As per the title I have a battery that is being discharged when the car is left.

A6 Allroad - 2017 -It has a fixed screen installed (not the slide in/out one) and this has android auto. I have disabled Andriod auto from my phone.

The screen seems to operate a bit wierdly.

Switch on the ignition and the radio comes on, but the screen does not illuminate.

Press the Radio button on the centre console and the screen will come on with the usual audi display for the radio.

If you then press say the Phone button, it displays the andriod screen. Pressing the radio button again, will bring up the usual Audi phone display.

When you switch off the ignition, the screen remains illuminated with the android screen and I have found that touching the little x on the top right hand corner of the screen, appears to close the screen off.

I also have a dash cam that's plugged into the ciggy lighter and that powers up / powers off when the ignition is switched on and off.

I believe that the problem lies within the infotainment system. The battery was brand new in February this year.

Question.

Has anyone had this problem before and how did you resolve it?

I have an OBDeleven - would this show any fault codes? If so what should I look for?

I appreciate that electrcial faults can be quite difficult to track down, especially where the individual (me) is a complete numpty with anything more complex than a simple fuse of bulb, so is it worth taking to a specialist or would an audi dealer be capable of tracing the fault.

Thank in advance for any advice

cheers

Rob

Hello Rob,

Could you let us know what the parasitic drain (in terms of mA - we hope) is after the car has ‘fully shut down’ - some 2 minutes after being locked.

Is the car new to you?

Did you acquire it with that fault?

Have you or someone else modified the infotainment system?

Regards,

Gareth.

Hi Gareth. Yes the car is new to me - purchesed from Evans halshaw in Feb - they had a new battery fitted prior to sale.

I have not touched the infotainment system, but previously I had a 2014 A6 avant with the audi MMI fold out system that worked faultlessly.

Someone said to me that this was an aftermarket system which makes me suspicious.

As I said I am a complete numpty reghards most electrics - I have a multimeter, any chance you could explain how to check and get a reading of parasitic drain. Very grateful if you could advise.

Car is currently on charge to get the battery back online and I'm out for the rest of the day, but will get onto any instructions asap and report back,

Thanks

Rob

If it is an after market piece of kit fitted by an amateur it may well have been wired into a non switched power supply. Short of tracing all the wires in the dashboard I cannot suggest anything but a trip to a car audio specialist.

What makes you think that it is an aftermarket MMI? That looks like a normal Audi one to me.

The best way to find a parasitic draw is using a multimeter. Youtube is full of tutorials on this, but heres one.

1 hour ago, cliffcoggin said:

If it is an after market piece of kit fitted by an amateur it may well have been wired into a non switched power supply. Short of tracing all the wires in the dashboard I cannot suggest anything but a trip to a car audio specialist.

15 minutes ago, Das said:

What makes you think that it is an aftermarket MMI? That looks like a normal Audi one to me.

Thanks for the replies Guys. I suspect that it could have been fitted probably not correctly - I have had my suspcions for a few weeks now when the battery has struggled to turn over the engine. Das, It's not the same as the one in my previous A6 (flipped in and out) and while some of the screens look the same as the normal audi MMI, they don't operate in the same way and there's this blooming awful andriod auto -

I will check out the vid (thanks) and the I suspect I'll need to find a specialist - not so easy in the far North East of Scotland!

Hello again Rob. If you don’t know your way around a multimeter then I would suggest you steer well clear of any investigatory activity - You Tube video, or no You Tube video. The consequences could be that you end up wishing you hadn’t started to play around with it.

You should have had a 90 day warranty with the car, so my number one recommendation would be, don’t fiddle with it, but report your low battery symptom to the seller, and request they rectify that issue.

Please let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Gareth.

Thanks for the advice guys - have contacted a mobile tec with the aim of diagnosing and then disabling the problem so that the battery drain is stopped. Once we done that hopefully we can figure out a way to fix the problem properly.

One thing I'm thinking (if it is this crappy screen thats causing the problem) is whether I can get a standard audi MMI flip up screen installed - the button is on the dash - and I don't need / want all the android stuff on a car screen - so long as I have a hands fee phone and Absolute 70's & 80's on the radio - I'm pretty happy 😄

Re warranty - I checked thro' the warranty - electrical stuff is only covered to £100 so not worth the hassle, especially as the nearest Evans Halshaw branch is about a 4hr drive.

Edited April 5Apr 5 by Canopy Locked
add some text

‘…mobile tec….’. ?

An auto electrician would be my recommendations. These would be far more appropriate that a technician with a code reader.

yes - mobile - tech = electrician in my mind - mechanic is for the oily stuff!

So you have booked an auto electrician then - whether he gets his hands dirty or not?

Quick update - as advised I booked an auto electrician - visited today and the battery had never been coded and was now knackered after just 2 months in the car - loads of spurious electrical faults, not back up by any issues / warning lights etc.

So he'll be back to fit a new battery, properly code it; update the audi software; check & clear the faults and memory. I have asked him to replace the crappy after market head unit with an OEM audi flip up one.

One job I have asked hiom to quote for but am not sure if I'll do it (if it's too expensive) is to fit a reversing camera and link to the MMI display. I used to have one on my last A6 and it was so so useful for hitching up trailers (and getting into short parking spaces!).

Does anyone have any experience or idea of what a ball park installation cost of a reversing camera might be, just for comparision?

Thanks

Battery? I think that is what we suggested - but there you go.

1 hour ago, Canopy Locked said:

Quick update - as advised I booked an auto electrician - visited today and the battery had never been coded and was now knackered after just 2 months in the car - loads of spurious electrical faults, not back up by any issues / warning lights etc.

You would not believe how hard it is to convince members about the need for battery coding. The old criteria of "if the battery cranks the engine it is fine" refuses to die.