Disgruntled Driver

I've now contacted the BBC Watchdog program to see if they will take an interest in this issue.

My auto stop/start is now working normally after the garage charged the battery from 60% to 80% and I then fully charged it at home. I am going to drive the car with the start/stop active, and my wife is going to drive the car with it disengaged.

I spoke to an Audi specialist in Glasgow, who is not part of the main dealer network. They have not encountered this engine cutouts problem, and said that to investigate it, they would need to reproduce the phenomena and/or have fault codes associated with it. So pretty much the same as the main dealers are saying which unfortunately is no help whatsoever!

I'm currently trying to get in touch with an Audi specialist outside of the main dealer network to see if they have any insights into the engine cut out issue. I'll keep you all updated.

OK, car was in at the main dealer in Stirling today to have the engine cut outs investigated. Guess what? They couldn't reproduce the phenomina, and as there were no fault codes, there was nothing they could do. Shockeroonie!! I had also asked them to investigate why my auto stop/start seemed to have stopped working, and why the radio regularly got stuck in an "initialising" loop which made it unusable. They told me the battery was only 60% charged, and this was most likely why the auto stop/start had stopped working. They have charged the battery to 80% and said the auto start stop was now working. However on my drive from the garage to home, some 12 miles, it didn't operate once. And when I asked the service adviser, given how low my annual mileage is, and the fact that it mainly consists of short journeys, how often should I put the battery on charge at home? I was informed that there is no need to charge the battery at home. Err..surely the fact the battery was only at 60% and the auto stop/start wasn't working would fly in the face of that particular observation! Regarding the radio initialising doom loop, they told me that Audi are aware of the issue, and a software fix is expected next year. All owners who have reported this issue to a main dealer will be advised when the fix is available and called in to have it implemented. So that's where I am as of today. I have decided to ignore the advice about not needing to charge the battery at home, and I currently have it on charge with a CTEK-CT5 Stop/Start charger.

Are you talking about an update that addresses the engine cut outs?

Mine is going in on Thursday to have the engine cut outs investigated. If, as I suspect, they give me the same flannel that everyone else whose had this problem gets, and say that theres no fault, then if its not a fault, it must be happening by design. That being the case they will need to explain to me how, why and under what contitions is it ok for the car to switch the engine off requiring a manual restart.

I found out that the red arrow in the above picture seemingly is a missed call notification. Who knew?!

No, I didn't think that would work. We've tried Efficiency, comfort, auto and dynamic...the cut outs happen in all modes

The longer I have this car, the more I detest it! I now have a situation where the radio is constantly initialising, so wont play. I also have a new red warning lamp/message? that has appeared in the top right of the mmi, which I cant find in the manual. Ive attached a picture of it, so if anyone has any ideas on what it is, please enlighten me. Its the 90degree bent arrow I'm referring to.

Right, I re checked the different voltages again just now, and the results are as follows: Standing Voltage with ignition off is 11.96v. The lowest voltage my rudimentary multi meter caught on cranking the engine was 10.47v, and the voltage measured with the car idling was 15.19v - which I think would indicate that the alternator at least appears ok. Regards John.

Hi Gareth, yes, I fully appreciate and accept what you are saying. However, if the measured voltages for free standing, starting drop off, and engine running are all LOWER than you would expect too see, I think it's fair to assume that there's something amiss that needs more detailed examination/testing, and should be highlighted when the car goes into the main dealer next week. Regards John.

It could be that it just needs charged, I'm going to check the voltages again tomorrow for ignition off voltage, starting voltage, and engine running voltage. I had another look at the app, and there was a 2025 maps update package which I have downloaded and will try to install tomorrow. Cheers John.

No, what I meant was that the lowest I saw the voltage drop to when my wife started the car was 10.9 - 11.0v. I'm sure the "running" voltage was higher than this, but i can't recall what it was. I'll have another check in the morning and update.

Following on from your comments,I had a look in th MyAudi app, but I couldnt find any updates under the "Warnings and Information" tab. Out of interest I put a multi-meter accross the battery terminals this morning and noted the the "No Load Voltage" was around the 12.0 - 12.1v area. I know that a no load voltage test on a battery is pretty much useless, but that seems a bit low. I then got my wife to start the car whilst I monitored the battery voltage, and it seemed to dip down to about 10.9 - 11.0v. Again I feel this might be a bit low?

I may have answered my own question. It would appear that one of the systems that the cars Efficiency assist accesses is the navigation system, so I guess if the maps are out of date, that could lead to issues. Having said that, how out of date could the maps be on an 11 month old car? Also the cutouts started not long after the car was delivered, but put down to getting used to a new car.

That's an interesting point about the battery. Recently my wife was left sitting in the car whilst I attended an appointment. I left the ignition switched on so she could listen to the radio. When I returned about 45 mins later, she told me a message had been displayed briefly about a weak battery. I mean, the car started fine, so would sitting with the ignition on for 45 mins normally produce a weak battery message? Also my auto stop/start hasn't been working for about 8 months now, but I put that down to doing mainly short journeys.

Were the updates you carried out purely related to the satnav? If so, do you have any inkling as to how they would cause the engine cutouts to stop? Regards John.

I won't be buying another Audi either. Mine is going in for the issue to be investigated on the 20th of Nov, but given what everyone else is saying, I'm not hopeful of a positive outcome. If that's the case, I will request an escalation, and if all else fails, I'm seriously considering contacting WatchDog, as I consider this a serious safety issue. I'll update the thread after the investigation. John.

Thanks for the update. I suspect I'm going to encounter the same response. We have been switching off the Auto Stop/Start over the last week, but the cut outs are still happening unfortunately. To say its a stall is a total joke, if you stall the car, the smptoms bear no resemblence to an engine cut out.

No, but it WAS stated in the Lease conditions that the annual mileage would be no more than 10,000miles. It will be going back at the end of the 3 years...If I could get them to take it back sooner, I would, as I have an issue with the engine cutting out at slow speeds, but thats another story! I DID find this on the Audi UK website, which seems to indicate you can be on Flexible Service intervals for any annual mileage, as the car analyses the driving patterns and adjusts the interval to suit...I have my doubts! Regards John.

No, the car is on a 3 year personal lease, and no maintenance/service packages are included. John.

Hi Sharrie, did you ever make any progress with this?

Is that explanation in the manual, or did you receive it verbally?

Has anyone managed to find a solution to this problem? I've asked the same question on the A3 forum as I am experiencing the random engine cut outs at slow speeds or coasting, with or without Auto Start/Stop engaged.