Audi RS3 8V catastrophic engine failure at 70mph.

[MZU]

I almost died on the M4, my brakes failed steering was stiff and swerved around several cars to save myself until the car came to a stop. Only 1700miles on the RS3.

Bromley Audi confirms all modules have failed and have no idea why this has occurred.

Thoughts...?

 

[Terminator x]

That is a tad worrying to say the least!

TX.

 

[D0C]

Well I'd be going back to Bromley Audi and demanding they find out what caused it. I can only imagine how shocking it must have been.

 

[L1ARR]

I personally know one of the senior technicians in Bromley, nice decent chap. Pm me if you want an introduction, he may be able to help.

 

[Kelza]

That's sounds scary as ! Glad your ok

 

[desertstorm]

Has to be something to do with high voltage spike or big failure of the alternator regulation resulting in an abnormally high voltage being produced. I would be checking the alternator/ battery/ earth cables etc.
Very worrying, good job you were only doing 70 mph.

 

[EddieRS3]

What actually happened? You've titled it engine failure but written the brakes failed in the post. Did the engine cut off and then everything else fail in line? In that case my S3 did something similar but only at 30 mph.

Glad you are okay mate that's been a lucky escape there - someone at Audi needs to get the bottom of it, if it isn't at the dealership they need to send people from Germany.

 

[sweetmeister]

Hope it isn't modified in any way! Best of luck getting it sorted.

 

[MZU]

Hope it isn't modified in any way! Best of luck getting it sorted.

No mods done, only had the car 3 months. Annoying!

 

[MZU]

What actually happened? You've titled it engine failure but written the brakes failed in the post. Did the engine cut off and then everything else fail in line? In that case my S3 did something similar but only at 30 mph.

Glad you are okay mate that's been a lucky escape there - someone at Audi needs to get the bottom of it, if it isn't at the dealership they need to send people from Germany.

TBH everything happen so fast, there was no power, steering stiff and brakes were rock hard. Thank god i can drive half decent else God know what would of happened.

 

[MZU]

Thanks for all the support guys! They still have no idea what the issue is, the car has not been started yet.

 

[Scottyg]

That's damn scary. Lucky the road was relatively clear for you to get the car safe. Hope they get you sorted very quickly.

 

[Dave Hedgehog]

Pfft @ electrical fault

Do it properly

 

[RAF_S7]

Wow. Just wow...!

I can't imagine how scary such a senario must have been, even if over in a few minutes. You did well to get to a controlled stop!

Let's hope they get to the bottom of the issue soon. Have they set you up with a loaner.

 

[Dave Hedgehog]

Wow. Just wow...!

I can't imagine how scary such a senario must have been, even if over in a few minutes. You did well to get to a controlled stop!

Let's hope they get to the bottom of the issue soon. Have they set you up with a loaner.

When my R32's ecu blew in lane 3 of the M25 in rush hour the worst thing i found was people just utterly refused to let me pull over despite my hazards being on, i had to force my way over before my speed dropped to much, none assisted brakes and steering give you a good work out

 

[RAF_S7]

My S7 has electric steering, ld dread to think of the consequences of such a failure at speed

 

[Pinky1959]

Have you got a good courtesy car and have you suggested handing the car back for a new one , as this is obviously a major failure ...

 

[nikolai briton]

Glad your okay brother, did a mini poo just reading that ****.....

 

[MZU]

Wow. Just wow...!

I can't imagine how scary such a senario must have been, even if over in a few minutes. You did well to get to a controlled stop!

Let's hope they get to the bottom of the issue soon. Have they set you up with a loaner.

Yes, iv been given S6 2016 Saloon, still miss the RS3!

They need to replace the ECU, which will get delivered from Germany. Would you take it back after a new ECU...?

 

[MZU]

Glad your okay brother, did a mini poo just reading that ****.....

Thanks man, making effort to reject the car, just wont feel safe in the car with my 3 children, thank God i was alone!

 

[MZU]

Have you got a good courtesy car and have you suggested handing the car back for a new one , as this is obviously a major failure ...

100% work in progress...problem is cant get another RS3, not taking orders!

 

[MZU]

When my R32's ecu blew in lane 3 of the M25 in rush hour the worst thing i found was people just utterly refused to let me pull over despite my hazards being on, i had to force my way over before my speed dropped to much, none assisted brakes and steering give you a good work out

What was the fix new ECU?

 

[Dave Hedgehog]

Yes, iv been given S6 2016 Saloon, still miss the RS3!

They need to replace the ECU, which will get delivered from Germany. Would you take it back after a new ECU...?

I wouldn't think twice about taking it back after an ECU change, its just circuit board, it could just be a tiny manufacturing fault that caused the problem. It there was an underlying problem that kept causing it to happen then yes I would reject it.

My R32 did another 45k miles after changing it's ECU with zero problems.

