RyanS3

After speaking with you last night, I really wanted to help even more. You're from the Detroit burbs. Since the Flyers will be spanking the Red Wings this spring I figured I owe you in advance.

Anyhow. Here are the possible reasons your service department couldn't handle this simple swap...

1. They had a bad sirius tuner box (unlikely). Or they had a tuner box that was not intended to be used for an A3 (packaged wrong, or something like that).

2. They failed to connect one of the 4 plugs in, properly. Green & brown cable = antenna connections. And two large black harness plugs, power and audio out (how hard could this be).

<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/satboxwith4plugspic.jpg">

3. When they turned on the head unit, didn't find the proper "free channel" to test it. And therefore, quit and said it's not possible.

4. When they started this project, the tech made a mistake. He went to the passenger side kick panel, and switched the plug to the "sat.off" position. He may have done this if it was his first Satellite project. Meaning, he was following the directions to install it in a car without a satellite tuner box previously. Explained further: he unplugged the unit forgetting that you already had SAT in the car.

5. They didn't feel paying the $150 transfer fee they incur for having to swap service. And just said they couldn't do it for you. This 'fee' was explained to me by a local dealership. Not sure about the details.

6. You have the tire pressure monitoring system and/or navagation. In which case you had the wrong unit completely. You need to add a D to the regular box.
<b>
If you don't have tire pressure monitoring or Navigation you need the standard sirius tuner box. 8E0 035 593.

If you have tpm and/or Nav, you need 8E0 035 593D.</b>

I took a picture of the plug on a SIRIUS BOX.

<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/IMG_1125.jpg">
<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/IMG_1126.jpg">

And I compared it with an XM BOX. NO differences in plugs.

<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/IMG_1129.jpg">



<b>My gut tells me that #4 or #6 is the reason it didn't work.</b>

I'm sure the tech or service manager will not fess up to doing this, or will even remember it.

JUST GET THE SIRIUS BOX FROM THE DEALER. GIVE THEM THE OLD XM BOX. AND LEAVE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200. When you're back in the car and it's safe, compare the item # on the tuner box with the one in the picture below.

If you have the tire pressure package, and/or navagation, you will need to add a D to the #. It's also about 116$ more! If this was the problem the dealer just didn't do their homework.

Since you have an IOU from the dealer, you should NOT come out of pocket for anything, and should demand that they fix this. My dealer has done over 10 swaps already with no trouble.



&gt; Remove passenger side kick plate by door and connect CAN bus plugs

* Carefully remove kickplate cover - Typical VAG plastic part with metal clips. Requires a firm tug in strategic places to remove w/o breaking anything. Take it slow and be careful. The plastic above the top clip needs some care to remove without stressing the plastic (FIG 6)
* locate cables, they are wrapped to exisiting wiring bundles with masking tape
* remove tape, plug CAN connectors together (FIG 7)

<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/doorsattunerplugarea.jpg">
<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/tech/closeupofpluginpasssidesat.jpg">

Good luck, keep me posted please!

Oh they have new A3 hats at the dealership. At least don rosen has them!

<img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/iMryanmac/audi%20apparel/IMG_1133.jpg">
<small>Major credit goes to don rosen for allowing me to open the two boxes and determining that they are indeed the same exact plugs. AND to spearheadx for the original sat instructions. </small>

-RyanA3

SDR

Many thanks for the thorough investigation.

All of those possibilities make sense, and I agree that #4 and #6 are most likely what happened.

I'm still waiting for word from the sales manager. My plan is to go there tomorrow and come away with the 8E0 035 593 (I don't have TPMS or Nav).

I'll keep you posted.

As for the Red Wings, nice jab, but I couldn't care less. I'm not a Detroit native, so there :-).

RyanS3

ah. not a native. where from originally? hope u get the unit.

SDR

I just spoke with my original saleswoman Lesha. She was unaware that I'm still dealing with this unresolved issue and she's going to get involved. She is good, so I expect more action now.

She could not remember for sure, but she seems to think that the problem they had was that they discovered the harness for the Nav unit in my car, even though I don't have Nav. They were prepared to swap out the unit, but didn't know what to do when they encountered the wrong harness.

I suppose this scenario is possible, especially since my vehicle is a relatively early US-spec build.

I told her they could have tried the other part # intended for the Nav-equipped models, and she wasn't sure why they didn't do it.

Is there any way to know what the different harnesses in the hatch look like (nav vs. non-nav)? Or what the nav-based sat modules look like?

She's going to get more details from Service and Parts regarding the problem they encountered. I should have relied on her more throughout this process, but it was out of her hands and she expected the GM to handle it. She was very dissapointed that it's not resolved yet.

More info as I get it...

SDR

Cleveland area (Youngstown to be exact)

RyanS3

you need the`1 with nav!

SDR

Saleswoman met with service and parts managers, and she said they now *think* it was probably a case of using the wrong module. They can't remember exactly, and apparently they don't have good notes in their system for the swap attempt. So I'm still not sure if they really encountered the Nav harness and were trying the non-Nav module, or vice versa. Whatever.

Anyway...they placed an order for the "correct" module, and they should have it Monday. If that's not right, they will try the "other" module. I'm going to confirm the part # they are ordering, and try to confirm the harness I have.

The picture of the connected module you show - are there any other pigtails on that harness? If mine looks the same, I can assume my harness is the "correct" non-Nav one.

RyanS3

the small green and brown are for the antenna.
IMO they are unrelated to the harness that is in question.

harness in question should be one of the larger black plugs. which would share some power wires/ground wires with the nav brain in the rear. if you had it.

my guess is, more people will incur the same issues you have. b/c it looks like you have a nav harness in a non-nav car. this would not be a one in a milion thing. they probably make a batch of cars with them, and later assign them to cars without nav.

sounds like it's under control now, which is good to hear.