A4 convertible 2.5 TDIi 2004 sudden electrical problems!!

[bayo1]

I'm (suppose to be) the proud owner of a A4 convertible 2.5 tdi of 2004 with 115000 miles. It's been fine since I bought it just 2 months ago up to 2 days ago. Tried to open the car by remote..nothing happened. So I opened the door with the key, started it up without any problems. Then I notice my windows don't work, the roof light flashes on and off, so does the ESP light, my aircon switches on and of intermittently and the same for my headlights and light in my dashboard. Whilst taking it for a drive I then find out my indicators also work intermittently. Decided to park it and try again the next day..day after same thing but this time it doesnt even start at all and the battery seems completely dead! Managed to jumpstart it and drive it to the Kwik Fit thinking the problem was a dead battery...changed the battery at £120..NO CHANGE!! Car starts but still half of the car doesn't function!!! Checked the fuses but all seem fine. I just brought it into a garage,the mechanic's explanation of what it might be (faulty ECU/ modules etc) comes with eye-watering prices!!! They tried diagnosing but for some reason my car and hi's tester do not talk to each other so now he needs another tester...it's all getting more and more unclear what the problem might be. The only thing I can think of is the fact that It was raining hard for a couple of days and I did notice some leakage at the driver side window where the fuse box is...but like I said the fuses look fine to me.

Sorry for the long story But I could really use some help and advice I love this car and need it fixed..thanks!!

[kite]

Check your front passenger footwell for damp.
search on here for "Plenum drains"

[bayo1]

Picked it up from the local garage a minute ago...checked the passenger side carpet and it was drenched! (mechanic kept bangin on about faulty modules etc and never even noticed the fact that the footwell was wet!). This now means the drains have to be cleaned/ unblocked so all rainwater can drain trough properly + i believe the VAG (??) needs to be dried. I hope that will resolve the problems. The indicator lights and head beams now work but windows and remote are still down.

Thanks for your advise Kite your a hero! I'll keep you posted on the rest, I found a garage willing and able to do it all for me without paying trough the nose. Fingers crossed

[TapMyHed]

Locate the ECU, open the box, lift out the ECU, look for the bank of large relays, then dont be surprised if sitting in a bath of water. Replace the relays, dry out the box, add a couple of drain holes then make sure the area under the windscreen has the drain holes cleared...you might need to take out the battery.....not an easy task.
Next time you buy a battery, go online...same battery half the price.
Hope this helps!

[bayo1]

Thanks for the advise TapMyHed. Mechanic just called me..the entire car needs to be stripped and according to him theres a huge amount of water that needs to be drained before even carrying on any other work. The ECU is wet too so for now all he'll do is make sure it dries and see if it works afterwards..then take it from there.

I noticed theres many audi and vw owners that had this same problem, there also seemed to be a recall in 2010 for B6 models for a plenum replacement, called the Audi and of course the recall wasn't for MY chassis number (funny enough i read about the same response other members had from Audi) I was kinda expecting that.

Thanks again..i'll try and make some pics and/ or vids and post on utube as this is a common and nightmarish problem which I noticed has no pictures or vids for everyone to see the damage and how to deal with it.