Help With A Possible Problem

[sundowner]

Wondering if I have a problem or is this normal? Has anyone noticed that when they turn the ignition key to position #1 that 'INITIAL" sometimes comes up in the driver's Information Display on the top line where you would normally see your radio station? This happens about 50% of the time when I go to start the car and, when it does happen, I also loose the last display setting I had set in the Information Display. For example, I normally have the Digital Speedometer displayed but when the "INITIAL" occurs I very briefly (maybe 1 second) see the Digital Speedometer and then it always changes to the Digital Compass Direction. Anyone else experience this? Thanks.

[sundowner]

Need a little help - Audi Engineers now saying that this is normal. Added a Poll to get some feedback. Thanks.

[the_buch]

I find that if I don't touch anything when I'm turning the car off it restarts with the exact same display settings I had when I turned it off. If, for example, I turn the radio off before turning the car off (which I almost always do), then when restarting it always starts at one specific setting and I have to put it to the display setting I prefer each time. I don't see the word INITIAL in my '08?

[willyjp]

Wondering if I have a problem or is this normal? Has anyone noticed that when they turn the ignition key to position #1 that 'INITIAL" sometimes comes up in the driver's Information Display on the top line where you would normally see your radio station? This happens about 50% of the time when I go to start the car and, when it does happen, I also loose the last display setting I had set in the Information Display. For example, I normally have the Digital Speedometer displayed but when the "INITIAL" occurs I very briefly (maybe 1 second) see the Digital Speedometer and then it always changes to the Digital Compass Direction. Anyone else experience this? Thanks.

have seen that only once, afaik, and that (I thought) was due to the battery having been disconnected for some service work (installing my Escort 9500ci); I wonder if your instrument cluster is loosing power (and memory) when it's shut down?

[willyjp]

I just remembered that the one other time I have seen "Initial" up there is when (and this has been rare) someone else has had their Bluetooth phone paired with my car and I get in and turn on the car with my phone's BT on. Usually, the pairing and phone directory loading goes quickly when the same phone gets back in the car, but it is delayed if it's a "new" (not the last one loaded) phone, and I think "Initial" comes up in the phone display while it's loading.

Is a Bluetooth phone involved in this occurrence? If so, perhaps turn OFF your BT and see if the display still shows you "Initial" when BT isn't involved.

[jh001ace]

I get this with my car, not sure if I get the 'initial' part but usually the compass will be displayed after start-up even though I always have the speed displayed when the car is turned off. Bloody annoyimg

[sundowner]

have seen that only once, afaik, and that (I thought) was due to the battery having been disconnected for some service work (installing my Escort 9500ci); I wonder if your instrument cluster is loosing power (and memory) when it's shut down?

Thanks Willy. Have passed your idea on to the Service Director at my dealership. Definitely worth checking out..

I just remembered that the one other time I have seen "Initial" up there is when (and this has been rare) someone else has had their Bluetooth phone paired with my car and I get in and turn on the car with my phone's BT on. Usually, the pairing and phone directory loading goes quickly when the same phone gets back in the car, but it is delayed if it's a "new" (not the last one loaded) phone, and I think "Initial" comes up in the phone display while it's loading.

Is a Bluetooth phone involved in this occurrence? If so, perhaps turn OFF your BT and see if the display still shows you "Initial" when BT isn't involved.

Interesting that you should mention that. No one else has paired their phone to my car. However, my phone looks for two cars and pairs to whichever one its in. I did disable my Bluetooth on the phone for quite a while to see what would happen and it made no difference. The car would still Initialize and loose its settings.

[sundowner]

I get this with my car, not sure if I get the 'initial' part but usually the compass will be displayed after start-up even though I always have the speed displayed when the car is turned off. Bloody annoyimg

Yes, that's exactly what's happening to me. At first an Audi Engineer looked into this and said that it was NOT normal. Now they are not sure.

The "INITAL" (for Initializing) at the top of the display is the first thing that I see when I turn the key to position #1.

[Yspokes]

Sundowner....it sounds like they need to check the wiring harness to the BCU (body control unit) I would bet money this has been also causing your "no start" issue as well.

[sundowner]

Sundowner....it sounds like they need to check the wiring harness to the BCU (body control unit) I would bet money this has been also causing your "no start" issue as well.

Thanks Yspokes. Yes, I am also still having the intermittent no start problem as well. I have forwarded your suggestion to the Service Director at my dealership. Hopefully, he will forward to Audi as well. I don't want to irritate the SD but, I'm just so frustrated that Audi has not been able to fix both of these issues which I also have suggested may be interrelated.