TCU removal

[uncfrk]

I plan to find & remove the TCU this week end & send it to Hoppen for them to do their thing & return. I will start by doing some interior parts removal to pull up the carpet near the area where the passenger's right foot would be. Any advice would be welcome. Should I disconnect the battery? I searched for about 45 minutes, and didn't get to the right place.


"Owning an RS6 is NOT a matter of life or death.

It's much more important than that."

[hahnmgh63]

I wouldn't worry about the battery, just have the key off. The trim on the passenger side front door just pops out and there is a screw or two on the side plastic panel below the glovebox that need to be removed. You can just pull up the carpet after that without getting into it too deep and sqeeze your hands in there without having to remove more.

[SAF]

This thread is useless without pictures!

(I plan to do the same pull soon and close quarters vision isn't my strong suit. Damn old age!)

[terrytcl]

as it was mentioned before -

make sure to move your passenger front seat all the way to the back position and raise it up. it will help when you have the carpet up. i disconnected my battery (just being safe)

the plastic seal just behind the sill plates pops up. there are metal clips holding the plastic trim onto the metal lip of the chassis.
the front of the trim (closer to the engine) will just pop off of the lower plastic kick panel, the rear of the trim will be held on by the B piller interior trim that can be removed by slightly moving the rear door sill trim away from it.

once the lower kick panel is removed with the two screws, you should be able to remove the kick panel out completely. there will be a rats nest of wires behind this kick panel.

remove the 8 8mm bolts holding the glove box to the dash. if i remember correctly, there are 8. remove the connector for the light and the glove box should slide down and out competely. there is another light for the footwell. disconnect that connector when the glove box is away from the dash.

pry the carpet up and you will see a black box with a wire harness leading to it. the black plastic box is just pressed onto a barbed stand off on the chassis. you shouldn't need any tools to lift it up and out.
i used a breaker bar to prop the carpet up. the carpet is molded and has foam rubber on the bottom to fit the contours of the chassis. it was easier with the carpet propped up so that i could use two hands to open the box. you may need a flat head screwdriver to pop the cover open. may or maynot... depends on your hand strength.

the TCU is just clipped in. no tools if i remember correctly. then disconnect the harness from the TCU.

i shipped the tcu in an old ESD safe pouch that came with a motherboard. wrapped it in bubble wrap and shipped it out.

Hoppen will ship it back with paperwork and in their packaging. Mine came back with a sticker on it stating it had the MTM software in it... and I noticed that one of the rivets were drilled out so that they can get to the eprom.

good luck

[uncfrk]

Thanks for the information. I'm sure I can get it done properly.

[LIRS6]

I plan to find & remove the TCU this week end & send it to Hoppen for them to do their thing & return.

Contemplating the same - have certainly read enough about the merits of doing the TCU chip, such as smoother and quicker shifts, but are there any negatives in way of performance, or otherwise?

E.g., might a warranty be voided?

Or is a chipped TCU not obvious to a tech or revealed with vag-com, so no big deal? Anyone have any experience in this respect?

(I have Fidelity powertrain)

TIA

[Spidercat]

Audi dealer installed mine a year or two ago when it was in for DRC (2nd failure--not the upgrade) or maybe TC--I forget, and they usually won't install ANY aftermarket stuff.
Hoppen Motorsports had a superfast turn-around-time, too. In and out of their shop in one day! Can't beat that.

I'm on Fidelity, too. I think that if you have a good relationship with your dealer/SA, it shouldn't be a problem. I guess they'd have to rat you out AND prove that the TCU caused the failure. That wouldn't be too good for return business. Don't know if it shows up on VAGCOM. My experience only.