Brake servo restricted

[Kacey]

Hi my audi A6 has just come up with the servo restricted warning. I contacted my local plymouth audi who quoted 150 GBP just to plug it in. I have got a local garage to look at it. Plugged it in and have found no fault with the brakes, just the pressure sensor. Now I am really worried that I may face a bigger bill. Is the part available to fit by independent garages? Why such a high price for diagnostics when it took minutes?  Does anyone know the part number for an A6 oris it thesame as an A4?

Car is 4years old and only done 10,000miles.

[zap263]

21 minutes ago, Kacey said:

Hi my audi A6 has just come up with the servo restricted warning. I contacted my local plymouth audi who quoted 150 GBP just to plug it in. I have got a local garage to look at it. Plugged it in and have found no fault with the brakes, just the pressure sensor. Now I am really worried that I may face a bigger bill. Is the part available to fit by independent garages? Why such a high price for diagnostics when it took minutes?  Does anyone know the part number for an A6 oris it thesame as an A4?

Car is 4years old and only done 10,000miles.

To answer why it's so expensive.. it's just an easy way to make big money.. most people all just pay it thinking yes Audi knows best.  Exploitation is what I call it.  

No idea if it's the same part number.. you can just call the parts department and buy the sensor for your car.  Nothing wrong with that.  I'm guessing it will be in the same place.  Worst case scenario is you have to go to a garage and ask.. surely won't be as much as Audi.  Heck be nice to the guy in the parts dept and he'll be able to tell you where it goes from their parts diagrams.

[Magnet]

Hello Z? 

I don’t have any good reason to have allegiance to main dealers, and yes, plugging the car into sophisticated diagnostics equipment is indeed an easy way to make big money - as you say.

But Z, if it’s that simple, why aren’t we all buying the expensive equipment, paying for updates, setting ourselves up in workshops, paying the local authority many tens of thousands of pounds in rates, employing technicians - and hey presto, making a fortune! 

If only Z! 

Then of course - what price is experienced diagnosed opinion? How much does a short private consultation for medical issues cost these days? 

Anyway, 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[chippy]

On 8/11/2020 at 1:02 AM, Shawn said:

Seems exactly my case. My approved used audi q7 plat 65, bought in June 2020 , has brake servo fault and start/stop fault in July (roughly 4 weeks after purchase ). I was hold to wait for 4 weeks to get appointment for repairing, during the first 3 weeks, I drove roughly 300 miles, and then there is red indication saying “brake fault- park safely” instead of the previous two yellow fault. Today I send it to nearest audi dealership, and was told it will cost £3500 to replace brake servo sensor and ABS module as well.

The car is in a two years warranty as approved used audi,  So hope it is just a show bill and will be fully covered by warranty. I will check it tomorrow morning.

 

Just had the dreaded text today informing me basically the above - 17 plate A5 (3.5 years old, around 23k miles in) which I've 'owned' from new (leased from new, then bought).  Was completely flabbergasted to say the least - they basically wanted to charge me 10% of the cost of the car from new to fix this one part?!

I called them and spoke to the lady at the dealership, politely querying how a part could wear out so quickly - I didn't mention Sale of Goods Act or anything along those lines.  She was very receptvie and said she'd see what she could do.  She came back later saying she *thinks* that they can reduce the cost to me by 80%, so still £700 but a lot better than £3.5k!

Not best pleased overall.

[A4ULTRA]

Hello all,

Similar issue but not sure if I will be very lucky or extremely unlucky...!

Actually driving to Audi dealer this morning for potential warranty work on Bowden cable for passenger door. 35 mile journey on motorway. Message 10 mins in saying "Brake servo restricted - you can continue driving."

66 plate A4 Ultra and approved used warranty actually runs out in 2 weeks - you couldn't make this stuff up!           I guess I am now hoping that dealer can replicate the fault and hopefully this is also covered while my vehicle is in. Would not want it to disappear when they investigate and come back when vehicle is no longer in warranty period.

