Part no. 4DO 035 530 C

Hi all, the part no. is for the diversity amp in the boot floor. My radio recently got worse and worse-on checking the boot, it was full of water, to the extent that the box was partially submerged! I'm guessing that is kaput. Is there any way of testing, before I shell out for a replacement? There are some on ebay for various prices. I've removed it from the car, strangely there is still a bit of radio reception on radio 2 (generally the strongest signal round here). Anyone got one for sale? Is there any other likely culprit? Presumably at some stage I've got to get the boot bumper seals done?
Cheers!

Partly on this subject I experienced something yesterday with my radio it was all fine till I plugged in a car charger then the signal went weak not sure what's causing this?

audi Atwo said:

Partly on this subject I experienced something yesterday with my radio it was all fine till I plugged in a car charger then the signal went weak not sure what's causing this?

Click to expand...

I guess that's just interference from your charger. Not really related to the car. Try charging another battery not connected to the car and you'll probably hear same interference.

The chances are that the diversity switch-over box is toast and no amount of drying or cleaning will remedy the situation

Be wary of the boxes on Ebay - some have quite possibly suffered the same fate as yours!

There's no real alternative other than getting another box (pref. new), or putting up with poor reception. The A2 built in headunits are quite fussy as to the signals they like to have supplied to them and a lot of owners change to aftermarket units which are far better in terms of getting the most out of a weak aerial signal.

Whatever you do, get the seals changed before you install anything new in the boot, or you'll just be pouring cash away.

Cheers,


Michael

Thanks for all replies, guys-appreciated! There's no way of bypassing the box and plugging in an aerial directly?

Not really - the aerial in your A2 actually consists of 4 individual aerials and the box chooses the best signal from the 4 to send to the head unit. You could just use coaxial connectors to splice an aerial to the cable which goes to the head (remember there's also a return cable from the head unit too), but you may be connecting to an aerial which has broken (they do go quite easily) or hasn't the best signal.

The diversity change-over box was introduced in around 2002 to counter the very poor performance of certain radio reception in early A2s. You could consider this as a retrofit, but it'd probably work out cheaper and easier to repair what you've got, or possibly install a new aerial along the top of your windscreen (just under the headliner but on the shaded part of the glass).

This article may give you some ideas on how to proceed though:

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/converting-symphony-ii-antenna-system-use-with-rnse.67896/


Cheers,

Michael

Thanks, Mike-sounds a bit complicated! I've had radios in every car I've ever owned, with aerials including an old coat hanger-never had a problem with any of them! Is the issue because of the aluminium body? Is the aerial socket on the back of the unit in the dash just a standard aerial socket? By the way, you don't have the part numbers for the bumper seals handy, do you? many thanks for all assistance!

I believe that the aluminium shell is partially to blame, but Audi also have a habit of over-complicating their electronics and a simple aerial is victim to this too. Gone are the days when you could just use a wire coat hanger and the connector on the rear is a non-standard co-axial connector too.

As to boot vent seal, these are 4A0 819 181 and they're around £14 each I think.

Cheers,

Michael.