Power Train Problems of Audi S4 - part 1

At times vehicle suddenly loses power and displays “transmission malfunction:you may continue driving” but then fails to accelerate to or maintain highway speeds. Other times when vehicle is stopped in traffic the transmission delays engaging when pressing in the accelerator and thus causes an unexpected delay to movement or if on an incline will roll backwards.

See all problems of the 2013 Audi S4 🔎.

Car has developed a transmission problem in the mechatronic unit. Car gives a gearbox malfunction display in the car. Reverse will not working and the car will repeatedly go into neutral at any speed. Sometimes then it will jerk back into gear very violently.

See all problems of the 2011 Audi S4 🔎.

My 2014 Audi S4 has a epc light that keeps turning on while driving that car. The epc light will put the car into limp mode and will have a rough idle and can barley drive. When that light turns on you have to pull over immediately and restart the car to continue driving and is a complete safety hazard because it will happen when you are on the freeway. The light mainly turns on when you are trying to get up to speeds of the flow of traffic. I have taken it to the dealer many times to get this issue resolved and they keep saying there is no issue with the car what's so ever. I decided to try to figure out what was wrong with the car myself because the dealer was no help. When I look it up hundreds of forums show up talking about it and no one can figure out what is going on with the car and everyone is having the same issue and how the dealer is no help at all. One person said they took it to the dealer and there was a faulty wire on the ecu. I think its the ecu failing and doesn't know what to do.

See all problems of the 2014 Audi S4 🔎.

Dsg issues. Clunking when downshifting into 1st / 2nd when stopping. Shift hesitation on upshift as well .

Car slammed into different gear, wasn't able to shift into 2nd and threw gearbox malfunction and tpms errors. Thankfully I was near home and able to make it there without an accident or being stranded, but my car is now immobile. I spoke with Audi and they said it will likely be a $4k repair (mechatronics unit). After researching this more, it seems to be a common problem with these cars. It can happen at any time and can be extremely dangerous. There's also a pending class action lawsuit to get Audi to do the right thing and recall these cars and fix them.

See all problems of the 2010 Audi S4 🔎.

Once car is put into reverse it launches back ? also in first one put in cost it wants to move practically forward .

Transmission shifts strange when cold. Acts like it loosed power every shift. Strange clunking as well on slow speeds or number to number traffic. Sometimes it scared me that it will jump forward and hit the car on front of me.

My car flashed gearbox malfunction while driving down interstate I-264 in louisville ky. Car seamed fine for about 2 miles and then suddenly went limp and I had no gears. Had to hit flashers and coast into median. Was almost hit by semi truck. Repair shop could not find anything wrong. Happened again 1 day after getting it back from shop. Taking it to Audi now. I have read that this is a common problem.

Circuit board on the mechatronics unit failed and car is under 100k miles. Sudden shaking and banging on the highway when giving it gas above 30. Frequent jolts, dangerous to drive. . .

See all problems of the 2012 Audi S4 🔎.

Mechatronic issues.

While traveling at 75mph, uphill, in 100f weather the fuel low pressure fuel system developed a vapor bubble that stalled the low pressure fuel pump and starved the motor for fuel. The car stalled on the freeway and would intermittently restart until the low pressure fuel pump failed. The repair required additional valves and hoses he added to the low pressure fuel system to compensate for the poor vapor management design. The car had to be towed to a dealership where the appropriate fix and TSB was executed. Total cost was ~$2200, $715 of that total cost were the new valves and hoses that should have been part of the initial design.

It happened again today driving down the highway going up to speed, at about 50 mph I got a "gearbox malfunction" error message in the cluster and it would not let me accelerate anymore, it was like the car was in neutral and pressing the accelerator pedal would just rev up the engine. The mechatronics unit on these vehicles are faulty, I know 2 other S4 owners with the years of 2011 and 2012 who also had their mechatronics fail on their S4. Along with the gearbox malfunction error also comes "parking brake error" who knows what in the world can happen when that message comes up. Is it going to suddenly apply the electronic parking brake going 50-70 mph down the highway and cause a possibility of a very bad accident? the repair is very pricey for the mechatronic unit that goes bad, it is no coincidence many of these S4 models have these go bad.

Vehicle was in motion, the mechatronics unit on my car is failing and just many many other vehicles of the same make, model, and year. The vehicle can stop engaging gears at any speed and can be very dangerous at any speed, especially on the highway.

This vehicle is known for the transmission issues that can be extremely dangerous at times due to the vehicle making sudden and unexpected movements.

Transmission blew up on the highway at cruising speed. Has to get a tow and pay 12000 for a new transmission.

