right headlight bulb out .. VCDS help needed (replaced bulb no luck)

[reardoma]

2015 S4 6MT, I am guilty of playing around with VCDS coding now and then but have everything 100% written down and backed up.

Main bulb (i use DS3s) on passenger side went out. Had an extra so swamped it hoping for a quick fix. No luck. I'm thinking the only easy fix left would be a fuse, possible?

Headlights - Philips DS3 V2C21 xenon
Fog Lights - Philips LED E2X2

Here's my VCDS printout


00979 - Lamp for Low Beam; Right (M31) 012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit Freeze Frame:

Fault Status: 01101100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 249
Time Indication: 0

00003 - Control Module
014 - Defective Freeze Frame:

Fault Status: 01101110
Fault Priority: 1
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 250
Time Indication: 0

01771 - Control Module for Headlight Range (J431) 008 - Implausible Signal
Freeze Frame:

Fault Status: 01101000
Fault Priority: 4
Fault Frequency: 5
Reset counter: 254

Freeze Frame:

Hex Value: 0x0040
Hex Value: 0x4082
Hex Value: 0x001F
Hex Value: 0x109E
Hex Value: 0x0000"

[Ashtonts]

Ballast?

Edit: After googling those codes, my suggestion sounds less likely.

[reardoma]

No idea but those aren't cheap, I am also curious if VCDS tweak is a possible culprit as the left headlight works fine.. you'd think any VCDS hack that might affect the bulb would apply to both left and right

[Smac770]

M31 refers to right halogen low beam bulb. So you have halogen headlights? Would guess not since you refer to D3S. But your J519 seems to think you have halogens.

Control module for headlamp range J431? You don't have one in a B8.5. That was all integrated into the J519. Maybe it's a hold over message text. Maybe you have a problem with the left rear height sensor.

[reardoma]

M31 refers to right halogen low beam bulb. So you have halogen headlights? Would guess not since you refer to D3S. But your J519 seems to think you have halogens.

Control module for headlamp range J431? You don't have one in a B8.5. That was all integrated into the J519. Maybe it's a hold over message text. Maybe you have a problem with the left rear height sensor.

Well it is looking like this was something in VCDS I did… it also seems to think I have side lights. Disabled those = warnings now gone... but don't remember enabling them?

While I did write down any and all I did,

Any chance there’s a way to reset the entire Central Electric 09 module / Coding 07 to defaults? Or do I need to do step by step…pretty sure there are 38 bits.. I know models/options would dictate VCDS but maybe I’ll get lucky… if anyone has a b8.5 pp 6mt with nav but not drivers let me know....


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[reardoma]

Also one more question... does the fact my left headlight is fine and both high/lows are working but not the right mean it's LESS likely to be something incorrectly set in vcds?

[Smac770]

Seems you might get that same component identifier, 00979, for the right HID bulb as well as the right halogen low beam bulb. Unintelligent, but I'm not entirely surprised by it.

It does seem unlikely to be a coding problem if one side is error free, as none of the coding, that I know of, is side independent. To figure out if it's the bulb, you'll need to swap them left-right and see if the error stays right or moves left.

[evanb]

Seems you might get that same component identifier, 00979, for the right HID bulb as well as the right halogen low beam bulb. Unintelligent, but I'm not entirely surprised by it.

It does seem unlikely to be a coding problem if one side is error free, as none of the coding, that I know of, is side independent. To figure out if it's the bulb, you'll need to swap them left-right and see if the error stays right or moves left.

Do the same with the ballasts.

[reardoma]

So a bit of an update.

Did some swapping, here are the results:

- Working Left Light attached to right harness = works
- NOT Working Right Light attached to left harness = does not work


So this leads me to conclude the issue is in the right headlight module itself, so ballasts are back in play. I see two - I assume one is the surrounding light and the other the bulb itself. Assuming I don't have any issues disconnecting them and swapping them, I will test this today and update the results.


FYI - the light stopped working last week before i took it into the audi shop to have resonated downpipes installed. When the shop noticed the light out, i told them I had a replacement bulb coming, and learned the hard way in the future to just let them diagnose anyway - as obviously it's not the bulb. LUCKILY they are sneaking me back into the shop Monday to take a look at this, so we can see if our suspicions are correct... right now i'm leaning towards the ballasts.

[reardoma]

central electronics09 - coding07 - byte0.JPGcentral electronics09 - coding07 - byte1.JPGcentral electronics09 - coding07 - byte2.JPGcentral electronics09 - coding07 - byte14.JPGcentral electronics09 - coding07 - byte15.JPG

Looking for help in VCDS with the following screens:
09-Central Electronics, 07-Coding, Long Coding Helper, Bytes 0,1,2,14,15

Headlights - Philips DS3 V2C21 xenon
Fog Lights - Philips LED E2X2


Anyone wanna be a HUGE help and let me know what your settings are IF you HAVE the nav package and DO NOT HAVE drive assist pkg. I'm in a 2015 s4 6sp PP w Sports D and Drive Select, no adaptive dampening suspension.

