Car wont even crank over......battery good!!

[na1mt]

Went to start today....nothing. pulled battery out and had it load tested at Auto Zone...they say its fine so I buy a fancy digital charger for $100 and Im on my way. Hook it to charger at home and it reads good...great, so I get in to start and.........when I open door the mileage screen comes on....flutters and then stays dim. Nothing when I try to start....so Im thinking there may be a loose ground somewhere.....anyone help with grounding locations?

[Brav]

Sounds like fun.. does it click at all when you turn the key? multiple clicking, is dead bat.. one single click usually bad solenoid/bendix

[alrightroad]

Clean terminals and cables back there on the battery?

[bmlee007]

If there are no clicks at all, check the starter. I've had the ground lead disintegrate before, though it doesn't explain the display issue.

[na1mt]

Battery is at 100% now, according to the fancy digital display on the charger.......no clicks, no display, no nada. It has to be a grounding issue....I was driving it like a tool last time I had it out so its very possible something came loose, I just dont feel like searching for these locations...lol

[ttboost]

Ground strap is on the passenger side, very front corner, under frame behind right front tire area ...you'll see a big wire connected to a stud or bolt (don't remember) and the other end connects to the front starter mounting stud (towards the front of the engine). You can kind of trace it back from one end or the other. There are also some grounds (if I remember correctly) in the passenger side cowl) where the battery terminal wires go.

[na1mt]

Thanks. Going into the city today for the San Gennero festival but will check all these spots this week.

[vitalian]

If your battery's good, it's not your starter. When my starter died, all my accessories came on fully when I turned the key, accompanied by a single "click" (as Brav says). Since your accessories aren't coming on, it does sound like a connection problem.

[na1mt]

Ok, started messing around a bit today. What I did notice is that the cavity in front of the firewall and windshield is filled up with water....alot. To gauge how much, there are two heater hoses side by side passing through to the engine compartment...they are almost completely submerged. Obviously the drains are clogged, but where are they?

[Brav]

Flood will ruin electronics, everytime. Bummer. There are two if I remember right.. you will likely have to remove the coolant reservoir to get access. Once open, lots of room.

In related news, I also had a fire-wall misshap today. Blew a coolant hose off of the heater core hard line that also connects to the reservoir. While on freeway, heard a PSHHHHHHH followed by sweet musky G12 coolant, then overtemp warning. Thank god for the freeway service patrol that let me borrow pliers and gloves to slip the hose and clamp back on, and give me water, all free of charge. Nice!

Anyway, I thought I had a pic of the drain hole, but I don't.. its a rubber grommet. Just pull the firewall cover off pull out what you can, and get a shop vac to suck everything out. I hope you didn't fry your ECU or other electronic..

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/ckreidel/Audi%20RS6/IMAG1425.jpg

[na1mt]

Thanks, I guess I have to get to that this weekend. This sucks.....what is up in there to get ruined? I did see a wire loom.

[Brav]

There is a big battery ground on firewall and positive cable running in there i think (see red cable in photo). not sure wants on the drivers side. but i think that there is a drain just below what I show in the pic.. i was just looking in there again.

[speedtrapped]

Shite Ron, hope u didn't fry ECU. Text me in am I have a solution.

[ben916]

Ok, started messing around a bit today. What I did notice is that the cavity in front of the firewall and windshield is filled up with water....alot. To gauge how much, there are two heater hoses side by side passing through to the engine compartment...they are almost completely submerged. Obviously the drains are clogged, but where are they?

When you do this, can you take photos so others can see and add this to maintaining the BEAST?

[lswing]

Yep, pics would be cool, I need to check those drains...good luck!

[na1mt]

Ok.....that is a pic of the drain in your pic on the bottom left portion of the pic with that black cable running directly over the center of it. All I did was remove the weather stripping and cover pulls out from under windshield cowl exposing the cavity. I then was able to get the drain to flow by using a garden stake to clear the blockage....lol. There is a distribution block or some type of relay that the positive cable runs into that bolts to the firewall right underneath the coolant reservoir that I would bet money that is causing my problem....as it was mostly submerged and has visible corrosion on the bottom.It says Mega on it and made in USA and is probably 4"x6" in size. The water never reached the ECU containment box, so hopefully I got lucky there.

[Brav]

Yea, that was the part I was thinking would be causing the problem.. hopefully it corrects itself when you empty the pond.

[na1mt]

Ben, this thread was helpful, http://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/20971-Class-Action-Suite-Water-Enters-car?highlight=Diy .......unfortunately I just read it now,lol. Water is all drained, still no power so I am assuming that part is shot. Does anyone know what it actually is or have a part number?

[na1mt]

Had time today to get coolant reservoir out of the way to get to that fuse block. It is actually a 200 amp fuse that allows power to the entire system. The entire block is rusted after inspection, once removing cover. The reason the power was intermittent was due to the fact that the power cable to the system was severely freyed and actually now broken off completely from block. I guess this is probably the best reason to make sure your drains are clear, although I must add that Audi engineering team were pretty moronic to put this where it is, given the possible circumstances of a failure.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206302__zps0bae09dc.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206303__zpsd4f0d48e.jpg


.........tried to post so you dont have to click pics, but failed....sorry

[MaxRS6]

^ Pics...

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206303__zpsd4f0d48e.jpg



http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206303__zpsd4f0d48e.jpg

[na1mt]

That's at least one of the pics.....lol

[MaxRS6]

That's at least one of the pics.....lol Well- no good deed...-LOL...let's try the udder one (twice for good measure)...

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206302__zps0bae09dc.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/fishhead785/951246962_photobucket_206302__zps0bae09dc.jpg

[Brav]

Ugly stuff! At least you are on the road to recovery.

[speedtrapped]

Ron, get the car covered or garaged. I know u have a garage, makes some room. That damage looks like those drains have been clogged for a long time. Look on bright side, the car could of died on highway!

[na1mt]

I know......3 car garage with no cars in it....lol. That cable goes all the way across the front of car back through firewall.....gonna be a pain in the arse to replace. Since I have to remove cluster to tap into speed sensor wire as well....I will install the RNS-e at the same time that I have in the closet. And damn my cell phone takes some good pics....lol

[na1mt]

............ok replaced fuse block and cable end today. Started right up but battery light is on. It appears as if the alternator is not charging. Ran a scan and comes up with P1602-002 ......low voltage intermittent terminal 30. Could this have fried my alternator?????

[kismetcapitan]

Hope it can get sorted quickly; my alternator died this summer, and a fresh rebuild with labor cost less than $200.

I had an electrical incident with my car last week. Some half-finished construction on the road left a hidden sudden dip then a bump, which launched the left side of my car airborne and ripped the left-side battery (I have two Odyssey PC925s) from its strap. My car immediately went dead. I look in the trunk and the battery's positive terminal was touching the frame and doing its best to arc weld itself to the car. I managed to get the battery back into place and jump started the car with my spare lead-acid battery. Drove the car later for 30 minutes and all has seemed well since then.

I'm guessing that if anything got fried, I'd know it? There's no way my ECU flashes got erased? The only thing I've noticed is the traction control light flashing on full-throttle launches, but that could also be cooler weather making more power/reducing tire traction (but it didn't do this last autumn)?