A4 Multi gearbox flashing on DIS - GREAT service from Audi

[imported_CurryMilkShake]

Remember a few weeks back I posted a query about the PRNDS part of the display flashing on the DIS?

Spoke to Audi at the time, they didnt know what it was and advised bringing it in if it did it again.

It did it on thursday, phoned them, took the car straight in - they pulled an engineer off of lunch, plugged it in, and within a couple of mins had determined that a sensor in the gearbox has failed. No mechanical fault, all still drives beautifully..

However - wouldnt let me take the car on, as this needs sorting under warranty, bit of a problem as I was booked on a ferry to france a few hours later and they had no courtesy car.. all sorted within minutes though, they contacted audi central and organised a hire car, approved to take abroad, for as long as i needed it, and I was sat in it within 40 mins.. Audi even loaned me a nokia charger as I normally have the in car kit..

So, Service from Southampton Audi absolutely top notch on this.. however, the implication of this blasted sensor failure turns out to be a whole gearbox out job, replacement of the Gearbox electronic control unit, and a 5 day wait before the parts even arrive from audi..

Am very glad this is under warranty! Have to say I might think twice before purchasing a second-hand car with a multitronic, despite how much I like the box, if a simple sensor can cause this much work.. Though presumably a DSG box is similarly equipped with internal electronics and sensors!

Maybe just unlucky..

 

[arthurfuxake]

Nice one curry, good to hear of a dealer getting it right.

Three cheers for Southampton Audi. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bravo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ok.gif


Sorry to hear about your fault though, like a lot of things these days, it's not a small simple job.

 

[jdp1962]

Congratulations to Southampton Audi.

Memo to every other dealer: This is what it's meant to be like!

 

[imported_bubstar]

Always good to see good customer service in action CMS /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ok.gif

As for owning S/H high mileage autos or Multi's .......... I'd pass too!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

BUB /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

 

[imported_larry1]

Exact same prob happened to my 2003 Multitronic A4 avant last December. Warranty was covered in Ireland but I had bought the car in UK so drove to Belfast and received top drawer service from ISSAC AGNEWS. Worrying though that it seem common... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[imported_CurryMilkShake]

Larry - I confess the more I think about this the more I am concerned by how much a tiny sensor failure could cost to put right if this was out of warranty!!!

wonder how may others have had the same prob...

 

[cadders]

For the record, I can put my hand up. I too have the same problem with my A4 (a 2.0 FSI SE). My car is currently at the dealers awaiting a new ECU for the multitronic box. All covered under warranty, good job too as the dealer told my it would cost about £700 to replace.
I've been given a loan car until the A4 is fixed, but there seems to be a problem getting the replacement ECU from Germany....so far my car has been at the dealers for almost four weeks.
I too am concerned as to the longevity / reliability of the multitronic boxes and would not like to be running one out of warranty. My car has FASH and only 54K on the clock.....I love the smoothness of the multi but when I finally get the car back it's gonna be on probation until my confidence in it returns.
Meantime it puts my mind at rest (a little) that I am not alone in experiencing this problem.

 

[Macduff]

but there seems to be a problem getting the replacement ECU from Germany....so far my car has been at the dealers for almost four weeks.

Sounds like they've got a biggish problem with these 'boxes. If this type of thing continues then Audi may have to start helping out people if the car's out of warranty.

 

[Setters]

I saw this thread and thought I would take the time to mention that I too have the same gearbox problem with my A4 Multitronic. The fault started happening 6 weeks ago. Audi seem to be having a problem getting the part in enough quantity into the UK - they say that they're only getting 250 a week. My part has been on order for over 3 weeks now. The fault has started to annoy me, so I called Audi Customer Services and they've now put me in another A4 while mine waits at the dealers to be repaired.

 

[cadders]

Hi Setters, thanks for the post. We need people with similar probs to post in order to gauge the extent of the situation.
Update on my situation; tomorrow my A4 will have been at the dealers for 6 weeks awaiting a new ECU. However I did get a call yesterday to say the part had finally arrived so I should get the car back at the end of this week.....providing the replacement ECU is working ok (sorry I'm a bit neurotic about it at the mo). Not sure if this is good news or bad news from your perspective but please keep the thread updated on how your situation develops.

