A6 Avant 50 TDI Quattro sluggish at times

[hutchys]

On 6/4/2020 at 11:47 PM, AlexR said:

I think this should certainly be part of the PDI.

Hi Alex,

Do you think this would be a PDI update as it needs requesting and is not a normal recall update?

I have asked Eastbourne Audi to have this updated on my A6 Allroad before delivery, which is due in the next week or so.

Initially he spoke to Russell who suggested this would be picked up on the PDI but I asked them to write the update (information provided by Jenna, thanks) on the sheet, which they have just to be sure.

Hopefully it will get updated now before I receive the car.

[Wooks63]

Got the update installed this morning.

Only a 10 minute drive home, but even with this short journey, the car did seem a lot more responsive.

Such a relief, if it does continue to perform well, that I can actually start to enjoy my driving again.

[AlexR]

Hi Martin

Very pleased to hear this. 
 

Enjoy!

[Wooks63]

Had a drive this afternoon. Definitely more responsive - I even pulled out onto a main road with cars approaching from both ways a lot nearer than I would have tried prior to the update 😂. I’d say there was a slight hesitation, but hardly noticeable compared with before, and the car definitely accelerated away well and a lot smoother than before.
So far I’m very happy 😁.

[MartinLHW]

@Wooks63 Sounds promising that the car is now accelerating better and more importantly smoother! Nothing worse than canstantly feeling jolts! Made me question my sanity many times on why I chose automatic transmission. Been driving over 20 years and always been a petrol head and my wife thought I was going through a mid-life crisis coming home with a diesel & automatic 🤷‍♂️. Hopefully these latest updates/improvements will put an end to all our troubles with this issue.

My car unfortunately flagged up an Engine Management Light yesterday and after diagnostics from Audi Roadside assist it was taken into my local dealership.
Faulty NOx Sensor (Fault Code: P220B00) on a car only 1.5 years old with 7500 miles on the clock - bit disappointing but however, it means I can get the sluggish acceleration looked at earlier than planned and I've specifically asked them to look for a ECU software/firmware update which I've mentioned my fellow forum members have had applied to their cars so fingers crossed he'll be able to find it and apply it along with the MMI update (which should fingers crossed give me Alexa integration.

Though I didn't start this thread/post, just want to thank everyone for their contributions. Great forum and probably one of the best sites I've joined in a while!

Thanks again

[Jenna]

Hi MartinLHW

I had an engine management light come up on my Audi A4 3.0 (B9), it was out of warranty so i plugged in my OBDeleven and it advised it was the NOx sensor same as yours, my car had covered 85k miles so thought things might start to go wrong, reason for mentioning this is, i took both the NOx sensors out (both are on top of the engine) cleaned them with Carb cleaner put them back and problem solved, i then reset the engine management light using my OBD device. Strange that you are getting this playing up so early, best snerario is that the NOx sensor is faulty, if not you may be burning to reach a fuel and the Nox sensor is getting bunged up with the burnt emissions (soot) running through your cat converter. Let’s us know how you go.

[AlexR]

Hi Jim

 

I think you have done the right thing.

It would be good to have it performing correctly out of the box.

alex

[Wooks63]

Drove the car in Dynamic mode for the first time since the update tonight. Wow! I think I’ve at long last got the car I thought I was buying in the first place.🎉🎊

[MartinLHW]

@Jenna Yes, seems to be a common problem from what I'm reading online. My last, an A4 (B8) 2.0T petrol flagged exact same problem (Bank 1, Sensor 2) but it was understandable at 89k miles. The roadside assist technician said that this one was after the cat converter and had to be put on a ramp to get repaired as this sensor has it's own ECU (so quite a bit of circuitry so best be booked into a garage).

What do you mean when you say " if not you may be burning to reach a fuel and the Nox sensor is getting bunged up with the burnt emissions (soot) running through your cat converter."? The car has never been driven hard nor has the DPF light ever come on asking me to take it for a long drive.

Thanks

[Wooks63]

OK, so quick question.

As I said, I set the mode to Dynamic last night and when I did this, it put the drive into Sports mode and the display showed S1, S2 etc. Got in the car today. It’s still showing as Dynamic, but the drive mode is now D1, D2 etc. I know I can change it by flicking the gear stick but in Dynamic mode, is there much difference?

[MartinLHW]

@Jenna @Wooks63

Got car back today after they replaced the NOx sensor under warranty. They also updated the firmware for the engine ECU and what a difference it's made. Seems to be pulling away much better and with smoother gear changes too. 

They also updated the MMI software and now i have an extra icon displayed next to the user profile icon. Looks like a shield with a location pin on it. Any ideas what this is? Still haven't been able to get Amazon Alexa to work in it. The guy at the service desk asked two sales advisors but they too had no idea either.

Thanks

[Jinxit]

The shield is for the privacy settings for connecting to Audi and the myAudi app.

[Wooks63]

6 minutes ago, Jinxit said:

The shield is for the privacy settings for connecting to Audi and the myAudi app.

So is there any way to get rid of it, or will it always be there? I’ve pressed it, but it doesn’t seem to take me anywhere sensible 😁.

