Brake servo restricted

[Foxy11]

6 minutes ago, Roddy Mac said:

Hi Foxy. 

The whole situation is a disgrace and needs exposed. I hope it works out for you. You aren’t still with Audi Assist by any chance?

Roddy. 

Unfortunately not, not under warranty and not Audi Assist. Bought through a third party to the dealer. 

After a few voicemails as its currently impossible to get through, just booked in for inspection 3rd June. 

[PHB]

Do you believe it, Audi head office claim they are not aware of such an issue!!!! You should send them the quote for repairs.

[DevQ7]

I missed a call from the directors executive customs relationship manager too. I Will give her a call back tomorrow and see what she has to say but I think if everyone emails Andrew Doyle and the customer services email addresses and expresses their concern over the safety of their audi vehicle it'll hold much more weight. We Can refer to this group where there are tens of affected customers with this fault so there's some sort of trail. 

[Magnet]

If this were me, I would be searching for any recalls in the States. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.  

[Foxy11]

Anyone any further updates?

I've had mine inspected today, knew what was coming when the first question in the phone call following inspection was whether or not I had any extended warranty... 

As suspected, they've diagnosed it needs a replacement ABS controller which would be a cost of £3200.

Before I even reacted, they told me that because I have a service plan and have booked my service etc with them since getting the car, they'll 'go halves' with me at £1600.00 as a goodwill gesture.

On pushing for a reason for failure and mentioning the low mileage/age, they said it was that the hydraulic boost had only a certain number of engagements and the problem/error had caused this limit to be reached. In replacing the controller, they'll also replace the sensor. 

Given I've not really anywhere else to go with it and really need the vehicle available, I've reluctantly gone ahead and will likely take it up via email with Audi retrospectively, given the nature of the problem and dashboard messages at odds with the seriousness/impact of the issue. 

[DevQ7]

Hi. 

I had a phone call with the assistant to the director. I questioned her about the problem and she said that every complaint / error brought to the dealerships attention is relayed back to head office and if they deem that there is an underlying issue, only then do they issue a recall. I raised concerns that there is a significant number of people having the same fault and she said all that we can do it lodge a complaint with the motor ombudsman who can then look into it.

I have the same issue as yourself Foxy but they have not offered any help towards the costs. The cost differs from franchise to franchise so the assistant urged me to phone around for a cheaper quote. I was quoted 2275 + 240 labour (Nottingham) .

I think if we all can lodge similar complaints to the ombudsman it will hold more weight than just a few of us and maybe those that have been lucky to change their sensor in time could get their abs also checked/changed without a £3k bill. 

[Reavley]

I have a 2017 A4 saloon 2.0 petrol. The brake servo restricted light came on 2 days ago but I didnt get around to researching it until today as I felt secure with the dashboard message saying it is ok to continue driving. Turns out that is a false sense of security and I wish I had looked up the issue earlier but I'm hopeful that I can still get away with the simple sensor replacement. After ringing around the 3 local dealerships in my area one said another has stock (same company with multiple dealserships) but annoyingly the parts department at that dealership haven't been answering my calls all day! It sounds like the part number has recently been updated to have a B at the end rather than the A I had seen on earlier threads. I believe the part number for the sensor is now 5Q0906207B. I will try contacting the dealership again tomorrow. Fingers are crossed... 

This is my first Audi and I am very disappointed that it feels like Audi have their eyes closed (deliberately or not) to a simple and cheap fix that could save owners £ thousands. At less than 4 years old I had no dreamt that I could be on the line for such a costly repair, made only worse when I read how common this fault appears to be.

[DevQ7]

On 5/27/2021 at 9:04 AM, Magnet said:

If this were me, I would be searching for any recalls in the States. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.  

Hi Gareth. 

I researched a bit on line and could find no such recall in the USA. Has anyone else tried looking or had any luck? If found how could this help our case here in the UK given Audi UK would say Audi USA is different country and different manufacturer etc. 

[Foxy11]

21 minutes ago, Reavley said:

I have a 2017 A4 saloon 2.0 petrol. The brake servo restricted light came on 2 days ago but I didnt get around to researching it until today as I felt secure with the dashboard message saying it is ok to continue driving. Turns out that is a false sense of security and I wish I had looked up the issue earlier but I'm hopeful that I can still get away with the simple sensor replacement. After ringing around the 3 local dealerships it sounds like one of them has stock but annoyingly the parts department at that dealership haven't been answering my calls all day! It sounds like the part number has recently been updated to have a B at the end rather than the A I had seen on earlier threads. I believe the part number for the sensor is now 5Q0906207. I will try contacting the dealership again tomorrow. Fingers are crossed... 

