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DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:42 pm
by Shoppinit
Hi again,
I'll be helping a friend whose DIS is stuck on autonomy. I was going to put it on the vagcom to see if I can help him out, but I'm not really sure what to look for. It's an S4 from 2002 with the 3 spoke steering wheel.
The switch is working - you can turn the display on/off... you just can't change to mpg, etc.
Any pointers much appreciated.
Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:34 pm
by PetrolDave
Shoppinit wrote:whose DIS is stuck on autonomy.
The switch is working - you can turn the display on/off... you just can't change to mpg, etc.
What's "autonomy"?
The switch on the bottom of the wiper stalk is what switches the DID on/off, and the buttons on the end of the wiper stalk should select what is displayed.
What do those switches do?
I suggest you check the coding of the SCSM and instruments are correct for a car with full DIS. The Ross-Tech wiki
http://wiki.ross-tech.com is your friend.
RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:38 pm
by Shoppinit
Thanks. By autonomy I mean the number of miles possible on the remaining fuel. Have I made this up? Wouldn't surprise me.
I was going to check the coding first. I'm not too optimistic though because he tells me that Audi has already had a go at getting it to work properly. All started after being jump started from the recovery truck apparently.
Anyway, I'll put it on the vagcom and have a look. I'm still getting to grips with the philosophy of VCDS. I don't find it a terribly intuitive program.
Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:53 pm
by PetrolDave
Shoppinit wrote:Thanks. By autonomy I mean the number of miles possible on the remaining fuel. Have I made this up? Wouldn't surprise me.
Never heard it called "autonomy" before - that's all. It's usually called "range" or "miles left" or something like that...
There's four things to remember when using VCDS to check module setups:
1) address the right module e.g. 1= engine, 77=phone, etc.
2) get the coding right.
3) make sure the adaptation channels relevant to that module are correctly set.
4) clear the fault codes and make sure they don't come back!
Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:10 pm
by Shoppinit
PetrolDave wrote:It's usually called "range"
That's the one! I'm having a slow brain day!
PetrolDave wrote:
2) get the coding right.
3) make sure the adaptation channels relevant to that module are correctly set.
Those are the bits that are causing problems. It's not like I don't understand bits and bit banging, it's just they way it's presented. I think it's just that I don't have a lot of experience yet.
I mainly bought it for changing the dash language on the dash of my RS6 from German to English and I managed to do that first time with no difficulty! I thought it would be useful for all sorts of things and I'm sure it will be. I certainly don't regret buying it - now I can prove that the stealers are lying to me

RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:23 am
by PetrolDave
I found the best way to learn was to write down what the current coding and adaptation values were on a bit of paper, then work through the details on the wiki (and also here
http://de.openobd.org) and convert that into what the settings were and see if that made sense.
Once it did I moved onto changing settings - ONE at a time and writing down the original value!
After doing that a few times you see two patterns emerging:
- settings by decimal values with each digit having a separate meaning.
- setting by binary bits with each bit having a separate meaning. Sometimes these have an offset (just to confuse), so nothing set is value 1 instead of 0 and 3 bits set is value 8 instead of 7.
RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 12:13 pm
by Shoppinit
Right, so what's the difference between coding and adaptation? Or is adaptation just an "easy" way of getting the coding without having to worry about what bit does what?
RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:18 pm
by PetrolDave
Coding is setting the basic behaviour of a module.
Adaptation is tweaking that basic behaviour.
Try looking here
http://wiki.ross-tech.com/index.php/Aud ... 8EC/8ED%29 That shows both the coding and adaptation possibilities for the Central Convenience module on a B7 A4.
You set the coding to say what type of A4 it is (saloon, Avant, cabrio), what type of headlights it has (halogen, Bi-Xenon), etc.
Then you set the relevant adaptation channel to change the behaviour e.g. channels 2 to 7 change how much various lights dim, channel 13 allows you to change the behaviour of the wipers, etc.
RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 1:24 pm
by Shoppinit
Great! I get you. I've just been through the online demo again too (First time I hadn't played with the vagcom yet).
I'm going to experiment this afternoon on my car. No fear!
RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:04 pm
by Shoppinit
Thanks for all your help, PetrolDave.
I fixed his DIS. Audi was unable to do this, and even changed the whole instrument cluster (at their own cost). Shocking.
The intrument cluster adaptation was incorrectly coded for:
A019,17,2 = DIS with Menu Guide
whereas it should be:
A019,15,0 = DIS
Getting the hang of VCDS now. Thanks again

RE: Re: RE: Re: DIS problem on S4 - stuck on Autonomy
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:03 pm
by PetrolDave
They had tried to setup the DIS as though it was a B7 instead of a B6 - idiots!