RS6 won't start.. Where is the main fuse?

[spoolinrs6]

Hey guys the other day i tried to turn on my rs6 it turned on literally for one second and just died on me. I have tried jumping it so many ways and nothing. The car is dead no lights on dash at all. I think this a battery problem or needs a fuse. Any suggestions please?

[UrS6]

Is it cranking? If it's cranking it's probably not the battery. EDIT: you said no lights. So it probably is the battery. I'm sitting on the side of the road right now. I think mine is the engine speed sensor. When I hope my VCDS up and crank the motor I get no signal from it. It says zero RPMs. 95 degrees here sitting on the side of the road waiting for a flatbed.

[MaxRS6]

Might try the ECU fuse. Wild guess and less than .03 worth

[urs6ville]

I think mine is the engine speed sensor. When I hope my VCDS up and crank the motor I get no signal from it. It says zero RPMs. 95 degrees here sitting on the side of the road waiting for a flatbed.

I bet it starts again when it cools off. Symptom common on VAG cars... have had it happen on my UrS and VR6.

[spoolinrs6]

No the car is literally dead it has power to the battery I checked but it's dead no lights on dash and I have to put the key in the door to lock it.

[spoolinrs6]

Do you know where ecu fuse is located max rs6?

[lswing]

Master fuse? You get any heavy rain? Pop hood, look at passenger side under cowl below windshield. There's a big ass fuse there. Although my car was fine, we found it heavily corroded a few years back.

When my battery died a few years ago, it would at least take a charge from a jump. When dead it would still turn on all lights, just clicking as the starter didn't have juice to turn over.

Best of luck fellas!

[Bigglezworth]

In situations like this ALWAYS start at the battery. Then move on to the connections. Even a car that has a battery with a bad cell can usually be jumpered from another car and started - as long as the battery has zero charge and is deemed 'dead' . If you can't even jumper it to start, have NO dash lights, headlights, radio, etc., then it's certainly a battery. Try a battery charger. If you don't have one, take the battery out and have a load test performed at any local battery reseller. Not sure where to start next, but I highly suspect you won't need to worry about that since I believe it's a battery.

[spoolinrs6]

Master fuse? You get any heavy rain? Pop hood, look at passenger side under cowl below windshield. There's a big ass fuse there. Although my car was fine, we found it heavily corroded a few years back.

When my battery died a few years ago, it would at least take a charge from a jump. When dead it would still turn on all lights, just clicking as the starter didn't have juice to turn over.

Best of luck fellas!
Do you know exactly where? I couldn't find anything. Can you send a pic?

[lswing]

Do you know exactly where? I couldn't find anything. Can you send a pic?

Can't get a pic, moving my car.

Did you remove the black plastic cowl that covers all below the windshield and over the coolant tank? I remember it being fairly obvious once that was removed, the wires are large and it's a big fuse. Passenger side...

[spoolinrs6]

i just see the air filter there. i took it out nothing under there.

[lswing]

i just see the air filter there. i took it out nothing under there.

Hmmmm, I could have sworn it's up against the firewall right there, near the drain plug...hope someone can weigh in.

[ttboost]

It's in the cowl. You need to remove the cowl cover on the passenger side...it's deep down...Start with your battery, then your alternator. Common problems. If you get it jumped and running, check power at the battery. Anything less than 13.5v-14v, get an alternator. Good luck...

[EINHORN]

or a voltage regulator.

[Bigglezworth]

Voltage regulators are frequently a component in all alternators these days and are not responsible for starting a car. They are solely to ensure the alternating current generated by the stator doesn't overcharge the battery. If you have a dead battery it's caused by a few things - not being charged in an extended length of time (charge depletes while they are hooked up to a car's electrical system as there is still 'draw' when a car is parked and not running), dead cell, crack in case that leads to overheating, poor internals in the alternator (be it a voltage regulator, brushes, stator, open circuit to ground, etc.). Effectively once you use the DC current of the battery to start a car you can leave it running on the AC current generated by the alternator and remove the battery. My money is still on a bad battery being the problem with starting. As to why your battery has failed, the next stop as stated by the previous two posts are to ensure your alternator is providing a sufficient charge rate that ensures your battery is always at full charge. :)

[lswing]

It's in the cowl. You need to remove the cowl cover on the passenger side...it's deep down...Start with your battery, then your alternator. Common problems. If you get it jumped and running, check power at the battery. Anything less than 13.5v-14v, get an alternator. Good luck...

Thanks, I was beginning to worry, I new it was there! The amount of corrosion on mine was something else, worked fine though.

[hahnmgh63]

Yea, like he said. Under the plastic cowl cover next to the Pollen filter. A lot less work than pulling the Airbox, takes about 30sec to get to it.

[MaxRS6]

I had a no start with cranking when fuse 31 (pg 282 owner's manual) blew a couple of times over an extended period. The last time it did it (years ago)- it would crank but not start. Final determination was the APR chip had come loose. APR re-installed the chip and all has been good. Good luck on hunting down the headache bear.

[spoolinrs6]

It was on the driver side next to the computer I changed the fuse still nothing and the battery has good power. It's like the car is fried no power whatsoever

[lswing]

It was on the driver side next to the computer I changed the fuse still nothing and the battery has good power. It's like the car is fried no power whatsoever

Odd, wonder if you have a Canadian car? That big fuse is certainly on the passenger side as we've mentioned, US cars at least. Guess you could start testing around with a volt-meter, hope it's not something like the ECU fried.

