Testing of DIS cluster?

Thank you for taking the trouble to respond to my comments. I have appreciated it, even though at times what is said can be rather personal and hard-hitting! (Mike)! Now, I am not stubborn and determined to provoke controversy. I can understand what you have all been telling me and consequently I will definitely not be requesting the VIM facility for the TV installation. In fact, I am of a mind to not have it installed at all! There is that intriguing button on my RNSe that says "TV" It must have had some purpose? So, exactly what is the usefulness of having TV in your A2? Am I right in assuming that the car has to be stationary to show a TV picture? I wonder if you could clarify if the engine can be running? So, say you were stuck in a massive traffic jam, then you have the TV to watch! Or you may have been waiting to pick you passenger up ..... even just pulled-over to watch the News? Is it worth it, I ask? I could simply sell this on? I see that my illuminating badge(s) still rankle? Just what could possibly be the harm in them? I don't feel they are outrageous and they they give a unique appearance to my A2 .... why not, for Heaven's Sake!


David
 
David,

I'm pleased to hear you've been put off the VIM idea. Whilst it's nice to add spec to one's car, it shouldn't endanger your life or the lives of others. Good decision.
Where the badge illumination is concerned, I couldn't care less about what you do so long as you stay within the law. Imagine how confusing motorway driving would be in the dark if everyone's lights were different colours. If you wish to make the rear badge a red brake light, go for it. I personally find the idea a bit naff, but there's no accounting for taste.

Tom
 
The rear badge has been illuminated (Red) for over two months! The badge is wired into the number-plate illumination.I have also doubled the height of the rear, centre brake-light using the same Audi part .... Oh, I don't seem to have seen any other car with any obvious front illumination?

David
 
The setup I have seen for TV in the front is that there is a sensor connected to the handbrake. So as long as the handbrake is on, the screen is displayed. Personally I think there is no point in it unless you are in a campervan...
 
That's right there's a swich on the hand brake which enables the tv when hand brake is applied.
 
There has got to be more to it than that! If it costs £70-80 +VAT to obtain that function (VIM), then that wouldn't just be for the dis-enabling of a hand-brake switch!? I thought that it is software programming? If the TV function doesn't have VIM, then what, I have asked, is gained from TV in the vehicle? ..... Mike (Skipton) .... what did you gain?

David
 
There is no handbrake switch facility in the normal Audi TV in motion functions. There are basicaly two methods used to enbale VIM in AUdi cars.

1. Disable the speed pulse/gala signal with either a switch (A6/A2) or a can bus filter (A3/A4/TT or new style RNS-E MK2 with no VIM hack)

2. Set the speed limit threshold of the navigation unit to 255kmh, this available for most Audi RNS and MMI navigation systems except for the RNS-E Mk2 which no one has hacked yet.


My money is on the software hack for DJ190
 
]'ve just been contacted by "Cartronix", based in "Waterlooville", Hampshire. My DIS cluster cannot be repaired! When I first contacted them they could not have sounded more confident in being able to get it working! I am told that the get 100 clusters a week and repair 99% of them! Trust me to be that "one-in-a-hundred"! And the fault? The micro-processor is corrupted and some data is not there to enable the screen to give full brightness .... They doubt that anyone else could repair it, either! I feel rather disappointed at the moment .... I will have to consider starting all over again ..... new cluster .... key programming .... Oh well ....

David
 
This sad saga continues! Just a word of warning to others ..... if you fancy doing this conversion, may I suggest that you obtain a cluster that has been fully tested, or at least is offered on a return basis if it proved to be faulty? Now, I immediately sent this cluster on to another "reputable" repairer, who also claimed that they can repair anything! They are now saying that the other Firm has damaged it! I really need my car for a much-needed holiday, starting Saturday. This what I want to ask you .... I have the original, non-DIS cluster, here. It is, of course, coded for my car keys. I wonder if I can use my car with that cluster in place? Obviously, there will be that extra, grey plug that is unique to DIS, that will be left unconnected. What do you think? Otherwise, it's going to be 2 weeks and counting, since I last used my A2. I'm feeling rather depressed at the moment ....

