S-Tronic jerk when pulling away

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elrao

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Our '59 S4 S-Tronic has recently started to show signs of its age. We've owned it from knew and it's only done 32k and always been main dealer serviced on schedule.

The gearbox has started to jerk a little when you pull away, feels ok changing gears at speed but there is a definite pause-clunk when you first put your foot on the gas.

Any thoughts? Am hoping it's not a sign of a failing box and a big repair bill!
 
Will have to check the service record, would have been done if audi said it was needed, per schedule... Else no!
 
Try getting one of the 034 mounts to see if it helps.
Unfortunately the early boxes have a mech unit that isn't very well heat insulated and the circuit board can start to play up.
Do you get clunks when changing 2-1 gears?
 
Going to get it booked in for the oil change as it's coming up on 6 years old eve though we are under 38k miles.

Not noticed clunks changing actual gears, just seems to be engaging first from park. Will pay more attention next time I drive it (wife's car!).
 
audi upgrades
I do less than 6K a year. I was thinking that I'll get my s-tronic oil changed at the 3 year mark (just before the warranty runs out although likely I will have blown that by then :))
 
Told the wife to book it in, fingers crossed that's all that's required
 
Other half also thinks it is using more petrol than usual, not sure it actually is or if that could really be linked to the gearbox unless it's not choosing gears correctly
 
This is how mine started playing up, I am currently awaiting a new gearbox at £8.5k.
 
Not what anyone wants to hear... How many miles/age? Any other symptoms I should look out for, maybe time to px it in!
 
Away for the weekend so might miss updates to this, but if you aren't getting covered by warranty try 3D transmissions in Reading.
Repaired mine for £2.4k when Audi said it couldn't be fixed and needed a new box.
Tell them I sent you as they hadn't heard of many S4 issues...
 
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I had the mechatronic on my old S3 done under warranty, so have an idea of what's involved and the costs.

Am hoping it won't come to that, but thanks for the heads up on the place in reading. Oil change booked for next month, fingers crossed that's all that's required.
 
Well, basically Audi had my car for a week for the gearbox issues, first they found a collapsed engine vacuum pipe which could of been causing the issues, after changing that it made no difference, and because I believe it is a mechanical fault, and not the mechatronic unit, there are no fault codes generated, therefore Audi weren't prepared to delve any deeper so that was the end of that.
After a bit of searching around I found a local gearbox specialist who was prepared to help me, he looked into it and found there are no parts available from Audi to repair these gearboxes, and the only option is to replace the whole unit.
Luckily I have an aftermarket warranty, and after sending an engineer out to test drive/assess the car he agreed there was a fault, and he has authorised a complete gearbox renewal. This will be in excess of £9k including the labour, and apparently Audi have updated the cooler pipes, so these will be another £200 on top.
Without the warranty I would of been screwed. I am still waiting to have it changed, but the rest of the nightmare is being sorted between the garage and the warranty company.
 
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Which warranty company are you with out of interest?
 
@sixpot if you don't mind sharing the warranty company I'd appreciate it. Good to know who covers S-tronic.
 
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sixpot said:
Well, basically Audi had my car for a week for the gearbox issues, first they found a collapsed engine vacuum pipe which could of been causing the issues, after changing that it made no difference, and because I believe it is a mechanical fault, and not the mechatronic unit, there are no fault codes generated, therefore Audi weren't prepared to delve any deeper so that was the end of that.
After a bit of searching around I found a local gearbox specialist who was prepared to help me, he looked into it and found there are no parts available from Audi to repair these gearboxes, and the only option is to replace the whole unit.
Luckily I have an aftermarket warranty, and after sending an engineer out to test drive/assess the car he agreed there was a fault, and he has authorised a complete gearbox renewal. This will be in excess of £9k including the labour, and apparently Audi have updated the cooler pipes, so these will be another £200 on top.
Without the warranty I would of been screwed. I am still waiting to have it changed, but the rest of the nightmare is being sorted between the garage and the warranty company.
Click to expand...
Really? I thought someone on here replaced the clutch packs on theirs. Plus there are part numbers for all the bits.
 
skiptowncat said:
Really? I thought someone on here replaced the clutch packs on theirs. Plus there are part numbers for all the bits.
Click to expand...
That would be me :)

What did they say was the part causing the problem that needed a full replacement, and who are you with to authorise that, as surprised there's not a limit and an excess to pay on that? What's your mileage?
 
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Of course you can buy the parts to do the clutches, and also the Mechatronic unit, separately, but the gearbox that is ordered direct from Audi in Germany, is built to your VIN number and comes with everything assembled. It's just a case of taking out the old unit and replacing it with the new assembly.
I will gladly let you know the warranty company by PM if you wish to know. I don't want them bombarded with phone calls re: S Tronic claims and queries before my own claim is completed.
The policy I have includes costs of replacing parts up to the value of the car (agreed before taking out policy) with no excess to pay, and unlimited claims. I paid £535 for a 12 month policy
It seems to be a very good warranty, you can go anywhere you like for repairs as long as they are VAT registered.
 
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razza1 said:
Sounds way better than the warranty I have...does it have a limit to the labour rates?
Click to expand...

Not that I'm aware of, as it went to an Audi main dealer to have a vacuum pipe replaced, and we know how much an hour they charge!!
 
New gearbox ordered from Audi yesterday, the cost? £8852 just for the parts! So glad I took out the warranty!
 
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I've got a feeling the clutches were part of the issue, but will see when stripped down.
It's going to take about 10 days for the factory order to land back at the garage.
 
sixpot said:
I've got a feeling the clutches were part of the issue, but will see when stripped down.
It's going to take about 10 days for the factory order to land back at the garage.
Click to expand...
If the mech unit gets a clean bill of health, I'll take that too
 
I am in shock if this is what the bill is for the error message I saw yesterday....(gearbox malfunction).
I don't have a warranty, that kind of cash and therefore wont have a car either!
I had never heard of this issue when I was researching whether to get s-tronic/manual either.
 
trick971 said:
I am in shock if this is what the bill is for the error message I saw yesterday....(gearbox malfunction).
I don't have a warranty, that kind of cash and therefore wont have a car either!
I had never heard of this issue when I was researching whether to get s-tronic/manual either.
Click to expand...
Which message did you get? With or without reverse? Did it clear upon restarting the car?
 
It popped up a yellow message and said "Gearbox malfunction, you may continue driving. Limited functionality".

My brake pad indicator is on at the moment, so I would normally expect that and the new warning symbol to scroll, but only ever noticed the brake pad one.
I got the message again a few minutes later.

But since then (another 15 miles drive) I didn't notice any change in gearbox function.
This morning I drove the car in 3 separate journeys, 2 miles, 2 miles and 26 miles and didn't get the error in either of those. And accelerates ok so didn't notice any gearbox changes.

I didn't notice anything about reverse.
 
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