S-tronic failure

S

s328

Registered User
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
17
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Noticed that some people have said the S-tronic box in the S4 can fail resulting in a massive bill!

What year was it updated to fix the problem, was it the facelift B8.5 (2012)?
 
Mech units can have some issues which a repair kit can resolve for around £1.2k, generally speed sensor wiring fix, up to £4.5k if the unit is knackered, or up to £10-12k if you need a new box.
Some places can rebuild the boxes now but mech unit wise you have to source from Audi.
Best bet is get a decent warranty (warranty direct seem to cover them from my investigations), or better still extended warranty from Audi for peace of mind.
Of course you hear of the horror stories, but there are s lot of cars out there with these boxes in them, A3,4,5,6 Q3,5,7, S3,4
Great when good, **** when ****
 
s328 said:
Noticed that some people have said the S-tronic box in the S4 can fail resulting in a massive bill!

What year was it updated to fix the problem, was it the facelift B8.5 (2012)?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, the TPI for mech circuit board related issues also includes some facelift models. From memory this is up to and including 2013 MY. If you have access to ELSAWIN you can look this up and see all the known issues for a given MY.

Razza's advice is spot on. Having had two gearbox replacements myself, i highly recommend going for a facelift MY used approved S4. It also helps to buy from a dealer with a decent after sales team.
 
Got quoted £700 to recondition the mech unit from an indie. If it couldn't be repaired then it would cost £1200 for a new one. This is from gearbox Nottingham, apparently they buy direct from the manufacturer.
 
aro03 said:
Unfortunately, the TPI for mech circuit board related issues also includes some facelift models. From memory this is up to and including 2013 MY. If you have access to ELSAWIN you can look this up and see all the known issues for a given MY.

Razza's advice is spot on. Having had two gearbox replacements myself, i highly recommend going for a facelift MY used approved S4. It also helps to buy from a dealer with a decent after sales team.
Click to expand...
It needs to be a facelift Black Edition i'm after but would rather pay an extra £2,000 or so to know that the gearbox wouldn't fail on me.

When would the car need to be made to be classed as a MY14 car?
 
audi upgrades
As razza has pointed out, you only hear the bad news.

Same with everything. People generally don't go around posting on the internet about what isn't broken with their car, only what is. Given the volumes of units in the market and the number of failures, then it's more likely than not that you will have fault free driving for the ownership period of your car :)
 
skiptowncat said:
Got quoted £700 to recondition the mech unit from an indie. If it couldn't be repaired then it would cost £1200 for a new one. This is from gearbox Nottingham, apparently they buy direct from the manufacturer.
Click to expand...
I didn't think they could be reconditioned, and I'd be very suspicious that that's the right box for £1,200, more than half the price of TPS. Sounds more like the 6 speed box control unit...
 
razza1 said:
I didn't think they could be reconditioned, and I'd be very suspicious that that's the right box for £1,200, more than half the price of TPS. Sounds more like the 6 speed box control unit...
Click to expand...
Spoke to the guy on the phone, he was adamant that 1200 was the price for a full 7 speed mech unit.
 
@Dippy 9 failures out of how many thousands is as good as it gets for me. Thanks.
 
I've now had 2 DSG/S-Tronic boxes and both have been superb. First one in a slightly older car but no hassles whatsoever.
 
skiptowncat said:
How do you know they are burnt?
Click to expand...
Gearbox place has stripped it down, and found them burnt and scorched, was hoping it was the control arms as might have been covered by the warranty, but not :(
New clutch packs going in yesterday/Monday
Not sure if it was the extra power going through it or what
 
razza1 said:
Gearbox place has stripped it down, and found them burnt and scorched, was hoping it was the control arms as might have been covered by the warranty, but not :(
New clutch packs going in yesterday/Monday
Not sure if it was the extra power going through it or what
Click to expand...

If the men unit wasn't engaging the clutches correctly then it would cause them to fail?

How much is this all costing?
 
£2,400 for the rebuild. The mech I got covered under warranty
Unfortunately due to the time passing since the mech unit being replaced due to getting it replaced again by Audi and then spending ages trying to get a new gearbox under goodwill, they've rejected any linking of that being the cause. They'd like to wriggle out of what they can....
 
razza1 said:
£2,400 for the rebuild. The mech I got covered under warranty
Unfortunately due to the time passing since the mech unit being replaced due to getting it replaced again by Audi and then spending ages trying to get a new gearbox under goodwill, they've rejected any linking of that being the cause. They'd like to wriggle out of what they can....
Click to expand...

