FM Antenna open circuit - No auto scan/TMC and rare traffic programme

Morning all,

Had my '61 A7 in to the dealer a couple of weeks ago (only 2 ish weeks out of warranty) to investigate why for a while now I have not been picking up FM stations automatically, although I can manually tune, I rarely pick up TP now and I certainly don't pick up TMC, which is very annoying when you're doing a lot of m6 driving, liverpool to Glasgow a couple of times a week. (I don't have google nav just the usual mmi3g i think)

Anyway, I tried to associate the issue with any software updates the dealer might have done during the first mot and service at the end of november, (where as I mentioned in another post they picked up the the high level brake light was dim so it went back a week later where they replaced it.) There was no software update done, and I wouldn't really know where to check if it was due one or what version it should be. Anyway brake light repaired within warranty and all good, however when I mentioned about this FM problem a week later and booked in for 19th December as they said they would take a look at it; no mention of charge, just bring it in and we'll have a look.

Anyway it goes in week last friday, first thing is how are you paying Sir, I said there was no mention of a charge on the phone and got her to record that as I wasn't really willing to pay if it was damage they had done so close to end of warranty, anyway they discovered that the FM aerial was open circuit which is apparently built into the rear window. The whole rear windscreen would need to be replaced at a charge of £450. Anyway said I'd book in after xmas and left without charge, I have a feeling the diagnostic bill will come through the post at some point though. Now in hindsight I should have maybe associated the work they'd done on the high level brake light with this but I didn't (as in reality as it was such a quick in and out i'd forgotten about it)

One thing here though that I thought would have been covered is the mmi was changed less than a year ago under warranty. I would have thought that would have been guaranteed but apparently not, that guarantee runs out with your warranty, that astounded me.

Obviously I can't prove who or what has damaged the aerial connection, but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, i.e where it may connect to the window. I had the windows tinted several months ago, I am sure it has worked since then but theoretically he could have sliced the connection when he cut the tint.

I have some time off where I want to investigate this a bit more and try and get it working. Any, advice, ideas for repairs or ideas for alternative aerials would be really good.

Bit of a long winded post but I'm sick of that particular dealer fobbing me off!!

(To convince them the mmi wasn't working took weeks, to convince them there was a gearbox issue on my q7 gearbox took weeks and they consistently lied to me, until i showed them the tracker records and the car hadn't even been out!!)

Happy new year to all!!

Chris

I had thought that all repairs using OEM parts supplied (and or fitted) by a dealer would come with a 2yr warranty, or so I'd been led to believe on reading posts in the C6 section:confused:

Please share which dealer it is you're aving problems with?

I would have thought so too. Wasn't sure whether it was legit to name the dealer but it was Liverpool.

After a bit more digging seems like vw and audis are both affected by a heat related crack in the fm antenna amplifier. In the older ones I've seen pictures of it seems like they just press against the glass but no idea how it's attached on the a7.

Wonder whether it's worth contacting audi direct?

Yep the Mods are keen to point out the 2yr benefit of buying from Audi and am sure one will be along to advise if any exclusions exist.

Certainly worthwhile:

1) Contacting Audi Direct for their take on it
2) Purchasing a VCDS cable as it saved me it's cost within the first 6 months of ownership
https://www.gendan.co.uk/product_VCHU.html
3) Adding your location properly below 'Join Date' as there may be VCDS owners close to you that can do a free scan until your cable arrives

I had thought it was 'built in' and only older/cheaper cars had it stuck on, if stuck on they are usually easily repaired with sommat like this:

Heated Rear Wind screen Demister Repair Glue Conductive Electro Connector Silver | eBay

Unsure if it works on aerials though?

I was quite excitable when I realised the mmi should have still been under warranty and then she certainly put my fire out. I find that a very strange rule as that could mean that even if it was down to poor workmanship then it wouldn't be covered after the warranty was up.

I'll give audi direct a call later on today and see what they say. When I get all the frost of the car I want to see if there is any damage that could have been done by installing the new high level brake light.

Audi themselves said it was bonded to the window and would require a whole window. I was just hoping there was a repair.

