SAFE SAFE SAFE mode ....

[CartoonDog]

Got car back from dealer... just love driving in 2 hrs of traffic jams with no music (unless you consider honking horns music, if thats the case then you might consider some of the hand gestures tv!) because the radio (concert II) was in safe mode. After pulling over to read the ambiguous manual, I came to the forum when I got home to find that there is a lot of mystery on this issue. Here is what I found/did.

1) Just because you pull the fuse or remove the radio, does not necessarily mean that you radio will go to safe mode. The radio looks to see if other modules in the car are the same as the last time it was disconnected( removed, fuse pulled...). Therefore I assume that your radio could be working fine... you have your cluster replaced, but the battery was never disconnected, therefore your radio will NOT go to safe mode until it has reason to believe that a power down condition exists...

Okay, enough theory, when I got in the car the combo RDS and SCAN buttons would not bring up the code entry screen. Also the manual does not state how long to hold the buttons, but I found that if the code entry window does not appear in 10sec. it is not going to. After driving home, I still could not get the code screen. Pulled the fuses, still no luck. Re-read the manual on the 'cycle' which is quite ambiguous, (pg 25/26 audio manual.). So I parked the car turned the ignition off, turned the radio on (safe mode) and let the car sit. An hour should be sufficient, but I left it all night. In the morning, the code screen appeared while holding the RDS and SCAN buttons for less than 10 sec. For those who dont know, you code should be in your audio manual front page. My head unit was replaced in the past, but the code has not changed.

If anyone who has facts on this issue I welcome them to add to this post. I am not the expert on this issue, but if you search the forums you will find a lot of VOODOO on this subject. This is what has worked for me. A very frustration issue.

Cartoondog.

[christopherjs]

Friend of mine has a previous generation A4. Long story short, car got screwed up dealer denied fault (out of warranty), so he brought the car to an independent mechanic. Radio in safe mode, mechanic walked him to the trunk, read a label and told him to remember some 4 numbers. And what do you know, it was the radio lockout code.

[CartoonDog]

You heard that a guy went to a garage mechanic who said somewhere in the trunk there might be a number that is the code for a vehicle that is not even part of this forum?! Im not trying to be a jerk, but I am sure that is how it sounds, I really just wanted to post KNOWN facts in this thread to help people without wasting their time on items that are ambiguous or lacking in fact.

Sorry for the tone. Cartoon

[christopherjs]

If I had my car, I would go outside and look in the trunk to see if this is true. Unfortunately b/c some jerkoff kids decided to try and steal my car, damaging the doors and locks, I don't have my car right now.

My friend told me this after I had already dropped my car off at the shop. So, sorry for posting voodoo but I figured if I had some possibly useful information it would be helpful even though I'm not able to verify it at the moment.

[CartoonDog]

car in the bodyshop, I just got mine back... what a nightmare... 3 return visits, I am happy now. The shop was excellant to the extent that they never complained, no matter how small the issue was/is, and provided a rental each time. I can say now that is is finally finished, it looks pre-accident condition or better. The worst part is trying to get the paint smell out of the car!

Cartoondog.

[JustJeff]

[christopherjs]