Testing of DIS cluster?

D

DJ 190

A2OC Donor
This question could be a bit difficult to answer, but here goes ..... I wonder if it is possible to test a DIS cluster before the keys are coded to it at an Audi dealership? The background to this is that the cluster currently installed into my A2 has exhibited a fault with part of the display (the top section) being barely visible. I could buy a (cheap) DIS cluster from a petrol A2 and hope to swap the display component (difficult), or I could buy the exact same DIS cluster (for a much higher cost) If I did that, I would want to be able to quickly test its integrity before the unavoidable trip to the Dealers for key-coding. Well, that's it ..... your help, please, Guys?


David
 
Hi David

The cluster contains the gateway and immobiliser but I am fairy confident that if you install a cluster not coded to your car/keys, the display should illuminate. This should give you an idea of the functionallity of the display before you purchase. Make it a condition of sale, strip your car to a point where plugging the cluster is quick and check before you hand over the hard earned. You and then either re-code the unit to your car or attempt a repair.

blue skies
tony
 
Hi Tony,
Thank you for your help! It is still not too clear exactly what IS the problem with my fitted DIS cluster? The top section is dim .... (you can just pick-out the radio stations) Amber symbols are at full brightness, though. I can purchase a DIS cluster for only £45, but it is not the correct part number. I wonder if you think it could be used for parts to get my DIS fully operational? I am pretty good with intricate electrical work (I recently re-built and repaired a Nikon Coolpix S8100 camera!) I have a micro (electric) soldering iron and a whole host of miniature devices .... what do you think? I would have to know that the (petrol) DIS cluster would have compatible parts to repair my own DIS cluster, though. AND I would need to know exactly what is wrong with mine, too! If only there was a way to "tweak-up" the upper display brightness! ( Or put a new "bulb" in it!) LOL!!

David
 
Yes, I've tried them already ....... £100+ , saying that it was a component AND software problem? I have been given so many potential reasons for failure, my head is spinning! (I am usually quoted over £100 + VAT, though) That is why it could be cheaper simply buying another cluster ..... or attempting a repair myself?

David
 
David - baby steps!
Get the cluster checked out by any crowd that specialises in that area - the people Mike has suggested are good starting point.
Your alternative to repair the cluster could also lie in an eBay vendor but possibly risky?
Failing that, you could look to repair the unit yourself - i'm pretty sure the display screen is common through the entire range and a swap-out could be feasible.
It does sound like pixel failure to me.

blue skies
tony
 
Hello, DIS screen can be tested using VCDS, it lights up whole DIS to check visibility.
If screen lost his pixels, it also repairable.

Sorry if the information was already mentioned in this topic.
 
I'm pretty convinced that the insight given to you by others as to the source of the problem is correct and that it is the screen (or at least the microprocessor that drives the screen) that has gone kaput.

I think if this were my cluster in my car, I'd be paying the money for a cluster repair expert to sort it. Yes you might be able to buy a replacement DIS screen and solder it in yourself, but you'd risk busting your own cluster if you got it wrong. At least if you sent it to a company to do the work it's their responsibility if they do something wrong, and with their skills they could probably more easily solve the problem in the first place.

I think £100 is a very reasonable price to pay for a professional specialist repair job and then you'd have peace of mind that the job is fixed.
 
No, that hasn't been mentioned before! Thank you so much for your contribution! Do you have any information regarding the screen being "repairable"? I gather that the screen can be replaced, but it has been intimated by another A2OC member that the soldering work involved is extremely intricate and difficult to perform .... Also, what provides the screen illumination? I find it hard to understand why the very same screen section fully illuminates when amber symbols are displayed? I can purchase another DIS cluster and thought to use it for spares (the screen, for example) What do you think of that idea? Thank you for your input!

David
 
I imagine by cluster being repairable, that Aivarukas means that the screen can be replaced and soldered in. Once LCD pixels die they can't be resurrected.
 
DJ 190 said:
No, that hasn't been mentioned before! Thank you so much for your contribution! Do you have any information regarding the screen being "repairable"? I gather that the screen can be replaced, but it has been intimated by another A2OC member that the soldering work involved is extremely intricate and difficult to perform .... Also, what provides the screen illumination? I find it hard to understand why the very same screen section fully illuminates when amber symbols are displayed? I can purchase another DIS cluster and thought to use it for spares (the screen, for example) What do you think of that idea? Thank you for your input!

David
Click to expand...

I am from Lithuania, repair cost here is about 20-40 pounds, usually faulty cable to screen or the screen itself (sometimes they even fix the lost pixel problem without changing screen). Don't know details or repair instructions sadly, also not sure about part compatibility, A2 is rare in these lands.
If you have tools and knowledge how to do soldering and certainly know that new screen is compatible, i encourage you to do that yourself. 45 pounds loss is worth a try, if you don't risk you don't drink champagne. Doing everything by yourself gives more "worth" than paying for repairs in service every time something goes off.

