom or something else, provided you have a different ECU and have a Diesel car. You can check your ECU by opening the engine compartment, unscrewing and removing the wipers and then removing the plastic board underneath. The ECU should be in the middle.
- Since my car was petrol (1.6) I had to run the dashboard to 1k RPMs and 100kph. (And also remove that pre-glow symbol). I've also had to install a third plug to connect the new handle and also avoid the error messages my car wasn't built with (low wiper water, etc.)
- Clear codes, run car and bam it's done.
I'm not sure to which extent you need to replace these things, but make sure it isn't a Jaeger branded dashboard and if it's plug in, replace codes and ride out, have fun. These issues were tied to the dashboard -- somehow. All in all, I probably spent 300 odd euros in comparison to the brand's 3k. I can't guarantee these will be fixed by changing the dashboard as I had someone else to be able to open the ECU and replace the files for me.

Strange stuff that happened here. All because of a crappy, malfunctioning dashboard.

Thank you for reading, and I hope some else's problem gets fixed with this.