Hey all.

Just wondering if I should get the vag-com cable listed in this thread

https://www.audiforums.com/forum/aud...003-a6-182396/

New KKL VAG-COM Diagnostic USB Cable interface OBD2 For VW AUDI 409.1 Version | eBay

The above link is for the cable that I think should work.

Just want to check before I get it.

I replaced the cluster in my 2000 A6 2.7T, and now the tacho doesn't work, and there's a light with a flashing key in it (immobilizer)?

I'm hoping if I use vag-com i can recode the tacho with the current mileage (about 30k more), and remove/disable the immobilizer portion? (it's the immobilizer that i assume is stopping the tacho from working.)

Thoughts?

 

the cables that you get from ebay are usually just a way to connect your computer to your car. the software is available for free from ross-tech. the non-licensed cables, like from ebay, only work with the freeware version of the software. i know that the freeware has limitations and sometimes don't cooperate well with the non-official cables.

the licensed cable is significantly more expensive

 

Sorry but you may have a bigger problem - the 2000 MY A6 didn't have an immobilizer, so it sounds like the cluster you have now is from a later model year. If that's true, there's no way to "turn off" the immobilizer in the cluster even with a full-up VAG-COM, and that would explain why the tacho isn't working (it gets it's signal from the ECM as data and they are probably not communicating correctly). If the new cluster doesn't match the rest of the modules, there's no way to know up front what else will or won't work.
If it does match, and yours was a late 2000 that somehow ended up with an immobilizer in it, then you will need the PIN code for the new cluster to re-set the immobilizer so you can run the car. Some automotive locksmiths have the specialized equipment needed to pull the PIN from the cluster, and without that you're screwed, and not even the dealer can give it to you. Then it still wouldn't explain why the dead tacho...
Jim

 

Yeh my dad has vcds and the cable back in australia, unfortunately I'm in america, so that's not a big help.

Bugger about the cluster. I haven't checked the label on mine, but i'm fairly certain I don't have the Immobilizer.

If I used the Imoobilizer emulator (IMMO immobilizer emulator AUDI VW Seat Skoda products, buy IMMO immobilizer emulator AUDI VW Seat Skoda products from alibaba.com) then maybe I could possibly get around it?

Seems like a bit of a hack job though.

Might just have to resell this cluster on ebay and get mine repaired