Is it worth me buying VAG-COM?

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This is my first post hope its in the right place.

My A2 has lots of probs - abs light and beeps, strange whirring/blip from front passenger side (also sometime get yellow steering wheel) it eats tyres and coil springs and its got a bad water leak (the boot is very wet).

Then one day it refused to start, eventually found it to be the instrument cluster (clocks). Got a replacement cluster off ebay but now find it needs to be recoded. So I have been looking at cables on ebay for around £20 to £30 but with these I dont think I'll get the functions I need.

Would probably get the proper Ross-Tech VAG-COM but not sure if this will work for me because I don't have access to the 7-digit SKC (secret key code) found this on Ross-Tech http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/Immo2-cluster-swapping.html which pretty much explains what I am looking to achive. However I think I will come unstuck at step 12 - which means it's a dealer workshop job and will be expensive.

The second paragraph of the guide mentions a 4-digit SKC where would I find this - I have a feeling this is in the owners manual you get with the car, which I can't find (I used to have it) is there any info on the "plastic key" which would let me do the re-code?

Is there any way I can just disable the immobiliser?

Hope some one here can help me.
 
I think the only person on here that could help with this is Mike (Skipton01)

Even if you got Vag.com you still would not be able to do this, as you either need the software that can get this from your old clocks or get the info from Audi + you'll need to put the miles back on as well.

How long have you owned your A2 for to notice all the problems ?

Phil
 
you will NEED to go to a dealer to change the mileage. No way around that I am aware of and all the grey options in Germany have disappeared due to legal issues. You need to get a PIN for the cluster, and that is only from Audi. Should be a ten minute job, maybe £50?

The water leak is probably the spoiler, or if it has a sunroof, the drain channels.`Possibly also the rear vents... it's been covered before.

The ABS light is probably an ABS sensor or cable issue. That would also explain the steering wheel. Get it scanned and fix it.
The passenger door is probably either a dodgy connection in the footwell or the CCU is on its way, which is either a repair job from Lau or a replacement at around £200.

Bret
 
Thanks for the quick reply fellas.

Not really the news I wanted to hear thought, I thought the whole point of VAG-COM was to enable "amatuer mechanics" access to dealer level diagnostics tools.

I was under the impression that I would be able to read the 5 digit soft code off my old clocks and recode the "new" clocks with that code, once this had been done then I would be able to re-synchronise my keys to the "new" immobilser. I also found some stuff about odometer correction (changing to KPH or MPH) from memory when the clocks have been recoded you get a chance to change the recorded milage - but only once.

I have had the car for around six years now and it's been relaible. I guess the faults I have been experiencing are just part of the joy of owning an a2.
 
VCDS has never laid claims to be able to change clocks or extract SKCs and it won't work in this case.

I might be able to help as Spike says, but it's not guaranteed (I have a full VCDS system as well as other tools to obtain the extra codes), so if you want to give it a try, you can, otherwise it's Audi only and I'm doubtful that they'd code in a second hand set of clocks.

By the way, if the clocks are over the mileage that's in your present set, there's no way to roll the miles back.

Cheers,

Mike
 
I used google to find this link http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/Immo2-cluster-swapping.html can't remember the phrase I used to find it but I did book mark it because it appeared to be exactly the information I was looking for.

I guess these instructions are for a "brand new" instrument cluster not a second hand one then. I did not think that VCDS would be able to extract the SKC's but was under the impression that I would be able to replace my instrument cluster with a used one if I did have access to my SKC.
 
It's often the case that when people sell instrument clusters, they sell them as a complete kit with the ECU and keys, as these 3 items all go together to form the immobiliser circuit and form the 'brain' of the car.

You might be able to use the instructions to swap out the clocks alone, but you will need the SKC first, not just for the old clocks, but for the new ones too.

Cheers,

Mike
 
So if I could find a kit with the ECU, Clocks and Keys then it would be a straight swap then?

I got the "new" clocks of ebay for £30 which I thought was a bargain untill I ran into the problem of needing them recoding. Is there any way to dump the contents of the EPROM on the old clocks onto the "new" clocks? I'm quite handy with a soldering iron so I had been considering swapping some chips off the old clocks onto the "new" clocks to see if I could get round the problem that way.

Is there any place that could fix the old clocks?
 
while I'm of no help to the issue, i just want to say if it is a amatuer mechanics job or a bit of soldering to swap a different clock in. Then there could be a lot of very high milage used VAG cars with a much new clock! I would expect a decent level of security!
 
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