VW tech buddy gave me master radio reset code. Worth trying on my 98 "SAFE" Radio?

[4A Play]

Before I waste my time I was wondering if any of you guys have heard of a master "SAFE" mode reset code for Audi and VW's.

Thanks guys!

[Don Supreme]

Please share... I have never heard about this.

[4A Play]

I don't know if I should really disclose it in case it does actually work lol. I will say this, from what I found on-line the Audi B5 codes start with 130X, with any digit zero to 9 being the last digit so there really is only 10 radio codes possible. On here a few guys said to just enter the code randomly becuase you can get it eventually. But is there a permenant lock out if you enter the wrong code too many times?

The code he gave me is 11XX which doesn't match what the zine is telling me.

[Haenszel20v]

just try it? it takes 10 seconds.

And... my b5 code does NOT start with 130x. FYI.

[4A Play]

awwww damnit, the Philly dealers all want $90 for the code. Without labor.

[CleanA4]

how to get around the permenant lock out. Happened to me but I got the right code now but its locked.

[Blake260]

leave the key in the on position for an hor IIRC

[firstars]

justask.com you can get radio code for your vehicle if you have the vin# and the auz# from the radio. Cost me $17

[A4Rob]

I found on-line the Audi B5 codes start with 130X

Mine does not. 09 is mine.

[flynnr]

or you can call into the dealership where the car was originally purchased. They have it on hand with ONLY the vin number.... FO FREE

here is my story!

i had the same problem as you fools for about 3 months... yes, im in college and have been driving to my girlfriends place (1 hour away) fairly often and back home (2 hours) occasionally with NO RADIO because of that damn stupid audi safe mode...

first off i bought the little keys to take out the radio... i have taken many a radio out in the past 8 years and have never, ever had a problem (when using the proper keys). well i couldnt get mine out! i made a post on here trying to figure it out but no luck...

so a week or so later on a sat i drove the 30+ mins to the nearest audi dealership, and their service department was closed, but one service guy happened to be just about to leave so i caught up to him and asked him about it... he told me they would have to take the radio out and do all this shit with the VIN and AUZ# on the back of the radio which would be "a half hour atleast" ($50 or more) this kinda pissed me off i was hoping they would just do it.... but like everyone else with this problem they wouldnt...

i then tried another set of keys hoping mine were just off a little... again didnt work...

so, me being very frustrated at this point (about a week ago now) i randomly was watching an episode of dexter and decided to call up carosel audi in the twin cities (where my car was bought new) (i am 3rd owner) anyways i got a service guy on the phone and politely told him i had been working on my car, took the battery out for a bit and then my radio has been in safe mode ever sence... well he just said you should go out to your car and read me off the VIN number from your car...

i went out and read the VIN to him and about a minute later he says "ok here we go your radio code is 1477" and i said ok thanks a lot and he said youre welcome and i hung up the phone in disbelief. sprinted outside to my car pushed in those 2 buttons and then typed in 1477 and pressed the 2 buttons again and my radio fking turned right on!!!

wow i was so happy. i couldnt believe i didnt try that to start off (the reason i didnt was because i read on here that they woudnt do it like that, and couldnt even do it like that ) but it worked !

so morale of the story is that you should just call in a dealership and tell them you need your radio code pulled and you know they can do it haha (maybe drop the line of you need the radio code to sell the car to a friend so you can go into their dealership and buy a new audi, but this is holding the sale back ;) )

you might need to call the dealership that your car was originally bought at though? i dont know but that worked for me.

good day hope this helped

[geeky]

or you can call into the dealership where the car was originally purchased. They have it on hand with ONLY the vin number.... FO FREE

here is my story!

i had the same problem as you fools for about 3 months... yes, im in college and have been driving to my girlfriends place (1 hour away) fairly often and back home (2 hours) occasionally with NO RADIO because of that damn stupid audi safe mode...

first off i bought the little keys to take out the radio... i have taken many a radio out in the past 8 years and have never, ever had a problem (when using the proper keys). well i couldnt get mine out! i made a post on here trying to figure it out but no luck...