The gearbox malfunction screen on the dash showed up out of nowhere then followed by a parking brake malfunction then the car goes into neutral and just sits there revving the engine. I try to put it in neutral then drive but the lever gets stuck and I cant move to drive. This first happen in the highway and I couldn't do anything about it and I know this car has high mileage but looking at it this transmission has problems all the way to the 2016 models. This is something that needs to be looked at because this is a potential hazard at highway speeds.

Gearbox failure seems to be common issue on the 2010 model. Seems a replacement mechatronics unit or full transmission will need to be done to resolve the issue.

While driving today on the highway my 2012 Audi S4 experienced the common dsg gearbox malfunction alert along woth the tpms fault light. On the highway loosing all power and causing the vehicle slow drastically while in traffic nearly causing an accident. The amount of complaints on this same issue is astonishing that Audi has not taking care if this yet. This malfunction can cause a serious accident, its time to recall the dsg transmission and fix the issue!!!!!! as well as reimbursement for all the people who spend thousands of dollars trying to diagnose the issue, Audi will try to make you pay upwards of $5,000 to $10,000 in repairs rather than do the right thing and fix the problem.

The dsg transmission in my Audi S4 experiences abrupt jerking from 2nd to 1st great while decelerating. It also jerks and feels like it is being hit while shifting from 1st to 2nd when accelerating normally.

Gearbox malfunction and tpms malfunction while driving on the road within the city about 45mph I felt a slight jerk and immediately following the warnings came on in the dashboard "tire pressure! system malfunction" & "gearbox malfunction: no reverse gear (you can continue driving)" throttle response was off and forced me to immediately puller over! while stopped I re-started the vehicle and the warnings went away, I sat there for a couple minutes and then continued driving. Few miles down the road the vehicle jerked again and warnings came back on, I needed to get to work so I continued driving; the car would take very long to shift gears and it would jump from 1st to 3rd, from 3rd to 5th and 5th to 7th gear jerking kind of violently every-time and throttle response between shifts was very lethargic to the point that the vehicle would slow down severely and I felt unsafe due to cars getting really close to my rear and them having to slow down drastically while the car shifted gears. Due to the number of complaints I strongly feel that Audi should be liable and held accountable for all repairs necessary and accidents that this issue can cause. If this issue would of presented itself while traveling at 75mph on the highway I believe it could of been a case of life & death. Audi is putting the people driving their vehicles and others around at risk by not recalling an unit or units known to cause problems.

While driving in traffic, my car dropped into lower gears and stopped moving, and two error codes popped up "gearbox malfunction" and "tpms malfunction". Looking this up online and discussing with my mechanic, this is something happening in a lot of the cars that are this make & model and have the same transmission.

At ~61,000 miles the 2012 Audi S4 started driving rough in low gears. The car has hesitation issues followed by & jerky acceleration/deceleration in low gears out of & into a stop. The reverse gear has similar hesitation & jerky acceleration. Car then started periodically displaying the message: gearbox malfunction: you can continue driving dealer diagnosed the error code as p179e - drive position sensor electrical error, which is TSB 2032211/1.

I was exiting off of the interstate and the car began to sputter. I had to cut 3 cars off to pull onto to the shoulder, where the car continued to lose power and eventually died. A gearbox malfunction warning light came on, but said it was still safe to drive. I was able to get me car into park and start . After sitting for a few minutes I went on my way, however, the car sputtered again out of 1st gear but smoothed out once I got going. The light remained on the remainder of the trip but didnt come back on the next morning. I called Audi USA to explain what happened and they acted like they never heard of such a thing happening and said it was okay to drive. I have only had this car for 6 months and that gearbox malfunction has now happened 3 times, the latest of which almost caused an accident. I have called a couple mechanics, including a local Audi dealership, and have been informed that its a bad mechatronics unit and that it is extremely common for my particular year, model and type (there is a TSB for it). Worst of all, it will cost me $5000 + to repair. I bought this car 6 months ago from a large, well respect dealership as a certified pre-owned, with 75,000 miles. I also purchased an extended warranty that will not cover it. Im not sure what to do.

"takata recall" I was driving my car when I got the 'gearbox malfunction" on my dash and a check engine light. It then said that reverse was not available. The car went limp and when shifting into 2nd gear from 1st gear would rev to very high rpms and then finally shift. I would not go above 40 mph and was slow to move from a stop. I took it to the Audi dealership and they told me it was the mechatronic unit. I was informed that it cost $5,400. 00 dollars for them to replace the unit. I am just baffled as to why a car that is only 6 years in age and has only 86,000 miles on it has an electrical part that is going out so soon. Audi claims to make the best dsg transmission in the european platform, yet many have had this issue with the mechatronic unit and yet Audi hasnt chosen to warrany it or even give the option to cover the drivetrain as a whole. A car that is $40,000. 00 retail new should not have this kind of issue within its early lifetime. And if this is a mechanical item that is going to failure so soon then why not atleast cover it or assist with an alternative transmission extended warranty.

