What exactly is the Radio Data Service.....is it the feature where the name and track of the song on the radio is displayed on the screen. I have seen that a few times out here in AZ from a select radio station. I have the standard stereo.

 

Yes, RDS provides the song title, or other information scrolling across the radio screen. It is only on some select stations here in the US, but used a lot in Europe.

So it appears your radio does have it working. Is this documented at all in the manual for your radio? I'm trying to figure out if this feature was discontinued at some point. I (and others) suspect either: a) VW discontinued it for some reason, probably by reprogramming the radio somehow; or b) there's a bunch of radios that are supposed to have this, but it's not working.

If your radio's manual documents RDS at all, this would support the theory a. My radio manul does not mention RDS at all, and it doesn't work on my radio etiher. But, the radio clearly has some RDS capabilites: press and hold the MIX button on the radio to go into service info mode; press again to cycle through several screens; one of these has an RDS display that shows either that there is no RDS data transmitted on the station you are tuned to, or the error rate (%) of the RDS data you are recieving. You can scan through the channels when on this display, and see which stations transmit the RDS signal. (Some may transmit the signal, but not actually provide any data yet).

And one last question, when tuned to a station where you do see this info, does it also show up in the MFI display on the instrument cluster, or only on the radio display? On the TReg's with the Navigtion system, this is displayed on the MFI, as well as the nav screen. Just curious if the standard radio supporting RDS also used the MFI.

Thanks for the info.

 

The info for the song title and singer was displayed in smaller letters under the station number. The information scrolled in the middle bottom of the screen. I do not see anything in the manual about the RDS.

 

Probably a dumb question, but have you set any of the station preset buttons? Some folks have said that the RDS works until you program a preset with a radio station that doesn't send RDS data. Once this is done, you don't see RDS anymore.

 

yep always set the prestations. I saw the RDS on a preset station

 

Thanks. So it appears that RDS should work, but is not documented in the manual, and some radios have problems.

Guess it's time to talk to the dealer!

BTW, if you're interested, here's a site with a list of radio stations that broadcast RDS data:

http://members.aol.com/jpzondlo/nardslog.html

 

Thanks. Also I have noticed that on the stations that I get RDS it is not all the time. The RDS seems to only work on certain songs. This may also be a problem as well. I dunno, I will check it out further

 

Possible Fix!!

Okay, I was thinking of going to my dealer next week to ask about this. I have a V6 with standard radio, VIN 286xx, build date 9/03. The RDS displayed when I picked it up, but stopped after I set my presets. So, I went to the garage to do an experiment:
I removed the radio fuse (#11, passanger side), waited a few seconds, then put it back in. I expected to loose my presets, and also expected I would need to enter the radio security code.

After re-inserting the fuse, I turned on the radio. I did NOT have to enter the security code, and my presets were preserved. But here's the good part - I now have RDS info displayed!

I scanned through a few channels, some displayed RDS while others didn't (as expected). I still wanted to reproduce the problem, so I set a new preset. The RDS info remains!

So, I'm happy for now. I'll pay close attention in case it goes away again, so that if it goes away I can try to correlate what I've done to the loss of the RDS display. If it does go away, I'll try the fuse again.

But this may be the magic I was looking for. If anyone else has the standard radio and no RDS display, I would sugest trying this.

(P.S., RDS is displayed in the radio face only - it does not appear on the monochrome MFI display, though the radio frequency and preset number do. I wonder if this could be VAGCOM'd to display in the MFI?)

 

Re: Possible Fix!!

Okay, I was thinking of going to my dealer next week to ask about this. I have a V6 with standard radio, VIN 286xx, build date 9/03. The RDS displayed when I picked it up, but stopped after I set my presets. So, I went to the garage to do an experiment:
I removed the radio fuse (#11, passanger side), waited a few seconds, then put it back in. I expected to loose my presets, and also expected I would need to enter the radio security code.

After re-inserting the fuse, I turned on the radio. I did NOT have to enter the security code, and my presets were preserved. But here's the good part - I now have RDS info displayed!

I scanned through a few channels, some displayed RDS while others didn't (as expected). I still wanted to reproduce the problem, so I set a new preset. The RDS info remains!

So, I'm happy for now. I'll pay close attention in case it goes away again, so that if it goes away I can try to correlate what I've done to the loss of the RDS display. If it does go away, I'll try the fuse again.

But this may be the magic I was looking for. If anyone else has the standard radio and no RDS display, I would sugest trying this.

(P.S., RDS is displayed in the radio face only - it does not appear on the monochrome MFI display, though the radio frequency and preset number do. I wonder if this could be VAGCOM'd to display in the MFI?)

You are the man ---- it worked for me. I was affraid to try it as I have not received the securty code card yet. Also tried "AS" and a preset and it stayed so far

 

I'm glad it worked for you. I wasn't really expecting to fix it, I just wanted to be able to show the dealer that I worked originally, and that it stopped working when I set the presets ('cause that's what I thought did it!)

Can't argue with success though! :lol:

 

Re: Possible Fix!!

[You are the man ---- it worked for me. I was affraid to try it as I have not received the securty code card yet. Also tried "AS" and a preset and it stayed so far

By the way, you should make sure you get the radio card from the dealer. If you think you have a "problematic" dealer, then send them a letter in writing, and save a copy. Send a copy to VWOA. While I have had excellent service from my dealership, I'm getting very concerned about all of the negative comments I've seen about some dealerships. We should all make sure that VW is aware of bad behavior at dealers, as the overall experience will negatively effect our resale value.