 

[cadders]

For completeness, dealer replaced the ECU, got my car back after 6 and a half weeks. Everything seems to be ok.....but the car is still on probation until my confidence returns.

 

[jpmigliano]

Hi, I have the same problem and I believe my car is out of warranty. Is there an Audi memo out there that can help me to get this covered under warranty / recall?
Thanks!

 

[SteveTDCi]

This seems to be a very common problem with the multitronic, both in the A4 and the A6. The other issue seems to come from the gearbox oil not being changed around 40k. I don't know if the new A4 with the 7 speed multitronic box is as bad as the 6 speed one, I suppose only time will tell !

 

[Chrisavant]

Repeated Multitronic Failures


I have owned my 2.5 TDi 2003 from new and love this car. But I am now on my THIRD Mutitronic box. The original failed at 90,000 miles resulting in no drive in the fast lane of the motorway, the second one lasted for 70,000 miles, failing at walking pace whilst making a 3 point turn, and the latest one has now done just 20,000 miles and is starting to exhibit the jerkiness referred to in the above very interesting submissions.

The rest of the car is in first class condition - despite now 180,000 on the clock, the engine uses no oil at all (the V6 is so much better in this respect than the 4 cyl TDi unit) and is still on "full" at the approx 18,000 interval to next service. The exhaust and battery are still the originals!

BUT three transmissions!

My theory was that the 2.5 V6 is the highest torque engine ever mated to the Multitronic and it just couldn't cope with it (even the newer 2.7 V6 has more power but less torque), but now I see all the details of other failures above, I am starting to believe it is just an unreliable design. When it's working properly, I still think it's the best transmission ever invented, but no-one can stand these sort of costs.

I have had to make substantial contributions to both my replacements, but my main dealer Hull Audi have been fantastic in arguing my case with Audi and achieving some payment from them. But none of this should be necessary. A quality car, expensively maintained by the Audi authorised main dealer, with the same owner driver from new, should not get through transmissions as if they were a throw-away wear part. Car gearboxes have always been very reliable items and even in humble post-war Morris Eights and Ford Prefects, the gearbox would still keep going for the life of the car.

Unfortunately the Multitronic seems to be a backward step in reliability.

 

[sebhar70]

Repeated Multitronic Failures


I have owned my 2.5 TDi 2003 from new and love this car. But I am now on my THIRD Mutitronic box. The original failed at 90,000 miles resulting in no drive in the fast lane of the motorway, the second one lasted for 70,000 miles, failing at walking pace whilst making a 3 point turn, and the latest one has now done just 20,000 miles and is starting to exhibit the jerkiness referred to in the above very interesting submissions.

The rest of the car is in first class condition - despite now 180,000 on the clock, the engine uses no oil at all (the V6 is so much better in this respect than the 4 cyl TDi unit) and is still on "full" at the approx 18,000 interval to next service. The exhaust and battery are still the originals!

BUT three transmissions!

My theory was that the 2.5 V6 is the highest torque engine ever mated to the Multitronic and it just couldn't cope with it (even the newer 2.7 V6 has more power but less torque), but now I see all the details of other failures above, I am starting to believe it is just an unreliable design. When it's working properly, I still think it's the best transmission ever invented, but no-one can stand these sort of costs.

I have had to make substantial contributions to both my replacements, but my main dealer Hull Audi have been fantastic in arguing my case with Audi and achieving some payment from them. But none of this should be necessary. A quality car, expensively maintained by the Audi authorised main dealer, with the same owner driver from new, should not get through transmissions as if they were a throw-away wear part. Car gearboxes have always been very reliable items and even in humble post-war Morris Eights and Ford Prefects, the gearbox would still keep going for the life of the car.

Unfortunately the Multitronic seems to be a backward step in reliability.