 

[nikolai briton]

Yeah take it back mate, don't forget these cars are ran by electric boards now so if they replaced the one thing that was causing the problem I would take it back straight away! How is the S6 in terms of power compared to the RS3?

 

[MZU]

Yeah take it back mate, don't forget these cars are ran by electric boards now so if they replaced the one thing that was causing the problem I would take it back straight away! How is the S6 in terms of power compared to the RS3?

cheers buddy!
RS3 feels faster and sounds way better.. S6 far to big for me to chuck around but acceleration is phenomenal considering such a big car.

 

[bqik]

Yes, iv been given S6 2016 Saloon, still miss the RS3!

They need to replace the ECU, which will get delivered from Germany. Would you take it back after a new ECU...?

yes I would take it back.

regards

 

[sweetmeister]

I would certainly take it back but I would suggest they extend the warranty to 5 years if you haven't already done it.

 

[andyt99]

Is this not similar to the engine cut-out/won't restart problem in the other thread, except it happened at 70mph, not 0mph? The loss of power assist in the steering and brakes being a symptom of the engine stopping?

 

[Beebee-one]

Is this not similar to the engine cut-out/won't restart problem in the other thread, except it happened at 70mph, not 0mph? The loss of power assist in the steering and brakes being a symptom of the engine stopping?

I thought the same at first, the symptoms are the same (engine cuts out, no steering power, hardly any brakes etc) but the root cause for my issues (and a few other owners too) seems to have been related to low fuel pressure.
MZU's problem appears to be a major failure of the ECU? If this is correct, and the car has not been hooked up to a tuning box or remapped then I would seriously want to know how this has happened.

 

[Dave Hedgehog]

I thought the same at first, the symptoms are the same (engine cuts out, no steering power, hardly any brakes etc) but the root cause for my issues (and a few other owners too) seems to have been related to low fuel pressure.
MZU's problem appears to be a major failure of the ECU? If this is correct, and the car has not been hooked up to a tuning box or remapped then I would seriously want to know how this has happened.

It's a mass produced part by a third party that's typically only sample spot tested

My friends V10 M5 blew it's ECU as he pulled out of the dealership

 

[Radman]

I thought the same at first, the symptoms are the same (engine cuts out, no steering power, hardly any brakes etc) but the root cause for my issues (and a few other owners too) seems to have been related to low fuel pressure.
MZU's problem appears to be a major failure of the ECU? If this is correct, and the car has not been hooked up to a tuning box or remapped then I would seriously want to know how this has happened.

Ditto pal. Especially so soon into the engines life.

 

[MZU]

Hi Guys - Got the beast back!

Thanks for the advise and support. For Future reference SG Smith Beckenham Dealers/Bromley Service are second to none in their service highly recommend them!

They will match and beat other dealers in price and provide excellent after care unlike some dealers!

Regards

 

[EddieRS3]

What was the cause?!?

 

[Bristle Hound]

What was the cause?!?

@MZU - This ^
& what was replaced ?

 

[Hal Adams]

Glad you have it back and lets hope you have continued use and be able to put that awful thing behind you.

I am afraid that all too often we do not appreciate all the labour and mind-saving gizmos on our modern car, and so it is easy to get caught out like this. Having been brought up with helicopters where much of the ongoing training is having a trainer simulate an engine failure, I must admit to being paranoid about such things, yet I bet I would not be cool, calm and collected if such happened to me!

Did they give you any serious reason as to why?

 

[EddieRS3]

We'd all love to know the cause !

 

[Spaceman_RS3]

Took key out ignition?

 

[MZU]

Hi Guys!
They have no idea what the real cause was. They replaced the ECU, which had to come from Germany.

Here is what they had to say..
I can assure you with confidence the failure of the ECU, which we have replaced, was the root cause of problem you have experienced.


The test logs downloaded from the vehicle were transmitted to Audi Technical who agreed with our findings and recommended to change this component.


Unfortunately, being an internal failure of a sealed component, we are unable to determine the nature of the failure.


A full system test was undertaken before and after the ECU replacement and no other faults have been recorded or existed in the vehicle systems.


In our opinion and that of Audi Technical this has been an isolated single component failure and a repeat failure of the ECU is highly unlikely to occur.

 

[Scottyg]

I'm glad you've got your car back with a clean bill of health. However, it doesn't really fill you with confidence when they can't tell what the actual cause was.
Got give the beast a blast.

 

[Dave Hedgehog]

I'm glad you've got your car back with a clean bill of health. However, it doesn't really fill you with confidence when they can't tell what the actual cause was.
Got give the beast a blast.

Dealers won't have the ability to diagnose electronic component faults like this, nor the inclination to when they can just swap the part. They know 90% of the time the ECU change will fix it but that there is a small chance something else is causing the ECU to blow so there response is appropriate on the balance of probabilities, but not a definite guarantee.