1. Home
  2. Audi Cars Forum
  3. Trouble with Sat Nav CD-ROM drive in a 1998 Audi A8

Trouble with Sat Nav CD-ROM drive in a 1998 Audi A8

Hi,

Car: Audi A8 2.8 1998 model (UK) S-Reg.

My Sat-Nav system seems to be bust. It was working fine but after I changed the CD it no longer works, even if I switch back to the original CD :(

My guess is that the drive was close to bust due to excessive wear/dust or whatever, and changing the CD just worsened the probelm beyond workability. I have been looking for a replacement unit at breakers but to no avail.

The error message in the display is invariably: "System error: Please check CD-ROM".

I tried using one of those CD-ROM cleaning CD's with tiny brushes, but that didn't make any difference.

Now I'm wondering what the most common type of fault in this sort of unit is, and if a hobby guy like me stands a chance of repairing it myself. I read the faq at

formatting link
andbrowsed
formatting link
as well, but I'dlike to know what my odds are before I start trying to take the unitapart.

Also the unit is mounted in the boot (trunk) of the car and the surface of it shows some signs of corrosion which would indicate it has been exposed to humidity (not surprising). So I wonder maybe some corrosion on the rails where the head move might prevent it from moving correctly and I guess that could be fixed with some graphite or teflon oil.

Basically I'm just hoping someone has some experience with a unit mounted in a car over a number of years in a medium to cold climate, and can give me some idea of what to expect and whether it's worth it for me to try and repair it myself - otherwise pointers to someone who might be able to help, either with repairing the unit or sourcing a replacement, would also be greatly appreciated ;)

BR, Descore

Reply to
Descore
Loading thread data ...

Hi,

When you say you changed the cd, do you mean that you put a different Sat Nav cd in. The reason being it may have uploaded some software and possibly not completed properly. Problem then arises that the older (original) cd then won't read either. This is certainly the case with Navtech, (not sure what yours is) as if you upgrade to a later year then all earlier years apparently don't work anymore.

I'm sure someone will correct me if this isn't the case. Other than that, as you suspect, it's probably the unit that's bust.

Good luck Bob

Reply to
Bob Fisk

Hi Bob,

Yes - I changed the CD from the 1998 version to a later one for a different region. And after that it didn't work with the other CD's.

I found out that you are right - the unit doesn't work with the older CD's anymore. I tried with a cleaning CD and it didn't make any difference. When I later tried with the latest edition of my local one, it worked - but only after a couple of other goes with the cleaning CD. So I am very happy now since I won't have to buy a new unit :)

I just wonder if there is a way to reset the software so you can use the older CD's .. This is because my CD's for some other European countries are older than the one I'm using here, and it would still be nice to be able to use them if I travel.

In any case thanks for your help and suggestions.

BR, Descore

Bob Fisk wrote:

Reply to
Descore

I don't know. I've not seen any articles from anyone who's found a way of doing it. You could try asking the Sat nav company but I suspect all they will do is try to get you to upgrade all your other disks, at a huge price. I think this is a lousy business practice (unless you're the vendor) as they don't give any warnings on updated disks that it'll make all your old disks useless. Oh, and if your disk gets corrupted they'll only supply you with the latest for the full price of course.

I won't be buying another one that's for sure.

Reply to
Bob Fisk

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.