 

Very worried and anxious - can't really afford to foot a big bill at the moment. Also confused though - most on here mention this occurs when vehicle is stationary for a long period of time. However, I have traveled 1000 miles in the past 7 days???? Extremely confused.

[John G]

+1 on this, very similar to others. Car sat for two weeks (self-isolating, thankfully no virus), the rear brakes bound on and the error message came as soon as they popped off. £240 at Exeter Audi (£160 for diagnostics plus the part, didn't charge for labour).

Very glad I found this forum before I knackered the ABS!

[S4 quattro]

Hi everyone. I had same issue just started 2 days ago. I was away for 4 weeks. When came back brake felt funny so thought might be because it wasn't driven for a month thats why its happening but than 2 weeks later message pop up. Saying brake servo restricted and start stop. Saw all messages here and rang my local audi garage and ask for the sensor. They had in stock so went to pick it up. And changed today this morning really easy only took 2 mins to change. Sensor only cost £78. On the phone they said £34 when went there they brought invoice of £78. I don't know if they gave me wholesale price before 😆😆 Anyway i just wanted to solve the problem so paid what they asked. 

Just want to thank u everyone for the post's save over £100 by just buying sensor my self and without paying any money for labour and diagnostics. 

I have attached some images please see and solve the issue your self if you can.  

[Chiz]

Thank you to all who posted. I had the same problem but unlike most of the guys here, I have been regularly driving my car even during lockdown.  

Out of the blue the other day after work, I had the restricted brake servo warning. I continued driving home and hoped it’s just a one off warning. The following morning, I had the same warning on my way to work (about 31 mile drive). Everything seemed okay apart from that whenever I step on the brake there is some sort of unusual feel to it. 

I finally decided to look into this online and found this tread. I panicked as I dont have £££ to get my car fixed as I am getting a mortgage this month. 
I phoned Audi and they have one last pressure sensor left. Just like the chap before me, I paid £78 and did it myself as he and Simon instructed. Test drove after everything looks okay. My start stop also works now. 
Felt so relieved. 

After my mortgage is sorted, I will sell my car and get Mazda instead. I’m done with German cars. 

[Carlmellis]

Hi im interested in this audi a4 2lt deisel  sline but guy has said servo has gone and oil light on its 2005 model  looks nice  im not sure now as reading all your testermonies to carry on 

[Magnet]

Hello Carl,

Thanks for being in touch with the forum. 
Keeping my advice short, just simply, and totally, discount this car, walk away, and find something else.
Even if was given to you, it has ( particularly in terms of the oil light) the potential of emptying your wallet, to a degree which would out weigh it’s worth. 
Take a detached view, and don’t fall in love with the look of the car. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[giuseppe]

Same problem discovered on my A4 Audi 2016 Tfsi 2.0, last friday the same two errors came up for the first time. Parked the car and after looking at this forum ordered the part on Saturday, arrived today £78, the comments and photos from Simon and the other guys were very helpful and proved a god sent.

Changed the part in minutes, all errors have disappeared and brakes feel good as before.

Thanks to all of you who have posted, Giuseppe

[Georgina21]

On 3/17/2021 at 4:11 PM, giuseppe said:

Same problem discovered on my A4 Audi 2016 Tfsi 2.0, last friday the same two errors came up for the first time. Parked the car and after looking at this forum ordered the part on Saturday, arrived today £78, the comments and photos from Simon and the other guys were very helpful and proved a god sent.

Changed the part in minutes, all errors have disappeared and brakes feel good as before.

Thanks to all of you who have posted, Giuseppe

Hi Giuseppe do you have a part number at all? 
I have a an Audi A3 64 plate- I have rang Audi and they want to know where I am plugging this into and apparently this part doesn’t exist. 
Can anyone let me know what the specific ‘key words’ are to say to let the part department know which part I am looking for 😞 

 

[JH3322]

Hi All,

I've had the brake servo warning come up today followed by start/stop function not working. 

I usually have my step Dad do work to my car as he's a mechanic but he's 60 miles away.

