The last time I drove my 1996 a4 2.8, everything mechanical and electrical was working fine. Since then it has sat through a cold night. The next morning it started up just fine, however my wipers, sprayers and headlight washers did not work. after checking fuses and such, I had then discovered that my climate control had not been working; the buttons are illuminated when the lights are on, but the display is dead and the heat will not come on by manually turning the heat up.

I'm very frustrated at the moment and I was hoping it was as simple as changing a fuse, but I guess not.

Matt

 

also, climate control, window defogger, instrument control module and diagnostic outlet are not working. I think it might be the load reduction relay, but im not really sure... any ideas?

 

Im having the exact same problem. I've been checking grounds and such but with no garage and it being cold outside i can only work in small increments of time.

 

take off your knee bolster under the steering wheel and start pulling relays out one at a time, give them a hard smack on something, and reinstall. its possible some condensation got in there and froze the contacts in one position.

i cleaned out my garage specificly for the winter. and the $100 propane salamander heater i bought at home depot was the best money ever spent.

 

I FIXED IT! I bought the general Autozone manual and checked out the wiring diagrams, narrowed it down to a relay as you said under the knee bolster, and sure enough it was burned out. I ordered the part from the dealer ($23) and wallah everything was fixed.

thanks

 

Wow ghost good thinking. Ill go grab that relay out right now and bring it inside. Im almost positive that its my load reduction relay and it seems to work when its warm. Ill let it "thaw" and throw it back in and maybe that will do the trick. Thanks for the reply.