DSG problem or my driving style?

Hi all,

I recently bought a 2010 A3 1.4TFSI and the car is great!! The only thing I'm not sure if its me or the car is that in a span of 4 weeks (since I've had the car) it has stalled 4 times. Each time its when either I'm on a slope going into or out of my parking garage or the one time when I was in a traffic jam. Mind you I'm in traffic jams everyday and I go in and out of my car park everyday, so it has happened on 4 occasions out of possibly 50-60 chances.

The scenario is that I would be letting the car roll on its own (like during a traffic jam or when going into an underground parking) and all of a sudden the engine would stop. All other power inside the car remains on (like AC and radio). Then when I step on the gas the car would not respond. I have to put it in Park and then re-start the car and its up and running again.

I called my sales guy and he said because the car is literally a manual transmission (DSG automatic) that letting it roll without putting it in Neutral is essentially like revving it between 1st gear and not letting the clutch go which might result in clutch overheat and therefore my symptoms. I've never driven a manual trans car before so the idea is somewhat new to me. His advice was that to not let the car roll but brake or step on the gas when necessary and more decisively.

I don't quite understand... Can anyone explain it better to me? Is there something wrong with my car or the way I drive? By the way, all these incidents I have turned OFF the "Start/Stop" feature, so its not like the car went into Stop mode and wouldn't start back up. This shouldn't be a factor in my troubles.

Thank you much for any help or insight into my problems. Really appreciate the expertise available on this forum.

Pill

Thanks for all the advice. I was skeptical at first but I think I really need to get the car back in the shop to see what's going on. I'll update the progress in case anyone else happens to have this issue in the future as reference.

Pill

Talked to my sales guy today, he said the service department has a new code upgrade for my car which may help the stalling situation. According to the service dept, when the clutch (on DSG) is revving for extended periods (like my situation), the computer will cut the power for fear of burning the clutch. But it seems in my case the threshold is cutting it too soon and the car stalls even before the overheat problem arises. So the new code is supposed to alter the threshold at which the computer cuts the power when it senses extended low rev overheat.

Does this make sense to anyone?

Pill

Hi guys,

I haven't updated this post in a while and I figured its time I ask a different question.

So since my last encounter with the sales guy, I took the car in for servicing and they checked it thoroughly. The servicing dept told me that there was nothing wrong with the car mechanically after checking it out at TWO different service centers in the region. They called me after a week and said that HQ had a new code for the car and there was literature that spoke about stalling issues for the A3 and advised I get it upgraded (free of charge of course). So I told them sure, as long as it resolves the problem.

I went to pickup my car 2 days later and upon reaching the service center the lead technician said that they weren't able to upgrade the codes, the codes that were available from HQ had been pulled back off the release and was pending for further testing. At that time there was nothing they could do except wait for it to be released again although he warned it may be a couple months before the next release codes are ready. They would call me once its available and they did acknowledge that some others had experienced this in Europe but none in Hong Kong (where I'm at).

So now 3 months has passed and they have yet to contact me. Meanwhile, the stalling had stopped for a little while since the last check up, maybe for about a month and a half. Then it started again. Previously it happened while I was on a hill/slope and as described earlier it would stall while the car was rolling. But now, it would stall after coming to a full stop on flat ground. Just last week I was pulling into my garage, stopped in front of the parking spot to let my wive out before pulling the car in and it stalled right there. Another time, I stopped at a traffic light and it stalled right there. It has happened 3 times in the last month and seems to be even worse than before.

So I'm now waiting to bring the car in to service again, this time the service dept says they'll go through the test more thoroughly (like they didn't try hard enough last time?) and we'll see how it goes.

Having said all that, does anyone know how and where I can write to in Audi HQ where this could be heard by the right people? I'm a little skeptical this is falling on deaf ears in HK region.

Thanks!!

It does have the Start/Stop system but obviously the problem happens even with the system turned off. Also, the system supposedly turns the car back on when you take your foot off the brakes but this problem basically just stops the car cold...