I have a 2002 A6 2.7T that (go figure) just came off warranty. I noticed this evening that the Bose radio and controls remain backlit all the time, and I can’t turn the light on or off. Also can’t turn the radio itself on or off. It remains backlit even when I turn the car off.

The screen doesn't say "SAFE", and nothing happened when I tried holding the buttons to re-enter the reset code. I'm guessing the fuses are ok because the radio is backlit, so it must be getting power.

Any advice would be appreciated....thanks!

 

Disconnect your battery for about 5 min the radio will reset its self and lights will go out. You may have to renter your safe mode code into the radio and the instructions are in your manual.

 

Thanks for the response!

I actually broke down and went to the dealer, and they fixed it for free in about 30 seconds. They pulled the radio out from the dashboard using four small metal hooks (two at the top, two at the bottom), then just pulled the fuse out and put it back in. It didn't trigger the SAFE mode, so I didn't even need to re-enter the code. Based on that, it sounds like disconnecting the battery would have worked too. Thanks again!

 

It is a common poblem with that style radio sometimes you might get lucky and find the tool to remove in your book. But if it happens again the battery does work though. But dealer for free is always good

 

Hi, I've had my 02 A6 3.0 for a week and ran into this problem. Thanks to this thread I was able to figure it out. My solution was to remove the fuse for a minute and put it back. It worked like a charm, and was a lot easier than pulling out the radio or disconnecting the battery.

 

you don't even need to pull the radio... you can pull the radio fuse on the driver's side fuse panel.

but don't get too excited. its like the man said. its a common problem for this radio... and it will happen again. the unit does have to be replace. you can keep pulling the fuse and resetting it, if you can live doing that. i dunno how long it will last tho.

 

I just had the issue with my stereo not powering up after removing it to add on a bluetooth adapter. I have a Symphony II in my 06 a4 quattro and found it unresponsive after pulling it out. Naturally I checked through all the forums I could find and tried removing/replacing the fuses and even disconnected the battery for a while in hopes that it would power back up. I spent nearly 4 hours searching for a solution trying every combination imaginable because I have the radio code for my unit and refused to go to the dealer for them to charge out the butt for a solution.

Well once I finally gave up, I started putting everything back and noticed that the face plate on my stereo wasn't flush from side to side. After pulling the unit back out to firmly press the face plate flush again power was fully restored! For my situation I knew my unit was receiving power as it was cycling through when I would pop the fuse back in, it just wouldn't turn on or show any display. Turns out that when I was pulling the unit out using the keys, once I got it un-hitched, I grabbed the unit with my hands from the top and bottom and pulled with force to get it out. Apparently I pulled with a little too much force and separated the face of the stereo from it's body and that was all it took. Long story short, be careful when using the keys to pull the unit out. I know this is an old thread, but hopefully it will help the next guy that comes across this situation.

 

👌😄 saved my life bro, same exact situation, thanks man!

 

I also removed my radio to connect a aftermarket amp, after installing it again it wouldn'tswitch on or display anything, but I did hear there was power because I could hear the CD changer do its thing. Checked everything, fuses etc and the wiring I did, still nothing. Searched for a long time till I came accross this and it was the same problem. Be careful when taking these radios out. Thanks CAL_08

 

​​​​​​... Let me just say that the only reason I opened an account here is to say THANKS FOR SHARING!!! Exact same thing just happened... Actually gave up on it when I found this post 😂