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Hi All, Car : 2015 A5 2.0lt 150hp Couple of issues so far. Had car around 3 weeks, had ATF & Filter changed Friday as history shows last change 40,000, car has 98,000 on it Particle filter warning came on dash, took car for spin down motorway but couldent get it start regen, but cleared code and checked soot levels via VCDS and seem ok Other day I disconnected negative terminal in battery to do full system reset, all went well until this morning, start car and get ECS fault, test battery at terminals eng off, 15.7v, engine on rises to 17v Should I fully disconnect battery to try again or does it sound like battery issue just got VCDS but not sure how would test battery with it. Will say previosult start/stop was disabled when started car, after batt disconnect start/stop was auto enabled until this ECS fault, after I cleared that start/stop is again auto disabled (fine by me), not sure if related. Update, used VCDS to clear fault, and been out in car and fault not come back on, but strangly lost some DAB radio stations normally listen to. Oh 1 other thing, when took on motoway when I used the flappy paddle to drop gear, it would only hold gear few secs before going back into normal auto mode ie. D/S depending.

I wouldn’t bother changing the oils in the diffs and transfer box, they’ll be like new. Certainly at that low mileage.

Hi everyone, I have a 2013 Audi A4 B8.5 Avant 2.0 TDI 177PS quattro with the 7-speed S tronic gearbox. I would like to ask for some opinions from people who have experience with this drivetrain. The main thing I notice is that on A-road/main road driving, especially around 55–70 mph (90–110 km/h), the gearbox sometimes seems to hunt between 6th and 7th gear. It mostly happens with small throttle changes, slight inclines, or when I try to maintain a steady speed around 60–65 mph (roughly 100 km/h). It feels like the car is not fully sure whether it wants to stay in 7th for economy or drop back to 6th for more torque. If I drive a bit more positively or at motorway speeds, the car feels great. Above about 70 mph (110 km/h) it is smooth, stable and the gearbox feels much more natural. The issue is mostly in that light-load cruising zone on main roads. There are no warning lights and no gearbox fault messages. When I bought the car, the gearbox behaviour bothered me more, but a throttle/pedal reset seemed to improve it quite a lot. Later the S tronic oil service was also done, and that improved the overall feel as well. At the time I was told that this is more or less normal behaviour for this gearbox/drivetrain, so I accepted it. The car also recently had a professional DPF cleaning/refitting job done. No DPF removal or performance remap as far as I know, just cleaning and related work. I am not sure if this is relevant, but I thought I should mention it in case DPF condition, regeneration behaviour, engine load, ECU adaptation/reset, or torque request could have any influence on how the gearbox decides between 6th and 7th. The gear hunting itself was not completely new after the DPF work, but I have started paying more attention to it recently. I also sometimes notice a slight bump/jerk in stop-and-go traffic when accelerating with the queue and then lifting off the throttle to let the car slow down on engine braking. It is not a huge bang, but it can be felt as a drivetrain knock/torque reversal. It seems worse in situations where the car is crawling and the throttle is applied and released repeatedly. My questions are: Is this 6th/7th gear hunting around 55–70 mph (90–110 km/h) normal for the DL501/S tronic in a 2.0 TDI quattro? Could this be mostly gearbox calibration/normal behaviour, or should I suspect adaptation, engine/gearbox mounts, drivetrain play, mechatronics, clutch adaptation, etc.? Could DPF condition/regeneration/ECU adaptation have any effect on this kind of light-load gear hunting, or is that unlikely? Would a proper S tronic adaptation/basic setting with VCDS or ODIS be worth doing, or is it better not to touch it if there are no faults? For those with similar cars, how does your gearbox behave around 60–65 mph (around 100 km/h) in D mode on slight inclines or with small throttle changes? Is there anything specific I should check before worrying about the gearbox itself? I am not looking to immediately rebuild the gearbox or overreact, I just want to understand whether this is normal S tronic character or something that should be investigated further. Any experience with A4/A5/Q5 B8/B8.5 2.0 TDI or 3.0 TDI quattro S tronic cars would be appreciated. Thanks!

Fair enough Chris. I needed to make sure. I can't help regarding an upgraded clutch, but if professionals (if that is what Unicorn are,) recommend a standard unit I would go with that. If the original standard clutch has lasted 16 years it has done well, so a similar replacement should last the realistic lifetime of the car.

