Could not get the engine running?
 

Hi Guys, last saturday, upon leaving from my parents... my 8 simply couldn´t start. After numorus tries, having taken the engine plastic cover off and checking fuelline and sparkplugs... I could conclude that there was no power going to the sparkplugs... although the power was on on everything else.

Got it towed to Audi, and got a call from them... car is running, no faults found...

But on another note, that I pointed out last time I had it serviced. The instrument cluster didn't reset the In 2(inspection 2)

A person at Audi(apperently some specialist that was there by coincidence) said that the cluster was defect, as it could not store that the In 2 was reset and he also said that a defect in the instrument cluster, could mean that the immobilizer could go in effect out of no where.

They are pricing a new cluster plus coding the cluster, coding 4 keys and man-hours to approx £750

So do you guys think its a fair price?(not that I have many other options)
and is the "expert" correct in assuming that the defect that is in the Cluster, can switch the immobilizer on and off with no reason other than it feels like it?(question is, is the immobilizer really in the cluster?)

Also do any of you have a link to the best Aluminum Cluster rings for the D2? I need new ones if I have to get a new cluster+++

Cheers, Jake

PS: at the moment I got a sweet mint A5 sportsback 2.0 TDI with 2.000 miles on the clock at my disposal until monday, free of charge... liking the service at Audi++++++

£180.00 at BBA Reman to rebuild the cluster


Click

definitely worth calling BBA - they rebuilt my Passat ABS unit for a fraction of the price of a replacement part. They do seem to mainly focus in their description on failed guages rather than immobiliser and/or service indicator failures.

Is it already out of the car or is it all together still? If BBA can do it, I'd get it away from Audi ASAP and to an independant to cut the labour bill for removing and installing your cluster and storing the car while its away being repaired. It may not be that much labour though as don't think there's much holding it in!

One thing to mention, I don´t live in the UK... and I don´t think theres anyone who rebuilds clusters here...:-(

I have had it out before when I installed the chrome dash rings... so maybe I have made the defect myself?

But this is like 8 months back, and I have not had any problems with it so far.


Since the defect is very un-documented, then I am not even sure that a rebuilder would know where to start?

But for £750 at audi, I would demand a guarentee that it will fix the problem 100%

Is it true that I cannot just put another cluster in there? is the immobilizer linked so much to the cluster that it would 100% not work unless I get it re-coded?

Cheers, Jake

Jake, if your D2 A8 is pre-facelift ('94 - '99) you can install any cluster into your car. Your IMMO has nothing to do with the cluster, you can remove it, and still start the car.

94 will definitely have separate immobiliser box not built into cluster, only later FL cars have immobiliser integrated in instrument cluster. There should be no problems swapping with another cluster. Looks like dealers do not know what they are doing. I would also try to reset in2 with VCDS yourself before paying for another.

Intermittent no start with no spark is often dodgy camshaft or crank position sensor.

Thank you Nollywood and ainarssems... that is VERY good info, I'm not gonna pay £750 for a new cluster if the problem, with 100% certainty, is not connected to that.

THANKS!

Also if it was immobiliser problem you would get immobiliser light on dash and and there would be fault code stored in ECU saying engine start blocked by immobiliser or something like that. An you would be able to start engine if you do it straight after switching ignition on and it would run for 1-2 sec. Dodgy camshaft position sensor would also show in fault codes, crank sensor on the other hand often does not show a fault code.

Heres the best place for quality dash rings for future reference if you do decide you need some -

http://www.tachoringe.de/catalog/index.php?cPath=33_28

Hope this helps +++

Thanks mA8tey:)