This is my first Audi and I am very disappointed that it feels like Audi have their eyes closed (deliberately or not) to a simple and cheap fix that could save owners £ thousands. At less than 4 years old I had no dreamt that I could be on the line for such a costly repair, made only worse when I read how common this fault appears to be.

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I'd stop driving it now if you can and book in for inspection ASAP. I was fairly surprised when questioned when my dealership said they could get the parts tomorrow and it would be ready by the end of the day, was expecting them to be on back order. 

I'm the same re: my first Audi and one of the reasons I made the switch was to hopefully avoid issues of this nature, after a long and protracted argument with Ford regarding a major design flaw and known issue. 

It certainly seems that bare minimum they should have a resolution/update around the servo restricted error in order to clarify the potential seriousness of the issue rather than intimate that continuing to use the vehicle is fine. 

I also wondered personally, if it's clearly an issue with ABS once it gets that far, why there is no apparent ABS error/warning light. 

[Reavley]

3 minutes ago, Foxy11 said:

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I'd stop driving it now if you can and book in for inspection ASAP. 

I'm the same re: my first Audi and one of the reasons I made the switch was to hopefully avoid issues of this nature, after a long and protracted argument with Ford regarding a major design flaw and known issue. 

It certainly seems that bare minimum they should have a resolution/update around the servo restricted error in order to clarify the potential seriousness of the issue rather than intimate that continuing to use the vehicle is fine. 

I also wondered personally, if it's clearly an issue with ABS once it gets that far, why there is no apparent ABS error/warning light. 

Thankfully I can work from home so my intention is to leave the car on the drive until I can get my hands on a replacement sensor. 

Hopefully a new sensor clears the dash warnings but if not I'll book it in at the garage. 

[PHB]

When my sensor was changed the garage could not find the warning stored so all was find after. The only stored warning was low tyre pressure on all 4 wheels, which was not true. I am rapidly losing confidence in my A4 Audi.

[Reavley]

I have been to Audi Newcastle this morning and picked up the new sensor, part 5Q0906207B. I have fitted it and both the restricted servo and start/stop dash warnings have gone. I haven't had a chance to drive the car since but fingers crossed my issue is now resolved.

Whilst speaking to the guy who works in the dealership Parts department he said they keep stock of the sensors and are selling multiple units a month. He even said he recognised the part number when I quoted it over the phone and instantly knew which part it was which is a statement in itself. He said it is a known issue but not considered common. If each dealership is selling multiple units a month on cars that are still relatively young, and especially considering the cost of ABS repairs if not resolved swiftly, I would say that is a common issue that needs more attention from Audi. The guy also said they have a car in their shop at the moment getting the ABS repairs as the car was driven after the initial restricted servo warning came on. So that is another fellow Audi driver who is about to take a large hit to their wallet for an avoidable problem. Shame on Audi!

[Steve Q]

2 hours ago, Reavley said:

I have been to Audi Newcastle this morning and picked up the new sensor, part 5Q0906207B. I have fitted it and both the restricted servo and start/stop dash warnings have gone. I haven't had a chance to drive the car since but fingers crossed my issue is now resolved.

Whilst speaking to the guy who works in the dealership Parts department he said they keep stock of the sensors and are selling multiple units a month. He even said he recognised the part number when I quoted it over the phone and instantly knew which part it was which is a statement in itself. He said it is a known issue but not considered common. If each dealership is selling multiple units a month on cars that are still relatively young, and especially considering the cost of ABS repairs if not resolved swiftly, I would say that is a common issue that needs more attention from Audi. The guy also said they have a car in their shop at the moment getting the ABS repairs as the car was driven after the initial restricted servo warning came on. So that is another fellow Audi driver who is about to take a large hit to their wallet for an avoidable problem. Shame on Audi!

It's disgraceful really. Glad you're sorted 🙂

[wajira]

Hi Guys....

my audi Q7 - 2017 started giving the same warning " Break servo restructed " and the "start stop systmen not working".

plan is to take the advise from this forum and replave the presure sensor my self and save ££.

Just removed the sensor to check and see picture and will be purchasing new part from audi tomorrow!

part number is 5Q 0906207

[Steve Q]

1 hour ago, wajira said:

Hi Guys....

my audi Q7 - 2017 started giving the same warning " Break servo restructed " and the "start stop systmen not working".

plan is to take the advise from this forum and replave the presure sensor my self and save ££.

Just removed the sensor to check and see picture and will be purchasing new part from audi tomorrow!

part number is 5Q 0906207

Good luck 🤞 hope it sorts the issue for you 😊

[Amac113]

On 8/19/2020 at 10:30 AM, Simon Ryder said:

Hi,

I had exactly the same problem as you all have reported. 
I ordered a Brake servo pressure sensor from the Audi Parts Department at my local Audi dealership. 
It was really really easy to replace like for like. I have no experience with car maintenance. I’ve got the A4 and it was to the top left of the engine compartment, under a plastic covering that lifted up. I’d recommend having a go. It cost me £75 for the part. 