David
 
Well, I had sent it to "Cartronix" who sent it back, saying that it was not repairable! I then sent it, unopened, to "Cluster Repairs UK", who claimed that they had no Competitors, because they were the best! They contacted me to say that the unit had been badly damaged by the other Firm! .... poor soldering, etc. However, "Cartronix" said that that was rubbish .... they hadn't done any physical work to it at all! I realised that someone was not telling the truth! I needed the unit back for the 9th of February, because I wanted the car for a holiday in Oxford. I agreed for "Cluster Repairs UK" to correct the damage that they were saying had been inflicted by the other Firm .... That ended up costing over £60! I got it back on the morning of the 9th, special delivery. I installed it ..... the fault was there, just like before! (although the top part of the display was a little lighter, especially at the lower part. (It is almost like it is trying to fully illuminate, from bottom to top) I contacted "Cluster Repairs UK" who said that they hadn't seen the fault when they checked it over, and to send them some photo's of the fault! I think that that is very strange, because the other Firm had immediately seen the problem! I am currently waiting to hear from "Cluster Repairs UK". It has cost about £100 up to now, and I still have a faulty unit! The car was off the road for 2 weeks, too! I just wonder who can really be trusted, I am so confused! "Cartronix" assessment was that it couldn't be repaired, by anybody! Maybe THEY are right?
I just hate to admit defeat on anything ... that's the way that I've always been! I would dearly like to know exactly WHAT is wrong with that cluster! I feel that everything can be repaired .... it is just a matter of how much of it needs to be replaced ... even if it ends up approaching 100%! LOL! I just have a strong "need to know"! SO FRUSTRATING!

David
 
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Yes, but you eventually wake up from a nightmare and realise that that was just what it was! It is easy to be wise after an event, but it is looking like the best way forward would have been to simply purchase another cluster (From Germany, maybe?), and cut my losses! (That was what "Cartronix" had suggested!) Oh well, let's see was the ultra-confident Guy at "Cluster Repairs UK" (he's called "Ethan", by the way) has to say! Hope springs eternal? LOL!

David
 
Hope didn't spring eternal, this time .... "Cluster Repairs UK" had it over 2 weeks .... they found the faulty part .... a small, electronic "switch", to do with switching between amber/red for the top display section, They know its part number. They have tried to obtain it .... no joy! Well, somewhere in the U.S. can supply at 47p ..... but you have to buy a roll of 3000 of them!!!!. "Ethan" at "Cluster Repairs" says that the only way to do it is to buy another, identical cluster and extract the component from that! Now why on Earth would you do that? You would just use the unit that you've bought just as it is, wouldn't you? LOL! I suppose that if it would have been possible to get another DIS cluster that was faulty, then maybe it would have provided the part needed to repair my cluster ..... I don't see these clusters coming up for sale very often ...... any leads?

David
 
That's a pain that you have to buy so many. All you have to do is buy the 3000 and put the rest on eBay simples:)

Is it worth contacting every dis repair specialist that you can, to see if they have any of these parts.

Cheers

David
 
Hi David, What is the location of this 'electronic switch' and what is the part number?

Can you take a picture of the fault and post it here?.

Do you still have you original cluster from your car?


Cheers
Sarge
 
Hi Guys! .... What I've been telling you is what I got over the telephone from "Ethan" at "Cluster Repairs UK". I mustn't be cynical and think that he's saying that just to "save face", because the real fault was exactly what the other Firm (Cartronics) had said .... corrupted/missing software programming instructions? "Ethan" also told me that he had tried swopping the "faulty" component with one from another DIS A2 cluster that they happened to have there, but that had resulted in the top display segment lighting up TOO bright! I do feel that they would have got it working if they could .... I was even called at 21 : 30hrs on Thursday, by him, regarding the cluster repair! The other Firm, "Cartronics", had offered to try to source another cluster from Germany, and I gave them the Audi part number. It's 8ZO 920 980J (it can also have an "X" after the "J", if it's been remanufactured ...) I could contact "Cartronics" to see if they DID come up with anything. The Post has just now delivered the cluster, unrepaired ... I know that I can still use it, but I would have liked it to work correctly. I suppose that I've just got to be patient and wait for another to turn up .... it is still a pity to have to (eventually) scrap a complete cluster, for what appears to be such a minor fault! Failure is so very rarely in my mind-set! LOL!

David
 
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