[spoolinrs6]

I doubt it's Canadian and I already tried with the meter. Your right maybe the ecu is fried. Do you have another social network or number? I'll send you a pic of it for some reason I can't post anything on here from my phone or computer

[SteveKen]

Did you ever fix this.

The RS6 has two main fuses. One supplies the starting and charging ans the other supplies everything else.

It's highly unlikely that you've blown both of them. I thin the charging/starting one is 200A and the other one is 150A.

You say that you used a DVM and checked your battery, correct?

As ttboost said, above the washer fluid reservoir is where there's a little panel that can be removed. This is where the battery positive is, which then supplies the main fuses. Put the DVM probe on this and touch any ground to see if the battery power is making it up to the front of the car.

It's really strange that you've got nothing, as if there's no battery at all. I'm thinking that maybe your ground strap in the trunk is disconnected or broken? Maybe add a jumper cable from the negative terminal to another good ground?

[spoolinrs6]

Did you ever fix this.

The RS6 has two main fuses. One supplies the starting and charging ans the other supplies everything else.

It's highly unlikely that you've blown both of them. I thin the charging/starting one is 200A and the other one is 150A.

You say that you used a DVM and checked your battery, correct?

As ttboost said, above the washer fluid reservoir is where there's a little panel that can be removed. This is where the battery positive is, which then supplies the main fuses. Put the DVM probe on this and touch any ground to see if the battery power is making it up to the front of the car.

It's really strange that you've got nothing, as if there's no battery at all. I'm thinking that maybe your ground strap in the trunk is disconnected or broken? Maybe add a jumper cable from the negative terminal to another good ground?
hey sorry for the late reply but i found the fuse and it was corroded badly fixed it up and the car is running like new again!

[hahnmgh63]

Was it one of the main fuses on the passenger (right) side by the Pollen filter?

[spoolinrs6]

Yes it was. It was like a long line of metal then a big ass corroded fuse like nobody ever changed it. If you go on my IG I have a video of the car recently. @spoolin_rs6

[lswing]

hey sorry for the late reply but i found the fuse and it was corroded badly fixed it up and the car is running like new again!

Nice! Hope you cleared out the drain plug right there, I think that's why mine got corroded, water buildup.

I'll take my chicken dinner fried please...

[RS Sick]

Mine are next to the ECU under the plastic box. When removing my alternator I didn't disconnect battery and saw some spark action when removing the 13mm nut. After putting it all back together, it'll crank but won't turn over. Pretty sure I blew the charging/starting fuse, all the smaller fuses in drivers side door are fine. Battery was on charger overnight, kaestner rebuild has new brushes, bearings and VR.

Anyone know which is the starting fuse?

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[lswing]

Mine are next to the ECU under the plastic box. When removing my alternator I didn't disconnect battery and saw some spark action when removing the 13mm nut. After putting it all back together, it'll crank but won't turn over. Pretty sure I blew the charging/starting fuse, all the smaller fuses in drivers side door are fine. Battery was on charger overnight, kaestner rebuild has new brushes, bearings and VR.

Anyone know which is the starting fuse?

17588

You look at huge "main"? fuse under the cowl, passenger side.

[RS Sick]

I must be missing something, here's the passenger side.

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[lswing]

I must be missing something, here's the passenger side.

17589

...it's deep down...by the Pollen filter.

[RS Sick]

Is the pollen filter different than the cabin filter? If not is it just under the paper filter that's visible in the pic?

[nubcake]

Is the pollen filter different than the cabin filter? If not is it just under the paper filter that's visible in the pic?

It's hiding to the right of that filter actually. Trace those thick wires running there. Might have to undo expansion tank screws and lift it out of the way.
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[905084]

Thanks for the thread. My car has had several instances of "just dying" (no lights, no crank, and ECU reset) while the wife was driving it and I think this is probably the problem.

[Fastguy]

As was stated earlier, there is no fuse for the starter. Those large fuses are for the alternator and all the controls and lights I the car. Basically a main fuse before all the smaller fuses when you open your driver door. I learned this the hard way. I installed a new starter solenoid and the main lug to the starter (one of the posts on the solenoid) was just barely making contact with the oil line above it. It drew so much power into the frame back to the battery, it would appear the car lost all power. This was because of the tremendous voltage drop from a direct short. If necessary, I have a spare , complete battery to starter wire I can lay out so everyone can see what I'm talking about. It runs through the firewall and along the passenger side footwell directly to the + terminal of the battery in the trunk.

[Kgnast]

I am going through this right now actually. Totally corroded terminals, so bad the positive power lead was hanging by a few strands and ultimately let go. I have to run down and pick up some end terminals for the leads, some new bolts and hardware to screw em back down, clean off some corrosion on the exposed metal pieces. The fuse looks relatively fine, but might as well change it out while the fuse block assembly in in pieces for a cleaning anyway.

[Aronis]

Glad to read that you got it running! Excellent.....

Mike

[Kgnast]

I just did this... I removed the expansion tank. It is sitting directly beneath it. The fuse block is plastic. It connects to a metal frame with hex heads. Then the metel frame sits on bolts of its own on the firewall and is connected with 10mm nuts.

I cant get the nuts off the fuse block wires though. I had cut and put on a new end terminal for the main battery lead, but I can't get the old one off because the nut is seized on the bolt.


It's hiding to the right of that filter actually. Trace those thick wires running there. Might have to undo expansion tank screws and lift it out of the way.
17590