well today stupid me decided to take my gauge cluster out of my car because it was filthy and needed to be cleaned. so i took it out and cleaned it. when i put it back in the car the ei light came on and the car will not start and the interior lights will not come on. whats weird to me though is that the lights on the heater controls and the hazard light button stay on even though the car is off as well as the headlight switch. so any ideas what should be done? it is a 2002 with a 1.8t. the remote for the car still works fine.

 

could i just disconnect the battery?

 

You my friend, are screwed. Does the dashboard read SAFE? if it does it's time to take a trip to your nearest Audi stealership to unlock your vehicle and relearn your immobilizer to your key.