S3 FL Gearbox

[anthonyl80]

Hi all,

My 67 plate S3 s-tronic gearbox is doing something odd. It occasionally doesn't engage gear for a couple of seconds, always second or third when doing slow speed and when I've just started the car. Not just when it's completely cold though.

Took it to Audi a month ago and they couldn't find a problem. It didn't happen in the few weeks up to taking it in, or after that until this weekend when it's happened twice.

Any ideas what the problem might be?


Thanks.

 

[Lehn]

I have tried something similar where it would jump out of gear under hard acceleration in S. Does it only happen in S or also in D?

Mine doesn’t do it if I start that car and let it change from 1st to 2nd in D. After that I can accelerate as hard as I want but it just seems like the gearbox resets every time you turn the car off and on.

One of the Youtubers (The Driven Life) that commented on my video in the link below got it resolved through a software update.

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/s3-gearbox-issue-bogs-down-during-acceleration.365195/

 

[AlS3BE]

What’s the mileage on the car?
Could be low transmission fluid. I think these dsg/auto boxes relies on loads of hydraulic gubbins to work properly and if low in fluid it can’t make the appropriate pressures to change. Less of an issue at higher gears as the gearbox/wheels spinning faster so correct pressure is easily made.
Not even sure how you go about checking the fluid levels

 

[Lehn]

What’s the mileage on the car?
Could be low transmission fluid. I think these dsg/auto boxes relies on loads of hydraulic gubbins to work properly and if low in fluid it can’t make the appropriate pressures to change. Less of an issue at higher gears as the gearbox/wheels spinning faster so correct pressure is easily made.
Not even sure how you go about checking the fluid levels

You can't actually check the fuels levels without topping it up. However this is pretty straight forward and you just need 1 liter of oil to do this. There are some videos on youtube showing how to do the DSG fluid change and instead of changing it all you just make the top up procedure where excessive oil will drain out by itself and then you close the gearbox again (if you watch the video you know what I'm talking about).

 

[AlS3BE]

You can't actually check the fuels levels without topping it up. However this is pretty straight forward and you just need 1 liter of oil to do this. There are some videos on youtube showing how to do the DSG fluid change and instead of changing it all you just make the top up procedure where excessive oil will drain out by itself and then you close the gearbox again (if you watch the video you know what I'm talking about).

Do you not need vcds or similar as the box needs to be at certain temperatures before you should change/top up?

 

[Lehn]

Do you not need vcds or similar as the box needs to be at certain temperatures before you should change/top up?

Yes, OBDeleven or VCDS should do the trick. The gearbox oil should be around 35C when doing the drain I'm talking about.

See this video:


And more info in this thread where you can see it's also possible to do the fill/top-up from the filter housing:
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/how-to-service-your-dsg-and-haldex-on-an-audi.395892/

 

[anthonyl80]

I have tried something similar where it would jump out of gear under hard acceleration in S. Does it only happen in S or also in D?

Mine doesn’t do it if I start that car and let it change from 1st to 2nd in D. After that I can accelerate as hard as I want but it just seems like the gearbox resets every time you turn the car off and on.

One of the Youtubers (The Driven Life) that commented on my video in the link below got it resolved through a software update.

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/s3-gearbox-issue-bogs-down-during-acceleration.365195/

I think it only happens in D but I'll take note of that for next time. It's not under hard acceleration - usually just after setting off at 10-20 mph. The gear on the virtual cockpit doesn't show - same as yours.

 

[anthonyl80]

What’s the mileage on the car?
Could be low transmission fluid. I think these dsg/auto boxes relies on loads of hydraulic gubbins to work properly and if low in fluid it can’t make the appropriate pressures to change. Less of an issue at higher gears as the gearbox/wheels spinning faster so correct pressure is easily made.
Not even sure how you go about checking the fluid levels

The mileage is around 12,300.

 

[AlS3BE]

The mileage is around 12,300.

I wouldn’t expect it to be low on transmission fluids at that mileage. Send it back to Audi and see what they say.
Try and get a video of it with something like a GoPro capturing the dash otherwise you get the default answer ‘it’s characteristics of the car’ which is the total BS. Been fobbed off once or twice with that excuse before.