so a week or so later on a sat i drove the 30+ mins to the nearest audi dealership, and their service department was closed, but one service guy happened to be just about to leave so i caught up to him and asked him about it... he told me they would have to take the radio out and do all this shit with the VIN and AUZ# on the back of the radio which would be "a half hour atleast" ($50 or more) this kinda pissed me off i was hoping they would just do it.... but like everyone else with this problem they wouldnt...

i then tried another set of keys hoping mine were just off a little... again didnt work...

so, me being very frustrated at this point (about a week ago now) i randomly was watching an episode of dexter and decided to call up carosel audi in the twin cities (where my car was bought new) (i am 3rd owner) anyways i got a service guy on the phone and politely told him i had been working on my car, took the battery out for a bit and then my radio has been in safe mode ever sence... well he just said you should go out to your car and read me off the VIN number from your car...

i went out and read the VIN to him and about a minute later he says "ok here we go your radio code is 1477" and i said ok thanks a lot and he said youre welcome and i hung up the phone in disbelief. sprinted outside to my car pushed in those 2 buttons and then typed in 1477 and pressed the 2 buttons again and my radio fking turned right on!!!

wow i was so happy. i couldnt believe i didnt try that to start off (the reason i didnt was because i read on here that they woudnt do it like that, and couldnt even do it like that ) but it worked !

so morale of the story is that you should just call in a dealership and tell them you need your radio code pulled and you know they can do it haha (maybe drop the line of you need the radio code to sell the car to a friend so you can go into their dealership and buy a new audi, but this is holding the sale back ;) )

you might need to call the dealership that your car was originally bought at though? i dont know but that worked for me.

good day hope this helped

some one must be bored the f*** out of their mind right now

[flynnr]

replying to a thread?


someone must be REALLY bored out of their mind right now if they are making posts about other peoples posts...

i actually copy/pasted that from my thread i made about it a couple months ago... that post actually took me about a minute to copy/paste

[Euromike]

let us try the code man!

its not like people go around stealing stock audi headunits from 10-14 year old cars anymore :P

you would help out alot of people if it works

[4A Play]

Well just called the dealer and he insists there is no way they can get me the radio code via the VIN number. My owners manual does have a AUZ code on a sticker though and after I read it to him he insisted that wasn't the proper AUZ code and that it was too many digits to be the radios serial number.

I took some pics of the dealer stickers in my owners man does any of this help me here?

Might the Key # be the radio code?

[flynnr]

its a long shot but i would try the 1508 just cause its the only 4 number sequence i see on that sticker

[A4Rob]

That is an option sticker and will not have your radio code on it.

[4A Play]

How about a four digit KEY # I found on the front of the book?

[A4Rob]

How about a four digit KEY # I found on the front of the book?

Yes, that is probably it.

[Mawhitey]

its a long shot but i would try the 1508 just cause its the only 4 number sequence i see on that sticker

Thats the vehicle weight in KGs.

[flynnr]

never knew that! thanks

[4A Play]

Well its not the Key # or the VW mast code. Just an FYI. Anyone know how many attempts I get before the radio is locked forever?

[walky_talky20]

Well its not the Key # or the VW mast code. Just an FYI. Anyone know how many attempts I get before the radio is locked forever?

I don't think it will lock forever. If it locks out, you just leave it on for an hour and you can try again. It is just to protect against brute forcing the code. You only get so many tries per hour. This is all AFAIK, someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

[4A Play]

Well I tried one code at 3 today and just tried another 20 minutes ago and there were two little tic marks on the screen so I guess it remembered that I attempted to enter two codes, spaced 7 hours apart.

I have been in contact with the dealership and they told me they would email audi and call me back. That was at 1:30 today, they never called me back so I called them at 4. He told me he didnt have a chance to email them yet but he surely would call me back. But guess what, No call lol.

[flynnr]

any call?

[4A Play]

Nope, called again today at 2 and was told the rep was out to lunch. They close at 6 so Ill be calling them again at 5:30. I don't really understand what the hold up is here at all.

[CleanA4]

Well its not the Key # or the VW mast code. Just an FYI. Anyone know how many attempts I get before the radio is locked forever?

I tried it twice and then I forgot about the one hour rule and didn't touch it until the next day. Now it only shows SAFE. The entry code does not come up. Any others ideas

[4A Play]

You guys had better not be telling me that my radio is locked forever now after two tries. Ill freak out.