A pity you did not mention that earlier to save wasting our time. Error codes always have to be interpreted in the light of experience, rather than taken literally. So it was not flippancy to ask for them as you wrongly assumed, rather it was an attempt to get some of the basic information which you initially failed to provide. In view of your attitude I shall not add any more to this discussion, even though I have a strong suspicion about the cause of the problem. Good luck.

Sorry, yes, there was a good reason I didn’t return to the forum…I sold my A3 shortly after, as a result of not being able to resolve this issue and a few other problems I was having. Main dealer tried multiple times, and recommended I try a third party auto electrician. My suspicion was a weak/broken DAB antenna, as I assumed the GPS signal was also received through that. Or a software issue. Figured the main dealer would have caught both of those issues, though, so I really don’t know. Sorry I can’t be of any help, Dan. It’s put me off of VAG cars completely, after only driving them for 20 odd years.

Following the sale of our A3, I have a pair of new Febi curved rear suspension link arms (not handed) for sale. These fit a range of years, and models, from A1 to Q3 and even TTs. Cheapest prices on EBay for non Febi are around £23 each. £25 + p&p will be accepted for the pair, and I will throw in a set new anti roll bar rubber bushes and saddles - current price £17.50. Curved rear links arms are Febi 32543. Anti roll bar kit is Febi 23606. These will also fit many Skodas, Seat and VW models. Please check EBay for suitability for your car. Please PM me if interested. Regards, Gareth.

Well you would say that wouldn't you. You may not even be aware of possible malware, so sorry again, but I am not going to watch it. I suggest a decent photograph uploaded to the forum with your reply. The forum software will eliminate most nasties or prevent uploading.

Thanks Cliff ill keep the forum updated on any developements

Can I say that I was grateful to both members for their replies

Now free to anyone who can collect, if not they will be going in the scrap pile.

The car will be on standalone engine management, so the fuel pump will be run from the ecu via fuel pump relay, so a lot neater. Everything has been taken out so far, even the door wiring as its going fully stripped. More progress in the near future once parts arrive.

That's not a symptom; that's supposition. Is it the same temperature from every vent, or just one? What happens when the temperature setting is raised to hot.

Since this is totally manual work, there is no equipment to show, but here is video link of testing it: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tlhkDMtlmtA You will find more videod there.

A chassis or steering misalignment will make the car unsafe to drive, so you really should care about it. Presumably NZ has some sort of compulsory road worthiness test? If it is anything like ours the car could fail the test.

Sounds very much like an internal amplifier issue to me. We see quite a few Audis with exactly the same symptoms. Amps has to be resoldered correct way

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply to my post its much appreciated. I do not know how accurate this snippet of information an Audi technican told me but here goes The electric fuel pump is designed to be submerged in fuel to help cooling issues so even when 0 miles is showing there can still be as much as 7 litres still in the tank. Also apparently in Germany running out of fuel on the Autobahn is an offence so this also allows the driver some 60 miles to refill should the car say 0 miles. Either way thanks all at least I know Ive not been short changed with a smaller fuel tank!!

Hi all, New user here, hoping someone can help me out with this 😁 I'm trying to map out some extended diagnostic pids (uds mode 22) for my a4's ECU (Bosch EDC17). I've already found a few through cross comparing the pids my ECU responded with with carista: 22114F: DPF soot mass (g) 221156: Distance since last DPF regeneration (km) 22115E: Engine runtime since last DPF regeneration (hours) 221100: Coolant temperature (°C) (Hope these help any users in the future) These are tiny in comparison to how many I managed to pull (thousands!) so does anyone have any others? Thanks for reading! Cheers, Rad4

Believing the rings are worn is not the same as having evidence of it. In your position I would carry out a compression test before making any decisions.

Bon voyage. Do let us know the ratio of working vs non-working charge points.

Hi the newer Audis are mostly the same, not good except for possibly Q3s that use mostly VW engines and running gear, in saying that most car manufacturers are having the same cost cutting driven problems with the exception of Toyota that consistently produce good reliable vehicles, not as plush as the Audi but why pay that money for the A4/A6 with no inherent reliability. Steve.

Hate to point this out but even if you fit a new steering angle sensor you have to recode it, if it sounds like a lot of work, its not half as much work if you don't get the wiring right as well as the coding, the electronics on these vehicles has always been complex and if you fry a body control module [any one of about five] you then have a serious problem. Steve.

Thanks for the additional valid information.

I have not the faintest idea what you are referring to, so how about giving us some details. We don't charge by the word.

Thank you 😊 🙏.