Facelift S3 gearbox issue - bogs down during acceleration

Lehn

Lehn

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So i experienced this yesterday. Pressed the pedal down for semi-hard acceleration which caused the issue where the gearbox just seemed to go in neutral. In the dashboard the S1 just went away and nothing were shown as selected gear, it just went completely blank until the gearbox woke up again and continued in D3.

Car settings: Individual mode (engine/gearbox set to Auto), S selected as gearbox setting, hot engine after 30min driving.

Have anyone experienced this before or have any clue about what happened?

I will show the video to my dealer in the near future because I have to get the clunky mag ride fixed anyway.

 
These something similar with someone with the RS3 it's on the tread section so could be the same issue.
 
audi upgrades
Just reviving this thread since others also seems to have this problem (see youtube comments).

I've isolated the problem to be when pulling away hard after the car have been turned off and the gearbox have not yet changed out of 1st. As soon as the gearbox have been out of 1st gear once I can't replicate the issue again. It happens in both comfort, individual and auto driving profiles as well as with the gearbox in D, S, D/M and S/M.

Like others I have also talked to Audi and they haven't heard about this issue before.

And I'm 99% sure this it not a haldex problem since I can't see how the haldex system would make the gearbox miss/skip a gear.

Have others experienced this in the meantime or found a solution to the problem? Maybe there's a firmware update for the gearbox?
 
I’ve been getting this occasionally.
Normally happens when I’m doing say 30mph then floor it to get away. The gearbox has a small hissy fit like it doesn’t know which gears it want then when it figures it out I’m at warp speed. That delay can be a bit scary.
 
Lehn said:
It's not something like this you're experiencing? https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/major-lag-in-between-gear-changes-on-s3.361485/#post-3194053
Click to expand...
It’s similar but wouldn’t say it’s lag. It’s the gearbox trying to make its mind up whether to use 2nd or 3rd.
Suppose it could be the torque limiter kicking in and reducing power to save the gearbox.
Again it’s one of those things that happens once a month or so and difficult to replicate so I’m either waiting till it blows up or I can replicate it consistently for warranty to sort
 
I got my S3 serviced yesterday where I discussed this issue with the mechanic and after looking at motor-talk.de when I got home I finally found a TPI:
2054056
Source: https://www.motor-talk.de/forum/zug-unterbrechung-gang-wechsel-2-3-2-0tfsi-dsg-quattro-t6649035.html (Google translated version below)

So, Audi recognises the issue which is a big step in the right direction. However, the TPI only states it is in fact a software issue but they don't have a solution for this - despite the fact that YouTuber "The Driven Life" got it sorted with a software update on the gearbox. More info here:

To sum up my findings:
It's an DQ381 transmission issue.
It only happens just after you've started the car and haven't changed from 1st gear yet.
Drive select mode doesn't make a difference.
It's not related to engine temperature.
It doesn't damage the transmission or engine.

Upload 2019 11 27 10 1 58
 
hey guys, I have the exact same problem as in the post above. Is there any newer information out there? Are people seeing this issue? I'm from Australia and have brought it to Audi's notice locally and of course they "have never seen this issue"! I asked them to check with Audi Germany and they said they don't do that.
 
deangelj said:
hey guys, I have the exact same problem as in the post above. Is there any newer information out there? Are people seeing this issue? I'm from Australia and have brought it to Audi's notice locally and of course they "have never seen this issue"! I asked them to check with Audi Germany and they said they don't do that.
Click to expand...

I haven't heard anything and the TPI is still quite new. I have just gotten used to take it easy until the car has left 1st gear - as I said above:

"As soon as the gearbox have been out of 1st gear once I can't replicate the issue again."
 
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FINALLY!

Audi have acknowledged the problem in the 3. TPI revision 2054056/3 (released 2. May here in Denmark) and put out a SVM code which means that people can now get their gearbox updated if they experience this problem.

I will get mine booked in asap and let you know if it solves the problem (otherwise this will take some time to conclude).
 
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Sorry to hijack this thread but most in line with what I’m asking.

My S3 just feels slow off the line when I put my foot to the floor.

As per the video attached it has an unimpressive start then bogs a bit 2-2.5k revs as the boost comes in then it’s smooth power.

I’m guessing turbo only active from 2k revs but is it slow to activate or is this standard and characteristic of this engine/turbo?

 
^ looks fairly normal to me. The turbo doesnt just kick in from 2k rpm as such. Its around that rpm when the exhaust gases are flowing enough to begin spinning it up rapidly but it still takes a short time to get to full boost. In 1st its mostly through the gear before it hits full boost anyway. If you want it to really go off the line you'll need to use launch control.

The characteristics of the engine also produces a dip in torque around 3,5krpm before it picks up again then drops off. That too can make it feel a touch flat especially if its not hit full boost by then (which is the case in the lower gears). Also, in stock form full boost is reduced in 1st (12psi instead of 16 or so) and 2nd (14psi instead of 16 or so) which makes the pulling away feeling somewhat unimpressive for a 300bhp car, but that's because the car is not producing 300bhp in 1st and 2nd.
 
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Yeah that's completely normal because of the turbo as @Damo S says. Mine does exactly the same. It's actually just turbo lag which is why a launch control is so much faster because the turbo is already spinning when you go.

The thing I'm describing is very different tho :D
 
Lehn said:
FINALLY!

Audi have acknowledged the problem in the 3. TPI revision 2054056/3 (released 2. May here in Denmark) and put out a SVM code which means that people can now get their gearbox updated if they experience this problem.

I will get mine booked in asap and let you know if it solves the problem (otherwise this will take some time to conclude).
Click to expand...

I really hope it fixes your issue because that would annoy the hell out of me. The A5 I had a as a courtesy car for a couple of months had similar issues when pulling onto the motorway. The selected gear was fine it would start to go then decide to change down and spend a few seconds bouncing off the rev limiter going nowhere before deciding to go back to the previous gear again. Not ideal when trying to merge quickly with motorway traffic on a short slip road. Actually somewhat dangerous. So yes must be that certain revs and loading confuses the DSG software. I learnt in the end to just to go manual in those situations.
 
Lehn said:
FINALLY!

Audi have acknowledged the problem in the 3. TPI revision 2054056/3 (released 2. May here in Denmark) and put out a SVM code which means that people can now get their gearbox updated if they experience this problem.

I will get mine booked in asap and let you know if it solves the problem (otherwise this will take some time to conclude).
Click to expand...

How did you get on with this in the end or did covid screw your plans up?

My car is booked in tomorrow for a service and they are going to look at this for me as well. It's happened 2-3 times since new in March 2018, but hasn't happened for a while now.
 
TonkS3 said:
How did you get on with this in the end or did covid screw your plans up?

My car is booked in tomorrow for a service and they are going to look at this for me as well. It's happened 2-3 times since new in March 2018, but hasn't happened for a while now.
Click to expand...

I got the gearbox updated from version 1402 to version 1424 and even though I'm trying to replicate the error I can't, so everything is great so far :D
 
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Lehn said:
So i experienced this yesterday. Pressed the pedal down for semi-hard acceleration which caused the issue where the gearbox just seemed to go in neutral. In the dashboard the S1 just went away and nothing were shown as selected gear, it just went completely blank until the gearbox woke up again and continued in D3.

Car settings: Individual mode (engine/gearbox set to Auto), S selected as gearbox setting, hot engine after 30min driving.

Have anyone experienced this before or have any clue about what happened?

I will show the video to my dealer in the near future because I have to get the clunky mag ride fixed anyway.

Click to expand...

Maybe you could grand us access to the video...
 
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