WJohn

I bought a used black 2013 A-6 this past December. I live in South Carolina and it was originally from North Carolina. Problem: Every time the car sits in direct sunlight on a hot day (high 80’s and above) the front passenger window will not roll down or up, the mirror turn signal will not work, the door will not lock and the LED lighting in the door will not come on. On cloudy days everything is fine; parked in the shade or in the garage, everything is fine. If I park it in the shade after being in the sun, it takes about 30-45 minutes for it to work properly again. This did not happen until the summer heat began. I have an appointment with a dealer about 2 hours away and my schedule will not let me get there until mid-July. I will be parking in the shade or garage until then. Should I be more concerned? The service desk at the dealer (newer dealership) is a bit baffled (they have ordered a door control panel in case that is the problem) and I’ve searched this forum for a similar situation and can’t find it. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as long as they don’t include tying umbrellas to the car.

younger64

I had a similar trigger to a heat related problem last year. In my case whenever the car was parked facing the sun it would act like it was night time, dimming displays, turning on headlights, etc. The solution was to replace the light sensor up behind the rear view mirror. An explanation I got was that occasionally there are microscopic cracks in the electrical connections in the electonics, and when they heat up with the sun the cracks open, the curcuit is broken, and problems occur, and these types of issues can be very difficult to detect during orginal quality control testing.

Good luck with your issue, sounds like replacement of the associated door electronics are a good first step.

snagitseven

It sounds like a wire harness issue to that door. Some how, the heat maybe causing a disconnect of the harness wiring. Maybe a loose connection?

tenspeed

That would be my first item to check too.

The one thing that is common with three of the systems (turn signal - door lock - LED lighting) is the ground connection.

The window motor should be reversing the polarity of the two conductors but there may be circuitry for the auto windows that might use a ground.

Take the door panel off and check the conductivity of the ground wire to the body of the car. Generally it's a black wire and you can double check by looking at all the connectors. Plug and unplug the connectors several times to clean the contacts and apply some dielectric grease to prevent future corrosion.

Richard Solomon

I agree with the debug steps, but OP is under warranty and I would *NOT* suggest removing a door panel that's under warranty as a DIY....

Let the dealer fix it under warranty and deal with any creaks, groans, or other noises (from the door!) that arise also under warranty.

tenspeed

I agree with that too. Since the appointment is mid July and it's at least an all day event, the OP might be tempted to take a look at it. If nothing else, he could suggest my theory to the service writer.

WJohn

Thank you for all of your help.

The mirror issue is interesting and sounds very similar to my problem.

I've looked at the wire harness sleeve entering the door and have jiggled it...just in case! It didn't make the LED lights flicker or turn off. The car is under warranty and since I loathe rattles or noises of any kind in a car, I will wait for the service techs to remove the door panel.

I plan on printing out this thread and taking it with me to the dealership to show them all of the suggestions and ideas.

Again thanks everybody for the help!

Richard Solomon

Oh agreed - I think I would have made time for a dealer trip 'cuz this would drive me batty! I've not gone through the schematics, but the problem might not even be in the door - it could be Central Electronics or some other module.

Personally I'd slap a VCDS on it and see if there are any fault codes. Given that my C5 grumps about thinking it can't unlock a door, I'd be shocked if a C7 hasn't already thrown a code or three....


Insert my standard rant about how EVERY Audi owner should have a VCDS (formerly known as Vag-Com) for stuff like this!
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...php?p=14705266

irenesbob

The OP is two hours away from the dealer. For the last 9 years that I have had Audi's my dealer has been about a mile and a half from my home. Soon I will be moving and the nearest dealer will be 57 miles away. That prospect leaves me thinking twice about getting an Audi next time. There's a Subaru dealer less than 2 miles from the new place. - hmmm Sorry to hijack the discussion, but the OPs comment got me thinking.

u2jrmw

I used to live in Chicago with plenty of dealers around. I move out to Iowa 6 years or so ago, now my dealer is a solid hour away. When I take my car in and it has to stay for any length of time it is a 4 hour round trip. There is a BMW dealership 6 minutes from my house.

I still buy Audi.