[Smac770]

Why do you have all those check boxes on in bytes 01 and 02? First three bytes are 26 00 00 for a US spec B8.5 A4 with HID from the examples I've seen; it's 26 00 10 for my B8.0 A4 with HID. Might be what's confusing the J519.

Normal values for bytes 14 and 15 would be 3D 0D. You've turned off "low beam load monitoring". Though that should be irrelevant to the DTC at hand.

Did you swap the HID bulb alone to make sure the bulb actually works?

[reardoma]

I am unsure about the why in this case, but that’s where I am.

I did indeed swap out the bulb itself to test and the bulbs both work on the left side.

After swapping out the ballasts today it’s at least one of those, but I am trying to get that vcds module and bytes straightened out .. like I said I have a dealership appointment tomorrow, so I’m hoping they will they be able to load some sort of default profile for my model …. Or some sort of reference point


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[reardoma]

what say you/anyone on this one?

a.JPG

[reardoma]

cleaned up most things, here's my output now fwiw......



Address 5F: Information Electr. Labels: 4E0-035-6xx-5F.clb
Control Module Part Number: 8R1 035 746 F HW: 8R1 035 746 D
Component and/or Version: H-BNT-NA H41 0812
Software Coding: 110200000206F3FF57028F5E00000403140000000100000000
Work Shop Code: WSC 06325 000 00000
VCID: 3A2D39CF8C52F7CB817-806E
1 Fault Found:

03157 - Functionality limited due to Communications Disruption
000 - -
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100000
Fault Priority: 6
Fault Frequency: 2
Reset counter: 0
Mileage: 107804 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2021.07.19
Time: 00:24:21

Freeze Frame:
Bin. Bits: 00000001 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000001




And what i think is at least one bad ballast...



Address 09: Cent. Elect. Labels: 8K0-907-063.clb
Control Module Part Number: 8K0 907 063 DH HW: 8K0 907 063 DH
Component and/or Version: BCM1 1.0 H16 0103
Software Coding: 260000878134AFE0248459C300003D0D0F9C8308A209022100 0008004020030100000030000000
Work Shop Code: WSC 06325 123 12345
VCID: 78A9E3C7F2DE25DBB73-802C
1 Fault Found:

00003 - Control Module
014 - Defective - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00111110
Fault Priority: 1
Fault Frequency: 7
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 107695 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2021.07.15
Time: 12:20:37

[Frankracingza]

Have you tried to run basic settings / adaptation?

You might have to reflash the software onto the control module , it might be corrupt

[reardoma]

Shop cannot get to the car this week.... some guys "called out" and apparently that delays everything by a week... so i'll test/play around more!


2 questions.....


1- There appear to be two ballasts per light, and i know swapping the larger of the two runs the main bulb. What is the other? What does it control so i can test it to see if i need a new one of these as well?


2- In the photo below, is there any other reference to this light in VCDS other than DRL? I want to make sure i'm not missing a tick in a box somewhere as I'm not getting these on even with the working ballast swap.

images.jpeg

[reardoma]

Have you tried to run basic settings / adaptation?

You might have to reflash the software onto the control module , it might be corrupt

So i am able to access all the basic settings and also the adaptation-10, which requires the security code which it accepts. However i will google reflashing the software onto the control module... I'm assuming, but wouldn't proceed without checking here first, that refreshing the 09 module wouldn't interfere with any of my APR customizations, don't know enough about the tune to understand if these are the same/different things.

[Frankracingza]

Won't effect your tune different control module and different software, start with just doing a basic reset , disconnect the battery for 30 min to a hour and then reconnect, works alot of the time , if that doesn't work then basic settings and adaptation

[Frankracingza]

There is 2 ballasts one for xenon and one for drls

[reardoma]

There is 2 ballasts one for xenon and one for drls

Great. So in VCDS i have somehow disabled the DRLs because my working left light isn't showing them either, and i doubt both ballasts on one side failed at the exact same time just the DRL ballast failed on the working left side.

So.

Step 1-
Order replacement ballast for main light.

Step 2-
Enable DRLs in VCDS

Step 3-
see if swapping the DRLs ballast from right to left continues to work or doesn't work on good headlight.

Step 4 - order or do not order 2nd ballast.


***My concern is now in step2, as the following i thought** would enable the DRLs, so i'm missing something on another screen.
(in our vcds guide it says check bit 4 but mine spits out an out of range error when i attempt to do that).

central electronics09 - coding07 - byte2.JPG

[Frankracingza]

Deactivate drls , turn ignition off for 5min then reactivate drls and cycle ignition again

[reardoma]

Deactivate drls , turn ignition off for 5min then reactivate drls and cycle ignition again

i have the battery unplugged while i'm on a call here for work (pleasures of working from home)..

