Hey I was wondering if anyone here could give me a hand with a really friggin' annoying (and weird) problem that developed with my '04 A4 1.8T yesterday.

I installed an aftermarket iPod adapter to my Symphony II (Bose, no Nav) and of course after disconnecting the battery and head unit, the handy dandy theft system kicked in and locked my radio. As luck would have it, since I bought the car used about a year ago, the original owner followed the nicely laid out directions in the owners' manual and cut out the card with the stereo unlock code printed on it and put it in a safe place. I contacted my dealer and they told me they would look the code up in their records and get back to me this morning (it was 7:30pm last night when I talked to them). So I'm not anticipating having much trouble unlocking the head unit once the dealer provides me the code.

I did notice though, once all this had transpired, that my keyfob would not lock or unlock the car. At first I chalked it up to horrible coincidence that the fob's battery died but then when I tried the second keyfob and it did the same thing, I knew something was up. I Googled the issue and noticed that although I didnt find any Audi-specific cases of this happening, other people had it happen on other makes (Ford, etc).

Of course, all the links I read were forum posts much like this one and no one had a definitive answer.

What I do know: the battery is reconnected securely, as is each wire on the head unit. Nothing is loose, and I wanted to get that out there so I didnt get responses of "check your connections" .

Has anyone heard of this before, and if so, what can I do to fix it myself? I don't want to take a trip to the dealer, they're about 45 minutes away and a PITA to get there.

Thanks!

 

The following instructions are to reprogram your switchblade key fob.

1. Take a spare key and insert it into the ignition. Turn it one click forward.

2. Roll down your window just in case. Step outside the car, and lock the car with a second key.

3. With your second key fob press the unlock button. The lights should flash.

4. Now lock the car with the key fob, and then unlock it.

5. Remove the key from the lock and the key from the ignition, and try it's function.

 

For the "spare" you refer to, do you mean the valet key (non-keyfob)? And one click forward so that the display shows up?

I tried what you said with 2 keyfobs, not the valet key, and it didnt work.

Sorry for being a noob

 

It should work with two switchblade keys.