Can those who have had this turn into a new abs unit tell me approximately how many miles they drove after the warning came up?

Thank you

[TheITGuy]

Hi

If I recall, I drove a couple of hundred miles in mine before the brake pressure sensor was replaced.  

Glen

[giuseppe]

The part is listed through the forum, thats the code i used, there is also a picture with the full code, thats the one i ordered, giuseppe

 

[JH3322]

9 hours ago, TheITGuy said:

Hi

If I recall, I drove a couple of hundred miles in mine before the brake pressure sensor was replaced.  

Glen

Great, thank you for replying.

[Roddy Mac]

Hello, I’m new to this forum.  I only discovered it yesterday after searching for a solution when both the brake servo restricted and stop/start warnings came on. I was hugely impressed with the amount of information and advice here. 
I have a late 2018 Q5 S Line. 
Armed with this info, I contacted my local dealership who made a preliminary booking for the 29 April but recommended that I phone Audi Assist who would get my car seen far quicker if they could not resolve the matter at my home.  I did this and they were out within an hour. The technician said his last job had been for exactly the same issue and he had used his last spare sensor for that. He confirmed the diagnosis and went away to collect a new sensor which he said had a different letter code in front of the number which indicated it was updated. He was back in an hour and fitted it. Job done.  Excellent service. 
 

Thank everyone for your help. 
 

Roddy. 

[Wiseowl]

My 2016 A4 Avant has done less than 4000 miles and been on the drive though all of lockdown. Went out today & got the Brake Servo Restricted message. I haven’t spoken to my local Audi dealer yet but I’m interested to know more. I purchased Extended Warranty - does that cover this fault??

Just seen Roddy Mac’s post 13 April so I’m going to try Audi assist first! Thank you

Edited April 21, 2021 by Wiseowl
Saw a relevant post

[Magnet]

Many thanks Jill.

Plenty of reading on the forum regarding this. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[JM Botteri]

Oh how I wish I had seen this forum earlier !

I have the same issue with my Audi 2016 Avant. Just out of warranty (Jan 17 registration), "brake servo restricted" message appeared in January but I kept driving thinking I would get it fixed next time I go to the garage.

What a mistake.

Earlier this week I had a red light message saying "brake fault - stop the car safely", so I took the car to Audi who is now slapping me with a £3500 bill to replace the ABS.

I will contact Audi but given the experience related on this forum I don't expect to get anything. Unbelievable that a benign sensor defect causes the ABS to fail so quickly. Very disappointed with Audi.

 

[Norm Rees]

Got this dreaded message this evening. Parked the car for 6 hours and had a lovely message about restricted servos. 

[TheITGuy]

23 hours ago, Norm Rees said:

Got this dreaded message this evening. Parked the car for 6 hours and had a lovely message about restricted servos. 

Hello Norm

Don't delay getting it sorted - as Jean Marc found, if you ignore the message and carrying on driving it results in the need for the ABS system to be replaced (I assume that while the brake servo operation is restricted, it employs the ABS system to compensate, which can only be done for so long before it must be replaced).  When my sensor was replaced the technician warned me that should it happen again, not to wait too long before getting it fixed.

Glen

[Norm Rees]

Thanks all, I’m in the garage tomorrow with it. Haven’t used it since Friday when I had to drive home from Bridgend to Cardiff. Only just had the thing serviced as well!!!  

[Norm Rees]

Must be a very common fault as the parts are on back order. £170 including VAT for sensor and connectors including fitting. Also need two batteries for the key remotes😕😖

[AdamBoxall]

I’ve just started getting these warnings today. Luckily I was leaving home as it happened, so it’s back on the drive after a short trip round the block.

Others have mentioned that the breaks felt sticky or unusual, but kept driving for miles afterwards. For me it was a very noticeable grinding sort of sound when I applied the brakes, that at least didn’t feel particular safe to drive. I’m hoping that’s normal, and I’ve not just gone straight to ABS annihilation?

I’m going to start making some calls tomorrow to try and get a replacement sensor. Glad I saw this thread!

Cheers!