I have 2002 A6 2.7T with a factory Symphony radio with a cassette deck, and CD changer on top. Several days ago the Symphony radio became unresponsive, yet the red backlighting remained on with no text in the display. Even when the car and key are completely off, there's still a red light showing inside the cassette deck.

Each day since the battery has progressively struggled to crank & start the car. This morning it was dead & only able to get the starter clicking.

The radio's fuse (#37) is intact. After reading some of the posts here I tried removing the fuse, which made the red light in the cassette deck go out. However even if I waited a few minutes to replace the fuse the red light came back.

Any feedback from anyone on a solution? The battery isn't that old, but I obviously don't want to keep draining it down. For now I've removed the fuse until I get a jump, and hopefully a fix on this forum to avoid a costly visit to the dealership.

Thank you in advance!!!