Is this really an unknown?

 

Does "faff about" mean to mess with or play with?

What access code?

Do you mean the workshop code?

The Dresden workshop code is somewhere in a thread in the FAQ.

Maybe a ZAB thread but I am not sure. Something they were trying change back in the beginning.

Do you mean a security code? I think that might be in a thread also.

Here are some links from Ross-Tech that have nothing to do with Phaetons but show the applicable screens.

Ross-Tech: VCDS Tour - Recode

Ross-Tech: VCDS Tour - Security Access

 

Thanks for the reply.
I want to try and recode the dimming of the display in sunlight. I read an article about a chap who figured it out on his golf. It would probably be the same on a Phaeton, I just need the code to get into it. None of the codes I've found online have worked.

 

The Phaeton is not like a Golf.

Others tried to recode the lane change blinks from 2 to 4 and that wouldn't work either.

The instrument lights are not on if the headlights aren't.

For America where we have the low beams (dip beam) as DRLs, you have to turn the headlight switch to the ON position for the instrument lights to be on in the daytime.

Or are you talking about the ZAB?

I think there is a sensor on it. If you block it, then the ZAB will "think" it's dark out.

If you have the RNS 810 then I have no idea. It might be similar to the RNS 510.

 

Mine is a 2011 so has movable headlight beams and separate DRL so is quote different.
The instrument cluster has a light sensor to control the brightness of the cluster. I can't see why this would necessarily be fundamentally different to any other VAG of the same era.

 

If it has an RND 810 that would be the only thing it has in common (besides assorted minor parts) with other VWs or Audis.

Earlier Phaetons with the ZAB don't share anything but hardware and minor parts with other VWs.

Golly! My 1988 Scirocco shares some hardware with my 2004 Phaeton so that's nothing. Screws, bolts, clips.

The only VAG vehicle a Phaeton has commonality with is the Bentley Continental.

The engines are in other VAG vehicles but I don't think they share much besides the long blocks. Hoses, cooling, mounts, exhausts and accessories probably depend on packaging. I don't know about the TDI engines, but I think the 4.2 V8 has the most in common with other 4.2 V8 VAG engines.

The W12 in the Phaeton is also different down to the block for the Bentley and the Audi A8. The Touareg W12 was also different from what I saw. One guy was selling brand new Touareg W12 crate engines but they weren't for Phaetons. I could have gotten one for $5K.

The early shift knob was shared with the Touareg but not its chrome trim. The Phaeton also shares steering wheels with Bentleys and Touaregs but the colors might be different. The paddle shifters and stalks are shared with the Touareg, but the Bentley has chrome plastic on its stalks.

I wouldn't count on anything else from any other VAG fitting. It's great if something from another car fits but the entire part number including suffixes has to match. Some suspension arms are shared with other VAQ cars but not all.

As far as VCDS and hacking, it's a Bentley.

One procedure that is similar to an Audi procedure is adapting G85. That isn't exact but I think Johnny figured it out.

Any VCDS procedures that work would be in the FAQ and VCDS under the Coding Helper.

 

I would be surprised is VW instructed the software engineers to program the cluster in a different manner. As the lux sensor is common across a wide range of models, I can't see why it would be accessible in some vehicles and not on others. And that the access process would differ across vehicles.

 

Some chap may have hacked his 1994 Golf with VCDS. That doesn't mean it will work on a newer Golf.

The instrument cluster in a Phaeton is part of the Immobilizer/KESSY. The access is probably locked.

Look up KESSY and Immobilizer threads in the FAQ and here.

The only procedure I know of for the instrument panel is the dealer can change the mileage on a new cluster to match the car's milage. I think they can also change the milage on a used cluster. They can only go forward. If they accidentally put too much milage in the odometer, it's too bad.

There is a thread in the FAQ about changing the instrument panel.

As far as other cars, find a VAG car that also has its instrument panel as part of the Immobilizer and see if it has VCDS procedures to change the dimming.

Ross-Tech forums might be a good place to start. They have procedures. Look up lux sensors on Immobilizer equipped instrument panels.

The early Phaeton has the Immobilizer 3 if I remember correctly but it's also combined with the KESSY.

I think my '93 Corrado has the first-generation Immobilizer so something that works on it probably won't work on my Phaeton.

Even something that might work on one of the earlier Phaetons may or may not work on later Phaetons like yours with full CANBUS.

I change the instrument dimmer at night to turn my instrument lights all the way down when I am in the middle of nowhere.

 

The instrument cluster in a Phaeton is part of the Immobilizer/KESSY. The access is probably locked.

Wrong , On Phaeton Instrument cluster has nothing to do with Immobilizer. On That car you can take out cluster and car will start and drive .