[walky_talky20]

I believe you have to leave the radio on (with the key on) for an hour for the counter to "reset". This is just what I've heard. I've always had the correct code so didn't have any issues.

[4A Play]

Im scared to try any other four digit codes I find in the manual until I know for sure.

[B5A4Kevin]

3 strikes and ur out. if you enter an incorrect code(s) 3 times total, it will lock out. most you only need to leave the key on for an hour, but some cars can be either 4 or 12 hours iirc. all you have to do is leave the key on, turn off headlights, a/c and blower motor, and interior lights (all of which to avoid killing the battery and adding to your frustrations). then let it sit for at least an hour, or untill it just says safe again, without any hashmarks. if you only have 1 or 2 hash marks (attempts) you can keep trying, but the next one better be the correct code otherwise it will lock you out on the third try.

fyi vin is 17 digits, AUZ code/radio serial number is always 14 digits.


not all dealerships will have your radio code documented. the reason it worked for flynnr is that the tech who PDI'd the car (pre/perfect-delivery inspection) when it was shipped to the dealer, documented the radio code in his notes, and the service advisor punched in the vin and found it. the best way to get the radio code is to find the radio code card that is or was in the audio booklet of your owners manual. at least 3 times that i can remember, i have been assigned a car to retrieve the radio code and the code was in the manual the whole time. if it has already been removed, and you know you dont, your best bet would be to contact the previous owner.


again, its not common practice to document the radio code on initial vehicle inspection before it gets sold (at least i never have), but if you have already payed a dealership to retrieve the code, the tech or service advisor should have put it in the notes so they can reference it later (i always do).

and some times its just easiest to pony up the dough and have the dealer retrieve the code, because as far as i know there is no master code, and there are almost 2000 possible codes (some start with 0xxx).

[4A Play]

I have one of the previous owners looking for the code now and supposedly he also has connections at a dealership. We'll see. I definetly don't have the radio booklet, I even the factory tire instructions but no radio booklet. Im so damn frustrated. Im a little upset that I was told by two service reps that it wouldnt be a problem. Now I feel like Im getting the run around here and its just making me more upset.

Is it going over the line to ask for the service manager tomorrow?

Thanks Kevin!

[4A Play]

Well I just went out to try a code that a friend just texted me and its locked with only two hash marks on the screen so I left the key in the on position and the radio on. I guess Ill just wait patiently and go look in an hour.

Thanks Kevin!

[4A Play]

So I recalled the dealer the car originally was purchased from and was given the code. Too bad the radio has locked me out after TWO attempts. Its in the process of resetting right now. Ill post up if the issue is resolved.

I asked the tech what his managers name was so I could email him and tell his how greatly his techs helped me out. He replied "Well I appriciate the thanks but I was supposed to charge you $118 dollars for the code, so a letter to the manager might get me fired." I continued to thank him lol. Im pretty sure everyone was just too nervous to call me back and give me the code for free and thats why I didn't get a call back.

We shall see....

[4A Play]

And they gave me the wrong code!

[biketsai]

bummer

[missjennifer]

how to get around the permenant lock out. Happened to me but I got the right code now but its locked.

if you don't want to wait an hour just reset the battery (probably how you got in this mess in the first place, you aren't going to make it worse!) you also wont drain your battery leaving ignition 'on'

[FNK]

There is a way to never have to enter the Code ever again.
On my 2001, I can remove the battery for a minute or days and I wont have to enter the code. (I dont know my code anyway).

Don't ask me what I did, I didn't do anything myself. I bought the car like that. But there is a way!

[walky_talky20]

^My '01 never locked me out either. Interesting. I wonder if it's something to do with the CAN bus cluster or something. Like it can tell that it's still in the same car, so it's all good.

[bw86]

Same here - the battery to my car was disconnected for a good 6 months and the radio didn't lock me out when I finally reconnected it. Had all my presets saved as well. Wierd.

[cwsaudi]

My safe mode came on and I just cut 4 strips out of an old gift card to the shape of the keys and pulled my radio out and found a sticker with the code on it stuck to the radio. Not the most secure way to keep the code away from a thief but it worked out just fine for me.