Regarding the performance, I’ve had some good drives now and the car is definitely a lot better. I’ve kept it in Dynamic mode. I did have one scare on the North Circular the other day. It was a 40mph limit and I was in a lane doing 30mph. A gap appeared in the overtaking lane that I knew should be safe for me to get into. I pulled over into it and put my foot down to overtake and nothing happened! It was the usual second or so delay before it accelerated. In the meantime, a car that was coming up behind me beeped me.

So while the stationary pulling away is vastly improved, it’s worrying that accelerating from higher speeds isn’t.

I will report this to my Audi centre and hope that another update comes out which fixes this issue.

[Jinxit]

I haven't seen a way to remove the shield. At first I thought it was telling me I had privacy restrictions in place but It stays even if you allow all access. Maybe try turning all access off? it may go then but I think that would then disable the google maps? I have only had my car 5 weeks and due to being furloughed have hardly used it. I have had time to go through the manual though which is how I know what it symbolises as I was curious as well. 

With regard to the sluggish behaviour, the 40 TDI with S ironic does not appear to suffer. At least I don't think mine does. I have come from a Passat with the same gearbox though. I go back to work tomorrow so will be back to 120 miles a day so will get a better understanding of how the car works and drives.

[MartinLHW]

Any one else noticed this?

The permanent temperature guage on the left does not match that of the one displayed inside the virtual cockpit?

You'd think both are read using the same thermometer right?

Now that I've noticed it, I've checked it over the space of the week and seems to be always the case.

[Wooks63]

5 hours ago, MartinLHW said:

Any one else noticed this?

The permanent temperature guage on the left does not match that of the one displayed inside the virtual cockpit?

You'd think both are read using the same thermometer right?

Now that I've noticed it, I've checked it over the space of the week and seems to be always the case.

The left hand temperature is the engine coolant temperature, whereas the virtual cockpit one is the oil temperature. The symbols are different.

[Wooks63]

OK.

Have spoken to the lead technician at my dealership. They are going to send a technical enquiry to Audi with regards to the car still not properly responding when at speed (in my case, trying to accelerate from 30mph).

Can I request that if anyone else has noticed this (I think AlexR mentioned something similar) that they inform their dealers? Hopefully the more people who report the issue, the higher chance that Audi will release another update.

Unsurprisingly, there doesn’t seem to be any way of finding out what updates have been released unless we specifically ask our dealers. So I’m just going to have to keep bugging mine every few months 😁.

[Man audi]

Woeful response from Warrington Audi they say they cannot replicate the problem so will not provide a fix they say Audi is not aware of any problem like this I mentioned that the forum was full of people experiencing the same problem there reply was don’t look at the forums it’s full of false claims!! 

Fed back to Audi UK and nothing not a murmur

 

 

[Jenna]

Vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere, do you have a Harwoods or Caffyns near you? If so, let me know and I’ll give you some contacts to speak to who will advise what works were carried out on our cars.

 Cheers

 

[Man audi]

Unfortunately not both local dealerships are run by the same outfit Jardine motors very disappointing really not a cheap car by a long chalk love it but experience marred by this performance issue

[Jenna]

Wookes63 same as you, I still get the lag when looking to accelerate around 30mph, although in Dynamic it responds a lot quicker and if you use the paddles even quicker. My garage are wanting my car in so they can experience the issue and help resolve, they are offering a courtesy car too, 

I will be taking the car in when back from holiday.

 

 

[Wooks63]

2 hours ago, Man audi said:

Woeful response from Warrington Audi they say they cannot replicate the problem so will not provide a fix they say Audi is not aware of any problem like this I mentioned that the forum was full of people experiencing the same problem there reply was don’t look at the forums it’s full of false claims!! 

Fed back to Audi UK and nothing not a murmur

 

 

Of course that’s right. We’ve got nothing better to do with our time than make up false claims about our cars!

May I suggest you hit them where it hurts and, next time they service your car and you get an email from Audi asking you to rate it, give them one star ratings across the board. Whenever I’ve had dealings with my garage, they are almost begging me to give them 5 star ratings as Audi apparently come down hard on their garages who have bad ratings.

Or better still, just mention to them that unless they take these complaints seriously, this is what you’re likely to do 😁.

[Tommo 1]

My Audi dealership is saying they are unaware of this problem and/or any fixes. I find the issue both horrendous and dangerous.

From the above conversation stream I propose to write the following to my dealership :

The problem is being called a “step off delay” and there appear to be two fixes available which make a considerable improvement.

 

1. Firstly I understand earlier this year (possibly May) there were two (presumably) software updates produced for this car. The first related to the MMI but the second was for the gearbox. I understand that the old gearbox software was version 100.01 and it has been updated to 100.04. I understand that this helps, but not fully.
2. Secondly, and more importantly, there is a further update available for a problem categorised as “slow to accelerate”. This is an engine ECU update and has a Tpi code 2053287/11. The software update is 4K0907401K. I understand that this makes a considerable difference.

 

Is this an accurate summary ? 
 

Thanks

 

MT

[Jenna]

Yes, just use point 2 as this is 100% accurate, use the photo’s in this thread to support your enquiry showing the new software installed, ask them to show you what software yours has and then demand you receive the same as others have as administered by Harwoods and Caffyns Audi, if they refuse, then tell them they’ve lost your business and go elsewhere.

[Man audi]

Thanks folks this is very helpful I will let you know how I get on