I too have had this issue with my 2002 Audi A4, I was'nt aware of the problems with these gearboxes but quickly found out when I noticed a juddery sensation as the gearbox went through the 1st-3rd gears. Audi qouted me £1600 to resolve the issue, they said that it needed a 6 to 7 plate clutch conversion. I was able to get the work done at a specialist for £1000 (approx). After reading this thread I am worried that it could happen again at any time. At the moment I'm still within the guarantee. What about after

 

[BahnStormer77]

the 6-7 plate clutch conversion (anything from £1k-£2k) is the most reliable fix for the multitronics which are well-known to have problems... especially on the higher torque engines (TDI / turbo).... they never even offered them for the higher spec (180PS) TDI's, only the 163PS or lower since they kick more than the 4.2 V8 (peak torque)...

I believe that all the V6 TDI's were recalled by Audi and automatically changed to 7 plate clutches....

 

[markyzs180]

I believe that all the V6 TDI's were recalled by Audi and automatically changed to 7 plate clutches....

god, i hope that was the case and mine was done......

 

[Chrisavant]

Hi Guys,

I wouldn't be too confident. My original was six-plate clutches, and when this was replaced, I was assured that the new one with 7 plate clutches would solve the problem. But as you can see from my previous note, it actually lasted less at only 70,000 miles. My driving patterns are extremely gentle by comparison with many; most of it is a gentle motorway commute to work - where I live in North Lincolnshire we have no hills and low traffic densities and I can generally pop on the cruise control shortly after the start of my journey and cruise at about 80 for almost the entire trip. The Multitronic works fine at higher speeds, but it is now jerky and grunts during gentle acceleration at about 20 - 40 mph and also jerky on coming to a halt.

I am grateful to Chunkymonkey for his comments about the ATF change and greatly improved smoothness; I am booking mine in for this next week even though it will have only done half the recommended interval on this box.

I think one of the problems that the high torque from this engine causes, is that the continuously variable transmission doesn't have to do much. There is so much torque that the car will happily accelerate without "changing down". So the chain and cones tend to stay in the same ratio much of the time. This is quite different on other versions. During one of my lengthy repair sessions, Hull Audi lent me an A6 with Multitronic but the 2.0 Petrol engine. More power less torque. The rev counter was continually zipping up and down the full range as the ratios changed with accelerating, hill climbing etc, indicating that the ratios were in almost constant state of change. So the whole thing gets exercised and wear is spread evenly over the surfaces of the cones. I think (but have no evidence) that with my engine and constant cruising on level roads, the ratio rarely changes concentrating wear to a narrow band which then causes step problems.

This is probably all rubbish, but with this level of problems one starts to grasp at straws!

 

[69COU]

Hi, I have the same problem and I believe my car is out of warranty. Is there an Audi memo out there that can help me to get this covered under warranty / recall?
Thanks!

Basically , the Audi official line is to deny it has come across the problem if cars are out of waranty or serviced outside main dealers.

I did say to mine surely with the volume of this problem as reported on the WEB it is a manafacturing problem with ECU sensors. I am sure AUDI do not make them but made by someone like Bosche. However they would not entertain. Surly as a major purchaser of parts of the suppliers they should have this covered for all as it is AUDIs rep that is getting damaged. Unfortunatly they need toget involved in programing so can fleece you on the labour.

I am sure whoever makes part do not chrage AUDI £700 and even if they did AUDI should threaten with chaning manafacturer of part if a solution cannot be found. A Gdearbox should be good for 200K miles and an ECU made of simple electronics should be fit for purpose.

 

[hleonhardt]

10 NOVEMBER 2012 - AUDI'S MULTITRONIC GEARBOX PROBLEM
I also bought a used 2003 Audi A4 in 2006 from an Audi dealer (with 55,000 km). The car was still within the warranty period when it started giving transmission problems (sluggish and shuddering when pulling away from a parked position, especially after the car was driven for a couple of kilometers and parked for about 10 minutes - the engine still being hot). The gearbox was replaced by Audi in 2007 under warranty but the problem persisted. I complained about this at every service since then with no results.
Thanks to my wife's attentiveness, we eventually found that we could bypass the sluggishness/shuddering by shutting off the air conditioning before driving off. As soon as the car is moving, we can switch the aircon back on and can continue without any further problems. Apart from the transmission nuisance, the Audi is a lovely car to drive.
Hein Leonhardt, Klerksdorp, South Africa