 

That was the trick!! The first time I removed the fuse and reinserted it the RDS still did not work. Then I removed the fuse, started the truck, shut it back off and then reinserted the fuse and it works perfectly. My dealer has been trying to figure it out for 3 weeks now. It's always the little things that make me happy.

 

4x4 fixed my RDS problem

Per 4x4s recommendation in some other forums to temporarily remove the radio's fuse, I tried it, and garsh dangit, it worked!

Like a charm - hat's off to you for finding it!

-BD

 

Radio fuse 11 does the trick

It seems my VW dealer has not heard of this issue. Like many of you posted, the RDS worked when I picked up my Touareg, and it immediately stoped working once I preset the stations.

When I went back to the dealer, he tried to fix it, but could not, and ordered a new radio (Sound I). The new radio took a few weeks to get but almost all stations displayed the RDS data. Great, problem solved.

Not so fast. I travelled over Christmas to Canada and used the AS function. That work good, but I notice not RDS data. So maybe they don't use RDS in Canada.

However when I return to Illinios, my presets lost the RDS data. I stopped by the dealer when I returned. He said VW would not let him change the radio again. Now I don't have to.

Thanks for the fix.

 

Radio fuse 11 does the trick

It seems my VW dealer has not heard of this issue. Like many of you posted, the RDS worked when I picked up my Touareg, and it immediately stoped working once I preset the stations.

When I went back to the dealer, he tried to fix it, but could not, and ordered a new radio (Sound I). The new radio took a few weeks to get but almost all stations displayed the RDS data. Great, problem solved.

Not so fast. I travelled over Christmas to Canada and used the AS function. That work good, but I notice not RDS data. So maybe they don't use RDS in Canada.

However when I return to Illinios, my presets lost the RDS data. I stopped by the dealer when I returned. He said VW would not let him change the radio again. Now I don't have to.

Thanks for the fix.

 

I tried the fuse fix and it worked for a while. However, when I was scrolling thru the presets it disappeared again. Will be adding to the list to discuss with my dealer. :confused2:

Tom

V6, Venetian Green, HID and SS1

 

Had same probelm, re-inserted fuse and working ok now. Any new news from dealer on issue?

 

Problem again

I thought I had the problem fixed, then when selecting FM1 to FM2, I lose the RSD data. Do I need to make a preset on every button in every mode (FM1, FM2, AM)? Maybe this will eliminate having to set a pre set which seems to lose the RSD once it is done. Any one else figure this out yet or had feedback fromd dealers?

 

My Dealer wont support it

Tried the fuse with no luck. Will try again. When last at the dealer (for 2 weeks) they said VW no longer supports it and that the new ones dont have the feature. I suspect they turned it off in the Computer. So I need to Vag it to see what the settings are. Anyone have a clue as to the proper settings?

 

My radio did not support RDS for the first three months of ownership. My battery went dead once took car to dealer and when I picked the car up, I had RDS! It worked for about 15 minutes. :???: I took it back and the dealer said that it was a bad auxillary antenna connection. I have had it in at least five times since for no RDS. Even talked with regional manager who couldn't figure out problem.

The last time in, they told me that it wasn't supposed to display RDS. In other words don't come back.

 

My radio did not support RDS for the first three months of ownership. My battery went dead once took car to dealer and when I picked the car up, I had RDS! It worked for about 15 minutes. :???: I took it back and the dealer said that it was a bad auxillary antenna connection. I have had it in at least five times since for no RDS. Even talked with regional manager who couldn't figure out problem.

The last time in, they told me that it wasn't supposed to display RDS. In other words don't come back.

Did you try the fuse #11 trick?

 

Did you try the fuse #11 trick?

No, my Touareg is currently in the body shop. :roll:
I crunched a Tahoe from the rear. Turned his bumper all the way down. Only put a small 1" by 3" gouge into my bumper. It was a hard hit but not hard enough for the airbags to deploy.

New to this site and just read about doing this. Anxious to try it.

 

Removed #11 and it worked for me.

Thanks 4X4

 

Fuse

I also do the fuse trick but everytime I scan thru channels or play a cd, it goes away. I dont undertsand how the dealeship can say the radio doesnt support RDS when it doesn display it at times. WIsh this probelm couldbe fixed, I enjoy RDS and I think it is a neat display to have.

 

Re: Fuse

I also do the fuse trick but everytime I scan thru channels or play a cd, it goes away. I dont undertsand how the dealeship can say the radio doesnt support RDS when it doesn display it at times. WIsh this probelm couldbe fixed, I enjoy RDS and I think it is a neat display to have.

This has been discussed extensively both here and on VWVortex. If you read the owners manual carefully you will note that there is not one word about RDS on the radio. The theory is that VW never intended for the non-nav radio to have RDS. The radio is supplied by Delphi/Delco who manufactures radios for GM and many others - and virtually all of them have RDS. We think it is just a fluke of shared componentry that the Touareg radio supports RDS at all. Since VW did not document or advertise the feature, they can probably get away with stating that it is not supported. Sad, but true.

After discovering how to get the RDS info displayed, and having it for 10 months now, frankly I am not overwhelmed with the implementation we have, and probably would not miss it if I didn't have it at all. Since US radio stations don't support the really cool features of the RDS system anyway, you really aren't missing out on that much.