I'll provide updates once i get back in there!

[reardoma]

So i found a key to the above 09 central elec. module and recoded it. I had in my history from a week back so it was before any changes.

Seems to have changed a few things but i am not getting the headlight and DRL running at the same time.

To confirm, if i have DRLs running, shouldn't the full on mode (far right) in the headlight settings run both the DRLs and my low/high beam simultaneously?

It would be hilarious if i've spent a few days trying to achieve something that was never occurring in the first place



Have a replacement ballast in the mail already, so in reference to the codes above/below, this will most likely solve-
1 Fault Found:
00003 - Control Module
014 - Defective - Intermittent


However I still have:

1 Fault Found:
03157 - Functionality limited due to Communications Disruption
000 - -
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100000


And my understanding* is this is due to incorrect coding either in 10-adaptation or 07-coding of the 09-central electronics control module. So either the key i found above did not work as i initially thought, or it's an adaptation issue?

Here's the crazy thing...

I went to check the brightness of the headlights (09->security access-> 10-adaptation -> byte3 -> value X (default 26)..... and i found THIS:
09-03-turn signal..JPG
I mean.... wtf?

[Fresh.S4]

when i get home ill take some pics of my vcds. just let me know which screens you want.

check to make sure your wiring harness on the inside of the p/s front fender hasnt been getting shredded if you are lowered

[reardoma]

when i get home ill take some pics of my vcds. just let me know which screens you want.

check to make sure your wiring harness on the inside of the p/s front fender hasnt been getting shredded if you are lowered

I need to fix this so these screens would be nice, maybe the long coding value ?


Address 5F: Information Electr. (J794)
Part No SW: 8R1 035 746 F HW: 8R1 035 746 D
Component: H-BNT-NA H41 0812
Revision: Serial number: 204J+0E7684082

Coding: 110200000206F3FF57028F5E00000403140000000100000000

Shop #: WSC 06325 000 00000
VCID: 3A2D39CF8C52F7CB817-806E

Subsystem 1 - Part No: 8R0 060 884 CA
Component: NAR 2014 1002

Subsystem 2 - Part No SW: 8R0 919 604 A HW: 8R0 919 604 A
Component: DU7 High H42 0104 Serial number: A130J20E3149888

Subsystem 3 - Part No SW: 8T0 919 611 L HW: 8T0 919 611 C
Component: E0380 Bedient H02 0030 Serial number: 00000002004349

Subsystem 4 - Part No: 8R0 060 961 G
Component: CD-Database 5950


1 Fault Found:
03157 - Functionality limited due to Communications Disruption 000 - -
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01100000
Fault Priority: 6
Fault Frequency: 2
Reset counter: 1
Mileage: 107804 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2021.07.20
Time: 16:31:31


Freeze Frame:
Bin. Bits: 00000001 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000000
Bin. Bits: 00000000 00000001

[reardoma]

ok anyone that hits this thread and wants to know what the heck was going on.. here's what i hope (as i type this) is the conclusion... i coded the wrong chassis ... here's the thread...

[Gorillabeard]

I know this is an older post, but I'm having a very similar issue for the past 3 or so years. My right bulb is not working majority of the time. I've changed the ballast and bulbs at least 4 times thinking that was the issue, but now I'm beginning to think it's not. When swapping the bulb and ballast to the left headlight housing they work just fine. The weird thing is every time I've changed the ballast with a new one it seems to work fine for like a week or two straight then it goes out completely, but will turn on and work randomly out of the blue for no apparent reason whatsoever.

The last time I changed the ballast was about a year ago until I just gave up on it and stopped driving the car at night because I can hardly see anything on the road with just 1 headlight. Last week I got home from work when it was dark out and parked in the driveway while I was talking to my cousin and all of a sudden the light turned on while I was just sitting there with the car running. My cousin suggested I turn the headlights off and then on to see if it still works but after doing so it remained off and hasn't come back on since.

I don't have a VAG cable or VCDS but I do have Carista. I've made a lot of changes with that but I don't think I've messed with any of the lighting tweaks. I never actually thought about if that could have been the culprit until I came across your thread and followed the last link you shared about your vehicle having the wrong chassis code. I don't think Carista is capable of telling me which chassis I am on so I have no way to know if that's my problem as well.

Your other threads are locked from further replies so I couldn't ask there, but you also didn't leave an update on how you solved the issue or if you ever actually did when taking it to the dealership. Did you find a solution to your problem? I'm completely stumped and have run out of ideas at this point.

My car is a 2013 S4 B8.5 and you are the only person I've come across, after years of searching, who has the same issue with right bulb not working but LEDs working fine. Please help if you can.