Tomb01

My 2014 SQ5 MMI seems to have died. Not sure what the problem is at this point, but I see other threads that report the same situation (black screen, no power to any of the lights or responses from any key being pressed. No results with the 'three finger' reset buttons), though they seem to be older.

I have the invisihitch installed, and the dealer technician is currently removing it to continue debugging the problem. The invisihitch folks say the only thing they do is monitor for power on the brake light leads, so there should be no way it causes any complications with the MMI, and I believe that, though there is always the possibility that there was some issue in the installation (does by the invisihitch folks in Atlanta).

Anyone else have experience with something like trailer hitch install affecting the MMI? Or other experiences with MMI failures?

Thanks in advance.

the_duke

First thing I would do is check the VCDS codes.

Tomb01

Not sure I have the ability to see the VCDS codes. The dealership is removing the hitch wiring, after which they will continue with the evaluation to determine what the problem is. I "anticipate" that they will find something wrong with the MMI (the tech said possible fried cpu?) and then blame the hitch wiring, but ya never know.

the_duke

Hitch wiring should have no effect on the MMI whatsoever.

jhumph88

Talk about strange timing- Mine just started having this issue, which prompted me to come search on here.
I have a '14 TDI, a little under 65000 miles, and for the past two days the screen would be black for a few seconds after I started it, but holding the "mute" button for the radio would reset it and turn it back on. This morning, though, it was black and didn't respond to anything. After about 5 minutes of driving it booted up, but I'm not looking forward to the next few days.
My initial thought was that since it's a hard-drive based Nav system, that maybe the drive has worn out? The first few times I tried booting it up, I could hear a few quiet clicks/whirrs, kind of the same sounds the old iPods would make as soon as they were about to kick the bucket. Keep us posted!

Tomb01

Thanks, you are correct. The tech talked it over with Audi support, and they suggested he try a 5F from another vehicle, and all came to life. So, they are ordering a new 5F unit, which will be here Friday. Sadly, they had already disconnected quite a bit of my power harness for the hitch. Rather than have them try to 'figure it out', I'll just take it in to someone that does those and pay them to put it back together. Famous last words it won't be too much in the way of labor, just reconnecting the wires...

So, now I wonder what software/maps will be in the 'new' unit, which I think contains my navigation hard drive... Perhaps there is a silver lining in this cloud and I'll get updated maps? (he says hopefully)

the_duke

Depends on what vehicle they pulled it out of.

Bob Petruska

The first thing that the Q5 Power Management system shuts down when a low battery is detected is the Infotainment system (Display).

the_duke

That will show in a VCDS scan. I would hope the dealership scanned the OP's vehicle before throwing parts at it. Also it wouldn't shut off the MMI if the vehicle was running unless the alternator where bad and that would cause a lot more problems.

Bob Petruska

Agree the dealer should be smart enough to do that!!! They are removing his hitch so they are questioning it. The Power Management stored history data may have pointed to this. He could be consuming more than the acceptable 50mA at shutdown, and maybe it is a bad charging system. The owner should also try his sunroof as that is part of the same group that is first shutdown due to low battery/poor charging conditions.