Who else has lost their waterpump (seal)? Mine went at 11,000 miles and from first leak to undriveable in under 25 miles. had to flat bed the Q5 to the dealer. When I called the dealer they knew what was wrong before I finished explaining what had happened. Told me it's a known problem but don't know which Q5's has the bad pumps. Dealer fixed it in 1/2 day. Was told that the waterpumps are now on back order.

 

this is the first ive heard about this. is it the 2.0t or 3.2?

 

I only have 2700 miles but am starting to get a little power steering whine. I have the 2.0 engine.

 

The water pumps have an RVU out on them (Required Vehicle Update). Applies to the 3.2 L (in all models) as well as the Supercharged 3.0L If it's a plastic housing pump, it gets replaced by an aluminum one. It's easy to check for yourself. Pop the front appearance cover off and the pump is right under the coolant crossover tube. If you see black plastic, highly recomend you contact your dealer to take your vehicle in for service.

I think Audi has not issued a recall on them due to limited supply of the new pumps at this time. Can't say for sure but I would imagine a recall would come eventually. Being an RVU (and not a recall) the owners are not notified directly. When a vehicle comes in for any service, the VIN is run to check for RVU's (and recalls) open. RVU's are supposed to be done automatically at that time,,,,,,provided parts are in stock and the owner can leave the vehicle to have it done (and we have the physical time to do it that very day).

The RVU also applies to the TDI Q7, which also has a plastic housed pump. Not one of Audi's best ideas making the pumps plastic. Still can't believe they tried it.

 

On the power steering whine. It is normal, what you hear is the electric motor and servo running. It has electric assist with a big motor and module attached directly to the rack itself, and since the rack is just in front of the cowl/footwell area some motor noise can be heard. Plus a small amount of noise can transmit up the column into the passenger compartment. There's no pump, hydraulic lines, etc.....Of course, if the noise continues to get louder, take it in to the dealer for repair. I've only seen one of these units fail, and it was a sporadic fault and required replacing the rack/motor/module assy (and then doing the required coding of the module, basic settings of the motor, adaptation of the steering stops.....................). This was on a Jetta but the Q5 is basically the same set up.

 

Thanks for the info. Mine was a 3.2 L.

Watch out, mine went from dripping to terminal in around 50 miles.

 

Good news, they gave me Audi Care free. That is how you turn a negative into a positive.