Gearbox malfunction.

When driving in manual mode and transition from on the throttle to off-throttle, there is a 1-2 second delay before the engine stops accelerating and transitions to deceleration. Especially in first gear, this means that the vehicle continues to accelerate for that period of time. I drove another model of Audi with the same engine/transmission (2018 s5) and it exhibits the same behavior. Since the car does not have a physical throttle cable, this would seem to be caused by the throttle not closing as commanded by the ecu or there being a delay in the throttle being commanded to close. This has not caused a collision but easily could.

See all problems of the 2018 Audi S4 🔎.

While driving approaching a stoplight, I received a "gearbox malfunction. Ok to continue driving with limited functionality" error. The car then barely accelerated and I could not go more than 20mph (I was on a busy road speed limit 35mph but everyone goes about 50). I was able to finally get it to drive well enough to get it to the dealer. Dealer said it needs a new circuit board which is not covered by only the power train warranty, as it is considered an electronic component.

Transmission error, at first says you can continue driving in limp mode but shortly after says put car into park. Got stuck on the road several times in a single 10 mile trip.

Transmission warning indicator on, shift hard.

My S4 threw the "gearbox malfunction, reverse disabled" as well as a tpms error code while in traffic, and went into limp mode and would not allow me to accelerate. Very dangerous, and inconvenient. Limped home at very slow speed while transmission clunked and struggled to change gears. The code has gone away since I restarted the vehicle, and now it lunges forward when you're coming to a stop, which makes you feel like you've been hit from behind. Taking off from a stop is bouncy and super jerky. If I hesitate before accelerating from a stop, it will sometimes go smoothly. The engine rpm's surge while coasting to a stop, or going down, hill especially with foot off the pedal.

Gearbox malfunction warning and the tpms malfunction came on at same time. Continued to drive in limp mode for about 1 mile and the car shut completely off. Start the car back up and still showing warnings. Get it home and attempt to put into reverse and the car won't engage. I just happened to start the car again and all lights were gone. Car went into all gears, drove fine, and got it to the dealer. Two hours later I get in to go to the store and as soon as I shift into d, the tpms and gearbox malfunction light flash up telling me I have no reverse and I'm still good to drive. So I decide to drive down the street and see what the issue is. As soon as the car went to shift from 1st to 2nd it skipped, revved in neutral for about 2 seconds then dropped hard into 3rd gear. The next morning I went to drive the car and drove around the neighborhood with no problem - no error message, no faulty shifting, no jerking or anything. So I decided to run to the store about 4 miles away and see how it help up. I made it to the store and halfway back before boom - it happened again. Car will start in 1st gear fine, went shifting into 2nd it slips into neutral for about 2-3sec then drops abruptly into 3rd, when you have enough speed it does the same thing trying to shift into 4th - skips and drops into 5th, same thing into 6th - slips out of 5th and drops hard into 7th. Slowing down was not a huge problem as long as you have plenty of room to take it easy. If you slowed to fast the gears wouldn't keep up and it would jerk very hard. This is a serious matter since it is a system factory failure with the dsg unit simple as that. Reason why I am contacting this agency as the car shut off on me while you were driving it in the middle of the highway and I could have been hit/killed the first time it happened.

When driving in regular drive box indicator comes on. Saying gearbox malfunction limited function. I only have 63125 miles and keep my car maintenance.

A gearbox malfunction (with codes p179e and p179f) may cause the car enter one of the "limp mode" states, which can cut engine power from the transmission. A message on the dash may say "gearbox malfunction" with a message if the car is driveable or must be brought to the repair shop. In some cases, this loss of power can make things difficult to pull over safely, as the stall can happen in an intersection, or in stop and go traffic on the freeway. Audi has recognized this problem in the form of a TSB (2032211), however, all cars with this particular transmission may experience a similar issue, at any time, despite following manufacturer service intervals. The issue may appear to be intermittent and may not enter full limp mode until many miles later. My initial encounter with questionable transmission behavior was about 10-15k miles prior. This particular case documented was the worst scenario, but similar scenarios (coming off the freeway and stalling shortly after stopping, or not being able to engine brake properly due to transmission refusing to shift) have also been experienced.

One week after purchasing car, car exhibiting symptoms of mechatronics unit failure (bang/jerk when stopping, rpm jumpy in 1/2nd gear, reverse is jumpy).

Tpms & gearbox malfunction car will not drive in reverse and jerk in forward gears while also increasing revs all by itself. Major safety hazard as the car was in motion on a major busy road!.