Simon - thank you!! Saved me £130. 
 

Get the part and do it yourselves folks. I a completely hopeless at anything in any way technical and I managed it in a couple of minutes. Do NOT put it in the garage. Also just don’t drive it as soon as you get the error message - really not worth the risk. 
I would suggest getting the part from Audi if you can as I had a hell of a time with an online parts company who turned out were based in Germany and I waited over a week and it still wasn’t shipped. With shipping etc the part direct from Audi was £7 more expensive. Not worth the hassle. 
An easy fix even for the utterly gormless like myself! 

[lozzd]

My 2019 Q5 showed this (c11ec04 - brake servo restricted - contact workshop) suddenly last week intermittently, and then permanently this week. Luckily since it's in warranty, I hit the roadside assist button in the car, they showed up and replaced the sensor (5Q0906207A) on the driveway in 40 minutes.  

Fantastic service to be able to get it fixed so fast and easily, and luckily for me I'm in warranty, but isn't it funny they happen to carry a stock of that part on their vans? 🤔

As a data point, we've been driving the car fairly regularly (few times a week and just been on a long 500+ mile round trip a few weeks back) so it's not pandemic idle-ness for us. 

[wajira]

Hi guys,

just to update i just replaced the part myself and car drives and breaks fine now.... this is easy and quick....no expert knowledge required. all the fault codes are now gone...

This is really easy DIY - only took 5 mins and flat head small screwdriver to unlock the two plastic locks and either side of the sensor attachment. Need little care when unlocking the latches.

The part number is as below.... according to Audi there are some updates to the part numbers.

The original part no 5Q 0906207 replaced by 5Q 0906207A and the latest number is 5Q 0906207B which I bought and used. 

most of the Audi models this part is universal.... irrespective of the model. mine is Q7 - 2017 model.

hope this helps and save money for you. 

 

[Foxy11]

Glad to hear people appear to be having luck when catching it early enough 🙂

Just wish i'd seen this thread earlier and done the same! 

Got mine back and now fine, £1600 lighter with new ABS unit and sensor. Will check the invoice for part numbers and prices later in case it helps any. 

 

[lozzd]

On 6/3/2021 at 8:00 PM, Reavley said:

The brake servo restricted light came on 2 days ago but I didnt get around to researching it until today as I felt secure with the dashboard message saying it is ok to continue driving

If there's one lesson I've learnt here, is read the long form description in the manual immediately when these errors pop up. 

When they say "continue driving, contact workshop" the manual is much much more clear about what they mean: 

 

e.g. you don't have to stop the car immediately - your brakes will still work - but you should continue driving immediately to a garage to have it fixed. e.g. You're depleting your ABS module by driving for weeks on it! 

I guess this is a downside of the modern cars having text messages on the screen - they've got room to describe something but not fully - so people can misinterpret what it's saying. Back in the day where you just got an icon, you'd be forced to pull over and check the manual.

I know I am probably in the minority where I immediately stop and investigate any errors fully in the manual as soon as they appear. 

[lozzd]

I've also found this interesting page that describes the reason for the ABS module replacement: https://uk.autologic.com/news/technical-top-tip-vag

Quote

The fault starts as a brake servo vacuum sensor fault.

As soon as this fault is recorded, the ABS system uses an accumulated source of pressure to work/boost the Brake Assistance, once the accumulated pressure drops (brake pedal activated several times) the ABS system has no way to restore system pressure!

ouch. 

[PHB]

With this information on the web how can Audi say they are not aware of the problem! Having replaced the sensor does anyone have any idea how long it will last. My sensor failed after 24k miles, may be worth carrying a spare, but there again there are a lot of sensors on an Audi 

[Foxy11]

3 minutes ago, PHB said:

With this information on the web how can Audi say they are not aware of the problem! Having replaced the sensor does anyone have any idea how long it will last. My sensor failed after 24k miles, may be worth carrying a spare, but there again there are a lot of sensors on an Audi 

My shiny new one has 2 years parts and labour 🤣

 

Original had done just over 20k.

[Steve Q]

1 hour ago, Foxy11 said:

My shiny new one has 2 years parts and labour 🤣

 

Original had done just over 20k.

Glad you got sorted ☺️

[DevQ7]

So am I correct in thinking that of you carry on driving, the only way to get rid of the fault is to replace the ABS control unit and hydraulic part? Simply changing the sensor again will not resolve it?