Hey all,

I have a weird issue. When I'm driving between 35-45 on a straight level road, the rpm needle will bounce in between two of the small hashmarks. You also feel the car revving up and down a bit.

I took her to the dealer, they told me there is no problems, they couldn't find an error in the system. The tech drove it and he said it was fine. I don't believe him. They told me that it's normal for the rpm gauge to bounce like that.

This doesn't occur when going up a hill or coasting and seems to only occur between the above mph range. It just doesn't make sense to me that the car should be doing is, it never did it until I took it in for the 45k service about a week ago.

2008 a4
3.2L Quattro
Around 45k miles

 

Here is a video,

Some parts look worse than others

Rpm bounce - YouTube

 

If you notice the rpm changing along with the needle, then maybe the torque converter is locking and unlocking frequently. I had a car, that if you were cruising with the rpm low enough, it didn't take much load to pop the torque converter clutch and run it with an open torque coverter. Maybe there was some type of update that got loaded to the car that changed the shift program when you went in for service.

 

Hey,

Thanks for the quick reply. Let's assume i know nothing about cars(i don't haha), is the frequent unlocking and locking of the torque converter a bad thing?

Thanks!

 

If it is the torque converter, it really shouldn't unlock and lock frequently. You might want to take it back and have the place test drive it to see if they can isolate the cause.

 

Hey there,
I have an '08 A4 Q, same exact problem. Similar miles; 47k. Just had the dealer look at it, and they're ordering a new torque converter. We live where it's cold in the morning, and the problem presented itself as a very noticeable surge, most obvious going 25-35mph. So, good thing we still have some warranty! I'm currently interrogating them as to whether this is an internals problem (mechanical) or controls problem (electronic), since if there's a mechanical failure, I definitely don't want TQ junk circulating through my tranny for however long I have to wait for them to get the parts, PLUS however long I've been driving it since the failure became obvious.
Take it back to the stealership and tell them to triple check the TQ and tranny.
Good luck.

 

Now that you mention it, i notice it mostly when the engine temperature is cold. I hope you have better luck than i did at the dealership. The guy was telling me i was crazy even after he test drove it (The place has HORRIBLE reviews). I'm gonna try to find another dealership and see what they can do, i'll tell them to specifically look at the TQ and tranny.

 

Does it feel like it is missing or any noticable loss of power? I was thinking maybe a coilpack?

 

So, like I said in my first post, the dealer ordered a new TQ. But that was on my wife's word, so I called them and got the whole story. Turns out their tech wasn't sure on the diagnosis, experienced the problem (it was REALLY obvious) but had to call the TechLine (Audi) for help. They've seen this a few times before, and it's apparently an internal seal leak inside the TQ somewhere, allowing pressure bleed-by. So, new TQ it is. Should be here soon, will take a day or two to replace. No hard part internal failures, so my tranny should be just fine after the replacement. One of the very few bright points; they flush and fill the tranny during the replacement. So, free service for me!
They're also giving my wife a loaner car, free, during the service. That was nice of them, too.
Bottom line; unless your dealer has ACTUALLY SEEN this problem before, it probably won't be resolved w/o a call to the TechLine.

 

Mine has done the same thing every morning when the ambient temp is below 50 degrees. It only does it when the engine is cold, and stops as soon a normal operating temp is reached. Therefore, I have assumed it is a either a clitch in the fuel/air mixture cold temp mapping, a mixed up TPS, or stickey diverter valve. Thee car has been doing this since about 50,000 miles. I spoke with the dealer and he reply was "yeah, most 2.0's do that". Well, it now has 158,000 and it still does it, and goes away once it warms up.

Sorry I can't offer anything more than that.