Will sort out my profile, I think it's just taken all its info from Facebook bar the location for some reason.

The cable will be something I'll be getting shortly. Need to get the software running on the old windows laptop which may be easier said than done. I don't think there's any mac programs about.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

(Location is Liverpool until I get it added.)

Well its vcds day today so I will post results later.

Audi UK think there should have been goodwill and recommended going to another dealer. Spoke to another dealer and they said it was pointless going to them.

Now my spoiler is playing up and I think all these items are interlinked. Seen posts in other models about a roof electronic module overheating.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by biffyg

Audi UK think there should have been goodwill and recommended going to another dealer.

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Whoa!, nice one Audi UK, let the customer sort out the dealer issue.

Pete

Well had the car on the vcds today, finally convinced myself to get the cable now, as others have said it would pay for itself straight away.

Anyway there were a few codes that came back after the first ones were cleared. The first one related to the spoiler limit switches. The guy who was helping me is trying to get further info on the codes but just in case anyone else can shed any light or let me know where I'd find the info:

1 Fault Found:
03132 - Limit Switch for Rear Spoiler Movement (F135/F136)
008 - Implausible Signal
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01101000
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 125

The other fault related to the antenna and that was:


1 Fault Found:
02983 - Connection between Impedance Converter 1 and Window Antenna
011 - Open Circuit
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01101011
Fault Priority: 4
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 125
Mileage: 33958 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.02.19
Time: 14:34:55

Freeze Frame:
Voltage: 11.80 V

Any help would be much appreciated and likewise whatever I find out I will share.

Thanks,

Chris

After finally washing my hands of Audi, I got some balls and gave myself the go ahead to strip down the boot liner (Thanks to a couple of hints for stripping down from M1tchy also)

I've got to the bottom of the the FM fault I think
Attachment 27559.Attachment 27558

On the pictures (quality not great due to the light and angle) you might be able to see that the wire from the bottom left FM antenna to the rear window has become detached.Not sure how this ties in to impedance converter 1 on the fault code text but as soon as I push this back against the glass the fm signals come back. Also on the bottom right amplifier one of the connections is loose. I have ordered some conductive demister glue and am going to see whether sticking these back on clears the faults. If it does work the £15 for the glue is a bit cheaper than the £450 quoted for the replacement rear window.

My verdict for what caused this...........It could still be the tech who did the high level brake light as i think removing the boot trim could damage this but how would I ever prove it. I've truly given up on the audi dealer and audi uk who protected the dealer rather than the customer. At the end of the day I reported the fault within a week of them having all this trim off. Could it have been the tinter, unlikely, as that was a long time before the problem. The moral is though, these connections are a lot more delicate than the demister ones so stay well clear!!!

My cable from gendan is arriving on thursday and the next job is to tackle the spoiler as i think i know what this might be also. Bit more needs to be removed than todays bits of trim!!!

Does anybody know a good parts dealer? online preferably and a way to identify parts before stripping down, got a feeling I might need some seals for this spoiler job.



Looking forward to some coding too!!!!!!!

Cheers all,

Chris

Well conductive glue as recommended by markTM worked a charm, not actually repairing the aerial but sticking the connections back on the window, that coupled with some insulation tape has worked a charm. Couldn't believe it when all the traffic popped up again!!

Cheers all, that's this one put to bed I hope, but should I tell Audi.......??

Glad its all sorted and working now. Audi probably know how to do it, just couldn't be bothered!

I have got similair issue. I have got the same open circuit fault, however radio works fine but I have no no traffic messages available despite white TMC icon is displayed on the screen corner. I have checked aerial connections and amplifier and all seems to be fine, no visible breaks between all wiring. Just wondering if this is software related issue ( I have read that missing TMC was due to software malfunction) or some internal damage to aerial amplifier? Any thoughts?

Hi Guys,

Mine is recently only intermittently picking up DAB? could this be similar issue with the aerial? the cars still under warranty so this should be covered for investigation & repair hopefully, I will be calling the dealer in the new year when I have some time off as they are always "fully booked" when I call