And how much for the clutch packs?
May need to open mine up
 
That's part of the rebuild cost. Don't know the breakdown of costs but they need my car for about 5 days to strip it, find the issue, order parts and then rebuild.
That cost may be discounted though as my neighbour of 8 years works there and is looking after me...
Had quotes elsewhere of £4.7k and £6k to rebuild....
 
  • Like
Reactions: scotty76
scotty76 said:
Not great @razza1 but thanks for the comprehensive updates.
Click to expand...
No worries, happy to provide my experiences to help others where possible, as it's not been the best journey to be honest. Stressing about paying half the value of a car on a new box hasn't been good fun at all. Hopefully next week I can out it all behind me
 
  • Like
Reactions: skiptowncat and scotty76
Just so i'm clear here,

You had clunking and had the mech unit replaced under warranty.
The clunking returned so did a full tear down and found the clutch packs scorched, but it had ran over the warranty period and now Audi will not honour it?
 
Bought it private and got a 3rd party warranty. Got clunking and errors with limp mode.
Diagnosis was mech unit which was replaced at an Indy.
Didn't fix the errors or issues, they spoke to their guys and they said new box needed. As I only had a £5k limit per claim and used most of it I needed to look at alternatives.
Took it to Audi to get their opinion, they replaced the mech unit under parts warranty in case it was faulty. The car went into limp mode as they drove it out the garage to give back to me...they then said it'll be a new box then. I did query clutches but he seemed to think not. I then spent a long time wasting time and effort with Audi HQ trying to sort out some goodwill towards a new box since Chris Harris got one for £4K. Had Audi service history, I had previous history of buying from Audi and used Audi for servicing etc on my old cars. Turned out Audi HQ have no influence what so ever over goodwill at garages, and Basingstoke (who I had never used before) offered me more discount then reading did (who offered no goodwill).
This led to a fair amount of time difference from the first claim. I think if I had tried to claim for the clutches at the time it would have still been rejected.
Don't think the mech unit was at fault anyway as I sold that to someone with an S5 and had no comeback on it, so think it was just the clutches all along. At least I've got a new mech unit as well as compensation I guess...
 
  • Like
Reactions: skiptowncat
I think the clutches were slipping and the electronics threw it all into safe mode each time.
Other symptoms were losing torque in reverse, or it not engaging.
The symptoms were worse when cold and mainly when coming to a standstill (especially if on a downhill incline), you could feel the transmission struggling to find/keep the gear before it went into limp mode. I got good at learning and detecting this and knocking it into neutral before it errored. The vibrations of an issue were unmissable. Really hope it's smooth as silk when I get it back and fall back in love with it
 
Hmmm,mine doesn't slip but is sometimes very jerking on engagement.
Never noticed any slippage though
 
So got it back tonight...initial view is so much better. Up shifts are actually smoother as well.
Downshifts are hardly noticeable, no more harsh 4-3rd and 2-1st is really smooth.
Upon stopping on a hill it didn't feel like it was hunting in 1st, with no vibrations.
All you can hear is very minor clicks as it shifts now.
Having a play in manual mode the gears are much more responsive, was in 6th and managed to downshift to 1st very quickly. Previously there was always a delay if dropping more than one gear at a time, but now it was instantly (hence why I was suddenly in 1st...).
Will need to see what it's like tomorrow once cold, that'll be the key test...if it stays like this I'll be grinning a lot again :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: xpoweruk, scotty76 and aro03
Did they do anything else to refurb the box or was it just clutch pack replacement?
 
Whoop whoop, like a different car this morning. Cold start stops in traffic, on hills, no vibrations or clunks.
Reverse engaged straight away, no torque loss.
When stopping the revs didn't hunt and no struggling. Released brake and very smooth take off. Even noticed after braking for a considerable time it didn't move until I accelerated, not sure if the hill hold lite now does that on a flat as seems like it.
Much happier today :)
I know it sounds like how a box should behave but I've been putting up with issues for about a year now...
 
  • Like
Reactions: benjie, scotty76, Scott.T and 1 other person
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

jbee3
S Tronic failure?
Replies
1
Views
903
fsures
F
Chop.
S tronic filter
Replies
3
Views
2K
Chop.
Chop.
S
Help Please S-tronic Stalling
Replies
8
Views
7K
Scuba Quattro
Scuba Quattro
C
Multi tronic or S-tronic ???
Replies
10
Views
17K
aprilia dude
aprilia dude
R
S-Tronic --- Tiptronic
Replies
10
Views
54K
Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo
Top
Back