Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum and new to Audi ownership. I just purchased a 2001 A6 2.7T with only 69,000mi about 2 weeks ago and was initially very excited.

After investing in new front rotors, brake pads, brake hoses, inner and outer tie rods, an alignment, a driver's side axle, 4 new tires, and a coolant reservoir, to the tune of $2500 she's running great. I noticed the LCD had many dead lines across it so paid a guy to fix the LCD. He did a great job but neglected to mention to me that he would be disconnecting the battery and that my car radio might go into safe mode. After replacing the LCD but before I turn the car on he says "Oh hey, you have your radio code right?" Me: "No, why?" Him: "Oh, it probably won't be a big deal, but every once in a while the radio goes into safe mode". Safe mode it is. I'm a lucky guy.

So next step, I head to the forums and learn about safe mode. Some people suggested trying 1111 or 1234 if it is the original radio. So I tried those, they didn't work, then I entered what I will refer to as "super safe mode" where you can't even try to input the code. Unfortunately my car did not come with a manual and I scoured the trunk and glove box for the magical code. When that didn't work I called the dealership where my car was purchased, as some had suggested, and was told "sorry, we don't have your vehicle's number on file as the system has been updated". So then I called Audi Customer Relations, which was actually a very pleasant experience, and was told to just get the AUZ off the side of the radio and they would help me for free.

So a few days later, and already seriously bothered by the lack of tunes, I had my car in the shop for an oil change and asked Goodyear if they could pull my radio and get the serial number. They attempted for a long time but said they couldn't get the radio out.

Today, I took the car to an Audi dealership, explained the situation, and waited for my radio to be fixed. After about 15 minutes they told me they were having difficulty removing the radio as some of the keys weren't catching. They offered to continue trying and risk breaking the faceplate and damaging the radio to the point that it would have to be replaced, or to stop and I quote "go to Best Buy, they can probably do it". They also offered to destroy my unblemished radio and replace it with a junked A6's radio that already had a huge crack through it, which they wanted hundreds of dollars for.

On my long and frustrated drive home from the dealership I called Audi CR again and explained my story. They informed me that not all dealerships are alike and referred me to another dealership which they state has an excellent reputation and should be able to help. "If they can't do it then no one can". So Audi CR called the dealership for me, set up an appt for tomorrow, and I am hopeful. Again A+ for Audi CR.

Of note, the guy who tried at the dealership told me that he has only seen this issue once before in 10 years of working on Audi's, where the key doesn't catch and the radio is essentially stuck in place.

Has anyone had experience removing an OEM radio when the keys don't catch where they should? Can it be done without ruining the radio? Do I bite the bullet, have them aggressively remove the radio but risk other damage and then replace/upgrade to something else? Should I try disconnecting the battery overnight to see if I can trick the radio?

What would you guys do? If you took the time to read this, I appreciate it.

 

I had one of my keys not catch. I was able to get one side out and then kinda forced the other side out. It was pretty tough to get out if I remember correctly.

 

If you can't get the radio out, just take your car to a local stereo shop that does aftermarket installs and upgrades. I know they would be able to remove it because they have the proper tools and would probably only charge a few dollars to do it. Once the factory head unit is out, the code itself may be attached to the radio case so hopefully you will have the radio functioning again.

 

I went to the other Audi dealership today and had a much better experience. However, they also were unable to pull the radio out in the standard fashion. What they did do though was pretty cool. They pulled the side of the console off, as I've seen in the forums, and used a fiberoptic tool to view the AUZ# and wrote it down. From there it was easy to get the code.

The problem is that I am unable to enter a code at this time due to the 2 previous wrong attempts. So I tried to disconnect my battery for about 20 minutes but this did nothing for me. I currently have my car in a garage with the key in the on position and the radio on displaying "SAFE". Hopefully in an hour this will all be resolved. Thank you for the replies.

 

Success!! After one hour with the key in the "on" position I returned to the vehicle. The radio still displayed "SAFE", so I was worried as I thought previous posts mentioned that the radio display would turn itself off after an hour.

After almost 3 weeks without any tunes I now return back to sanity.