P.S I think sometimes LCD dead pixels problem is caused by faulty cable. But if the pixels died itself, it certainly cannot be repaired as mentioned dan.
 
O.K., I have taken the sensible and considered advice offered Members replying to this thread. That is the whole purpose of this Forum, and much appreciated it is, too! I have selected a very professional firm in "Cartronix", Waterlooville, Hampshire. No nonsense and straightforward costing. £99 + £9.60 postage. 24 hour return guaranteed. 2 years warranty. I had examined the cluster and there was no way that the I could have replaced the display! .... thanks, Craig! Also, it almost certainly wasn't that, anyway! (Pixel failure is usually total!) Oh, I had just been quoted £300 for repair by a Preston-based outfit, anyway! I suppose that this latest repair has pushed this project into a rather expensive bit of work, but that is the luck of the draw! I will get the bulb-failure feature of the DIS up and running, too .... just need the K41 relay and some wiring information from "Sarge"! Then it will be down to London for the fitting of the TV into my A2 (£150 + VAT) Maybe "video-in-motion", too? (that's £70)

David
 
DJ 190 said:
Maybe "video-in-motion", too?
Click to expand...

The ability to watch TV whilst driving. Now there's a feature I don't want. Remind me to steer clear of your neck of the woods once you've got that mod sorted. Am I right in thinking that's illegal, and for good reason? I'm guessing insurance would also be invalidated if so...?
Good to know the DIS cluster will be repaired, though.
 
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It is not illegal for a Firm to fit VIM and it is not illegal to own a car with it fitted. The justification is that it is for the use of a front passenger. That is "from the horse's mouth"! The occasional glance at your Sat-Nav screen is quite obviously a necessity, and there are no howls of protest about that! Nobody in their right mind would attempt to get engrossed in an absorbing TV program whist driving, would they?
 
HI David, sorry but according to the UK Traffic Act:

Under Regulation 109 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, it is an offence to drive a motor vehicle on a road if the driver is in such a position as to be able to see, whether directly or by reflection, a television screen showing anything other than information:


(a) about the state of the vehicle or equipment;

(b) about the location of the vehicle and the road on which it is located;

(c) to assist the driver to see the road adjacent to the vehicle;

(d) to assist the driver to reach his destination."

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/109/made

So you can have a sat-nav screen on RNS-E but not use that screen for TV-related video
 
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DJ 190 said:
...Nobody in their right mind would attempt to get engrossed in an absorbing TV program whist driving, would they?
Click to expand...

I've 'been there and done that', and I can tell you 100% that it is very distracting seeing the screen in your peripheral vision when you are (trying) to concentrate on the road. Particularly when your passenger starts talking about the programme. It's fine for the rear seats but a really bad idea for the front passenger seat. Even if it wasn't illegal I would strongly recommend against it.
 
DJ 190 said:
It is not illegal for a Firm to fit VIM and it is not illegal to own a car with it fitted.
Click to expand...

No, but it's just illegal to drive the car on the public highway, as the regs posted by Dan show.

You argued the toss about vehicle lighting regulations before with your lighted badge nonsense and now you want to just push the boundaries that little bit further again - why? What is it that you're trying to prove? Anyone who knows me knows that I'm no fan of the nanny state that's grown up in recent years, but then I also see the common sense that cars should only have certain coloured lights and that you shouldn't be able to have a television picture visible from the drivers seat.

If you want to go ahead and do these illegal and frankly, stupid, modifications, then just do it and don't bother discussing it with the members here, especially when they've all told you not to bother - all you're doing is winding people up and also alerting the boys in blue to your plans.
 
DJ 190 said:
...The justification is that it is for the use of a front passenger. ... The occasional glance at your Sat-Nav screen is quite obviously a necessity, and there are no howls of protest about that! Nobody in their right mind would attempt to get engrossed in an absorbing TV program whist driving, would they?
Click to expand...

Are you seriously trying to claim that having a SatNav screen is equivalent to having a TV in your car? The SatNav displays slowly changing information about your position, in much the same way that the instrument cluster displays information about your speed. There is no 'plot' to SatNav.
Radio broadcast is designed to be intelligible without a visual component, which is why it's safe in a car. The same cannot be said for TV. Listen to a film you've never seen before without watching it and try to keep up with the plot... I bet you can't manage it! Unlike radio, TV broadcasting is only fully intelligible by using two media, namely sound and vision. If your passenger is watching TV and the audio is coming through the car stereo, you'll be constantly tempted to glace down at the screen in order to keep up with what's going on.

I'm also not a fan of the nanny state, but some laws are in place for blindingly obvious reasons, and this is one of them!
 
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