A4 Window Problems: Troubleshooting Guide

Hello everyone,

It happened again today: While getting out of or after exiting the car, the power window on the passenger side activated on its own, opening the window a significant amount. After a few hours of rain, I can now potentially grow goldfish in the footwell. This problem has occurred several times in the past year, and it seems that I'm inadvertently pressing the switch with the back of my hand when getting out. However, this issue is quite controversial in the A4-friends forum. There are also opinions that the control unit is malfunctioning and causing the power windows to activate on their own. Some people suggest a solution involving an 'American coding' of the control unit, which can be adjusted via the diagnostic connector. This coding would immediately de-energize the power windows after the ignition is turned off, rather than after a few seconds or minutes.

Does anyone have any idea which channels need to be adjusted and how?

PS: I already tried an alternative last year, which involved switching the power supply to the window lifters via a relay that only engages when the ignition is on. The disadvantage of this approach is that the end stops are lost each time the ignition is switched off.

Regards,
Thomas.

meyert wrote:

Hello everyone, It happened again today: While getting out of or after exiting the car, the power window on the passenger side activated on its own, opening the window a significant amount. After a few hours of rain, I can now potentially grow goldfish in the footwell. This problem has occurred several times in the past year, and it seems that I'm unintentionally hitting the switch with the back of my hand when getting out. However, this topic is quite controversial in the A4-friends forum. There are also opinions that the control unit is malfunctioning and causing the power windows to activate on their own. Some people suggest a solution involving an "American coding" of the control unit, which can be adjusted via the diagnostic connector. This coding would immediately de-energize the power windows after the ignition is turned off, rather than after a few seconds or minutes. Does anyone have any idea which channels need to be adjusted and how? PS: I already tried an alternative last year, which involved switching the power supply to the window lifters via a relay that only engages when the ignition is on. The disadvantage of this approach is that the end stops are lost each time the ignition is switched off. Regards, Thomas

Hello Thomas,

I also had this problem with the window lifters in my 1997 A4 once.
After closing the door, whether with a key or remote control, the windows unexpectedly opened. Sometimes, this happened after 10 minutes. At the VAG workshop, this problem was the topic of the day, and no one had ever seen anything like it before. For days, they tested various solutions, and even tried reprogramming the central locking control unit. All without success! However, a clever mechanic eventually found the cause.
Here's the translation:

"Now, this car has heated door lock cylinders on both the driver and passenger sides. The problem was precisely with this heating element. In both lock cylinders, this heating element became so hot that the housing (made of aluminum die casting) in which the cylinder is located melted (!). This caused a short circuit. As a result, the control unit interpreted this as the "comfort opening" function being activated, which caused everything that can be opened electrically to open."
I then had to "only" wait for 5 weeks for two new lock cylinders. In the meantime, I removed the fuse for the window lifters. After replacing the lock cylinders, I never had any more problems.
I hope this helps you.

Best regards,
Mkmeier

Hello mkmeier,

Thank you for the information. I will check to see if I also have these heated door locks. However, I definitely don't have any comfort features.

'I implemented the 'pull the fuse' functionality using a relay. However, this had the side effect of losing the endpoint settings, meaning: tapping and running is only possible again after the windows have been fully lowered and raised once. Now, I have the idea of bridging the open relay contacts with a very high resistance, so that the standby current for the memory is maintained, but the motor operation is prevented.'

Regards,
Thomas.

Hello everyone,

To address the issue of malfunctioning window lifters, I have made the following adjustments in the central locking module (module 35) using software coding:

- American encoding:

The power windows automatically deactivate as soon as a door is opened after the ignition key has been removed. This prevents accidental activation of the power windows by inadvertently touching the control panel with the back of the hand when exiting the vehicle.

- Comfort features disabled:

The windows can no longer be opened or closed remotely. I have noticed that accidentally pressing the 'open' button, for example, due to the unfortunate position of a key in a pocket, can cause the car's windows to open before it reaches the doorstep.
Unfortunately, my model does not have the ability to separately enable or disable the 'window up' and 'window down' functions for the power windows.

The description that fits my A4 isn't actually for the A4, but for the A3 models from 1997 to 2000.

I hope that the windows will remain closed from now on.

Regards,
Thomas.

Haha, those clever VW-Audi window lifters, I've had so much trouble with them.
'Control units defective, switches defective... thermal fuses blown. This problem has existed in VW and other car brands for years. I had a similar issue with my 35i. The right window would randomly lower, sometimes in the rain, sometimes when locking the car, sometimes at -15°C. Because it's very difficult to find the fault when it's intermittent, I installed an additional indicator for the window switch. But nothing helped. Only replacing the entire window motor assembly (including the control unit that comes with it) solved the problem. It was a great feeling when the window finally went up again. With the A6, there were tons of defective window switches.'